Half lap joint advise

[Edward P. Surowiec]

Need advise on how to machine accurate half lap joints.
Thanks Ed

[Joe Chritz]

Well tuned machines and very careful set up with a fair amount of test cuts.

A lot depends on how wide the half lap is. You could set the fence at the length and take a few passes with the dado or use a tenon jig.

You could make a sled for the tablesaw specifically for doing halflaps and get very easy and repeatable results.

Joe

[Wade Lippman]

Ras!......

[Paul Demetropoulos]

Using a RAS or table saw with dado blade , set your depth of cut to be sllightly less than half the stock thickness and make a pass on the end of the board. Flip the board over and make another pass. You'll have uncut stock in the middle. Slowly increase you cut depth making alternate cuts on either side until you have just a whisper of wood left in the middle. You're about as close now as you'll get.

Wood needs to be flat for this to be accurate.

I find he RAS is fastest, using a similar method on the router table gives the smoothest and most accurate cuts. Another approach if you're doing finer work is to hog out most of the material on the RAS or table saw and finish on the router table. You can really get them perfect this way.

[Bob Genovesi]

I do them on my table saw with a dado. At assembly I generally glue and peg the joint as well..

[Doug Shepard]

I've done them with a dado set and on the router table and use the method Paul mentioned. Make sure though that all the pieces are the same thickness. If you're using dimensioned wood don't assume it's al the same thickness. Run everything through the planer. Otherwise you'll be setting the dado or router height to what works for your test piece but leaves other pieces too high/low.

[Mike Cutler]

Edward

You can drive yourself crazy with jigs, machine setup, and differing techniques, but a skewed block plane, or a rabbeting block plane will do everything you need, and very quickly.

I use a tablesaw with a FTG, "Flat Top Grind", or a rip blade to cut across the grain at the shoulder, then use the bandsaw to cut the cheek, finish up with a block plane and a shoulder plane.

Paul

That's an excellent technique you outlined. Thanks for that tip.

[Edward P. Surowiec]

Thank you all for your recommendations. I was given a pile of 1X 6 "select pine" , but only 40" in length. I want to join them so that I can make 1X3X65" boards.
Would you join the 1X6 peaces and than rip them to 3" width or rip the 1x6 to final width and than join them??

Thanks Ed

PS. I do not have a PayPal account how can I make a donation to the Creek?

[Ted Shrader]

I've done them with a dado set and on the router table and use the method Paul mentioned. Make sure though that all the pieces are the same thickness. If you're using dimensioned wood don't assume it's al the same thickness. Run everything through the planer. Otherwise you'll be setting the dado or router height to what works for your test piece but leaves other pieces too high/low.Ed -

+1 on thickness.

Doug has the major key to accurate half-laps. Stock the SAME THICKNESS. Beyond that is is just accurate machine setup and the cuts can be made several ways as outlined in the other posts.

Regards,
Ted