Box joints on router table using comb temmplate

[tom coleman]

I will buy Keller jig next week primarily for thru dovetiais but I believe it also does 5/8 box joints

Are there other comb templates available for making smaller box joints....especially 1/4 inch

[Dan Cameron]

I don't like the concept of comb templates for box joints. If your bit is over/under size the lack of adjustability is a problem.

[Max Coller]

I recently attempted exactly this with my Rockler thru dovetail jig for two drawers in a blanket chest I've been occasionally hacking away at for my wife in part to justify the large pieces iron spilling out of my "shop" into her parking space in the "garage." As Dan mentions, the spacing is the fundamental problem to solve - I tried both top bearing bits and collets/straight bits on my practice pieces, and it was only with one, non-overlapping wrap of electrical tape (split in half lengthwise) around one particular collet with one straight bit that I could make joints fit tight enough to feel good about them. Not Fine Woodworking good - just Max Coller good.

I needed to refresh the electrical tape after each pass if I didn't rotate the router through the corners. Kinda putzy, but worthwhile in my opinion, and I'm going to continue to improve on it because the aesthetics of simplicity in the result appeals to me - as does the non-compounding nature of errors in the system. In my past attempts with long runs of single-keyed finger joint/box joint jigs, the smallest error (from a sloppy key, an oversized or undersized router bit, wobble in the stack dado in hard grain, dust buildup, too much sun in my eyes, not enough coffee, too much coffee, plagues of locusts) compounds quite nicely with each finger. And then, at the end of a 16" run, you end up with fingers half lapping each other. Or maybe you don't. I have.