box joints

I've just started making box joints and they're so tight I don't see how I can get them together after putting glue on them and get a box assembled before the glue sets up. How do you tweak them so they slide together a little easier?

Reply to
corntoasy
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Depends on how you're cutting them...???

Need to adjust whatever jig/setup you're using, but since don't know what that is, can't really tell what is the appropriate thing to adjust.

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Reply to
dpb

Use a slower setting glue and/or tweak the box joint jig to give a little more breathing room.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

The glue should actually act a bit as a lubricant.

As for how to adjust, many joints are difficult to impossible to redo. Like the old saying goes if you don't practice on scrap you will be practicing on the actual project pieces.

You should always test fit on scraps of the same wood and should try to assemble on the same day. Humidity and temperature changes from one day to the next can cause joints to fit loosely or more tightly.

Reply to
Leon

Pare the obviously tight areas with a sharp chisel -- look for shiny, burnished spots and hit them. Repeated dry assembly / disassembly makes the fit easier. Chamfer the inside edges before glue up -- this has added benefit of forcing glue into joints rather than scraping it off, like a sharp edge would. Use pipe clamps to drive the joint home instead of a mallet so you can apply maximum force without stopping, especially with yellow carpenter's glue, which tends to seize, usually a good thing when you're wrestling slippery glue ups together.

Reply to
Father Haskell

It seems to me that the joint should fit well right off the machine. Planning on repeated fitting is planning on wasting time.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

I'm using a Woodhaven 4554 Box Joint Jig. I've only had it a few days and have cut up a lot of scrap, but unless there is a way to make the pins slightly smaller than the slots (or the slots slightly larger than the pins) when cutting the joint I don't see how they will ever just easily slide together.

Reply to
corntoasy

When I have tight joints I use delayed set glue; it is thinner so it tolerates tight fit better. Seriously, it works!

As others said, without knowing how you made the joint, it is impossible to tell you how to tweak it.

Reply to
Toller

I picked this jig up at a tag sale without a user guide. I just went to their website and downloaded the manual and found out how to make the adjustment. It's a simple matter of sliding the jig one way ot the other to either tighten or loosen the joint. Works like a charm!

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

Reply to
corntoasy

Wed, Jun 27, 2007, 9:15am snipped-for-privacy@aol.com doth query: How do you tweak them so they slide together a little easier?

BFH.

JOAT If a man does his best, what else is there?

- General George S. Patton

Reply to
J T

It's not always done with a dedicated machine or jig --- the pin type jig will accumulate error each time you step it. I use a regular crosscut sled. Take the mating boards and butt them together end to end. Strike the cut lines across both at the same time with sharp pencil (0.5mm mechanical pencil, honed on a bit of 600 paper). Cut each board one at a time, end down, lining up the pencil line with the kerf in the sled base. Finish by chopping the baselines with a chisel. Just like cutting dovetails, except with a tablesaw instead of a backsaw.

Reply to
Father Haskell

Nope. The width of the material removed will remain constant because of the width of the blades or the router bit. You simply adjust the "fence" which is either a fence in the traditional sense with a router jig, or the side of the finger nearest the blade with a dado jig. Make the amount of wood left behind slightly narrower than the tool kerf. Decrease the fence to blade or bit distance to loosen the joints, increase to tighten.

Since each pair is independent of the previous, there is no accumulated error, merely constant distances. Gap plus wood is a constant measurement.

Really good stuff at

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to make box joints almost effortlessly. You can make the jig, of course, rather than buying.

Reply to
George

snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net (J T) wrote in news:15115-4682D023-85@storefull-

3331.bay.webtv.net:

preferably, a yellow one.

Reply to
Patriarch

Wed, Jul 4, 2007, 11:16am (EDT-1) snipped-for-privacy@nospam.comcast.net (Patriarch) did sayeth: preferably, a yellow one.

That would be the HBFH.

JOAT If a man does his best, what else is there?

- General George S. Patton

Reply to
J T

I assemble the joint, then apply superglue to the outside of the joint. The joint will wick the superglue in. It works great and is extremely strong.

Reply to
cgallery

Can you see the super glue through the finish?

Reply to
B A R R Y

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