Mitre Lock Jointer

[Ian Robinson]

If you machined a mitre lock joint on all sides of 6 square MDF panels would the joint allow them to be assembled as a perfect cube? Does the geometry of the joint allow this?

Ian

[Howard]

I just completed a silverware chest for my new daughter in law and used a lock mitre joint on the top and sides (five pieces). If you plan ahead the top will drop right into the four sides. Therefore the six sided box will assemble also. That said the lock mitre joint was a bear to set up to ensure a good fit with no end grain showing.

Howard

[BillyBob]

Howard, can you be more specific about "bear to set up". Does that mean it took a lot of test cuts? Once you had it right, could you make the joints repeatedly without tweaking? I watched a live demo of this joint method at a show last year. Obviously the guy had done his tuning before the show. But it looked so easy and reliable when he did it.

Bob

[charlie b]

Yes, and you're not limited to cubes - if you're careful.

A pair of shop built devices will help quite a bit since stock control is critical.

charlie b

[pppppppp]

Thanks for those URL's again Charlie. I had them and lost them. Much appreciated.

> charlie b

[Ed Clarke]

[Paul Kierstead]

Truly fascinating, Charlie. Thanks for the page. I don't own one of the bits, but I have to say that closed box appeals to me so much conceptually I am tempted to buy one solely for making the box...

So, you say "Note after the sides and bottom have been put together, once you put the top in place you won't be able to disassemble the parts without hot gluing a handle onto the top or bottom.". Heh, no DAMHIKT? :)

PK

[Howard]

joints I did were the first ones I tried after a learning curve. It took a few tries to set up to get tight and sharp edges. Also when you are routing the joint you need to carefully hold the piece against a jig or mitergage as you feed it because after it is routed you have only a knife edge on the outfeed. I guess I screwed up one out of every eight pieces.

[Ian Robinson]

Thanks guys - much appreciated.

Ian