Making a box joint jig

Morris Dovey wrote in news:hdo0u0$gc6$ snipped-for-privacy@aioe.org:

I am really looking forward to the dumb ass explanation of how to make these and how to use them. I know it SHOULD be self explanatory ...

The easiest box joint jig I've seen to bulid and use is the one in Fred Bingham's book, Practical Yacht Joinery.

Lew

I asked Angela to wrap one up for me for Christmas last year after you had mentioned that book about 623 times Very good, down-to-earth compilation of all kinds of nifty tips and tricks. None of this "and now a couple of passes through the TimeSaver..." bullshit. A book where Neanderthal and power-tools meet. A very good recommendation, Lew. Thanks for that.

(Are you sure Fred Bingham isn't your nom-de-plume?)

(Are you sure Fred Bingham isn't your nom-de-plume?)

If he is still alive, he has got to be at least 100.

He was working in a boat shop in the 30's.

Lew

Some things never change:

Read the FAQ ... mainly so that you will know what a "SWMBO", the various classifications of a "gloat", "jummywood", and "neener" is/are without asking. Be sure to learn the more up-to-date, modern spelling of "Craftsman" ... and how to use Google. Make certain that if you use something besides a Beismeyer or Unifence, you don't mention it. Learning the 99 NEC by heart is not mandatory, but helpful. Know that Leon is gruff, but knowledgeable, Charlie S is both friendly and knowledgeable, Doug W actually does know the NEC by heart, Larry J. is funny ...most of the time, Jon, while he sometimes thinks he's Nahm, is smart enough to use LoneStar Beer in his chili, Walt A. confesses to doing quirky things with wood, but is a helluva storyteller; Lew H. obviously owns stock in a book about yacht joinery, Steve K makes the best planes since Bailey, Eric M plays "Cabinetman" on TV, 'Mark and Juanita' really know their stuff ...but we suspect Mark is just the mouthpiece, and if you are female and young, or have a daughter who is, keep an eagle eye on Apeman at all times. Above all, feel free to initiate weekly political/sociological discussion topics that have absolutely nothing to do with woodworking whenever the whim strikes you, with or without the obligatory "OT" in the subject line.

On 15 Nov 2009 12:00:31 GMT, the infamous Han scrawled the following:

Ditto that. 'Splain, Mo!

-- When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary. -- Thomas Paine

IIRC, I believe it was in response to this, which should give you an idea of how the original is used and make the light bulb pop on:

The pull-down string on my mental pull-down menu had become temporarily unattached. All better now. (I was looking for complexity, didn't find any. Felt cheated.)

Hey, Swing, The link you posted, like so many old links, has been transformed into one of those wretched fake sites full of advertising. Perhaps you could host the original text now that it's defunct. Or Morris, or me.

"Wood-Workers.com is for sale. The owner of the domain has it listed for sale for $35,100."

Ha! Like that's ever gonna happen.

"The registrant of record is now: RareNames, WebReg

Para-sites, Inc.

Several names on that list I haven't seen in years. Apeman for one. And BTW, what happened to JOAT?

Greg G.

IRRC correctly, the wooddorking gods told him that webTV was giving them a bad name!! :)

(I think he got tired of the political BS and noobs taking exception to his cranky ass.)

I think Morris is playing around with "kerf width" jigs. Parts A(x) are used solely as kerf width "standards" to set the distance of the pin registration hole of the jig.

I could be misunderestimating the jig, but it seems like it would produce rather small pins for a box joint. Seeing as how I can throw together a 1/2" or 3/4" box jig in a few minutes using a dado blade, a couple of scrap oak parts, and the mitre gauge, this seems to primarily be an exercise in "doing it my way." Or I could be absolutely, positively wrong and he has found Nirvana! ;-)

Greg G.

That's cuz it was part of the original post I made and left in as a date reference ... some things do change. :)

OK - as long as there are pukey ducks and yellow HF tools somewhere in the universe, all is well I suppose. The "inspirational plans" posts were sometimes a hoot. His WebTV box probably became dysfunctional and he refused to upgrade to a P2/450 w Win95. Since it seemed to be old home week I thought I'd ask. Thanks.

Greg G.

OK - I'm getting more stoopid as I age. I thought you were pointing readers to the original text for even more enlightenment. Sorry. As for change... not often for the better.

Greg G.

Bingo!

Somewhere between. I originally wanted to make lap joints larger than the KM-1 (I have one on order) can handle, but I was impressed with the simplicity of its principle of operation. When I watched the Bridge City video, my reaction was "Of course! Why haven't I been doing that?".

As discussed previously, I have a wobble dado blade and I'm too cheap to spend for a real stacked dado set - and I picked up on the "kerf width" paradigm.

For both of my simple jigs, I can use the wobble dado to make the cuts shown in Figures 1 and 5 (and Figure 7 and 8 of the box joint jig) to produce satisfyingly precise joints.

(Note that in making the box joint jig, the cut-off from Fig 6 is glued into the slot cut in Fig 7 to ensure exact finger spacing.)

It's not exactly nirvana, but it comes close because it's quick and easy to make, wonderfully thrifty, and awesomely accurate.

Ooh! I got one right for a change.

Mine was "Why haven't I built that?"

By virtue of it generating it's own references, accuracy is a given. But no dado stack? Morris... Tsk,Tsk... ;-) Just think of what you're missing: flat bottomed grooves with clean edges; no finagling with that wobble width adjustment; respect from your fellow wooddorkers who pried open their wallets and bought a stack of carbide tipped blades and shims in a fancy box. And please tell me it's not a Craftsman from 1962... You surely are a determined individual. ;-)

Greg G.

On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 09:10:57 -0600, the infamous Swingman scrawled the following:

funkyarse tool drawings. They're more like koans than anything, kwim,V?

-- When we are planning for posterity, we ought to remember that virtue is not hereditary. -- Thomas Paine

On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:16:38 -0500, the infamous Greg G. scrawled the following:

He's also certifiable. The poor, confused lad just used the terms "wobble dado" and "satisfyingly precise joints" in the very same sentence! I guess he's...just not finicky. ;)