Greene & Greene Style Finger Joints

[Joe Adams]

I'm trying to determine the most efficient way to produce Greene & Greene style finger joints using power tools.

Yes, I know that hand cut finger joints are the most authentic means of construction but I have a lot of these to produce and need something faster than my limited hand tool skills will allow.

I just bought a Leigh D4R-Pro dovetail jig and was wondering if there was some way it could be used to cut the joints?

Otherwise, would I use some sort of box joint jig or my tenoning sled on a tablesaw?

I'm also interested in figuring out a quick way to ease the edges and emphasize the joints.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks for your suggestions!

Joe

[Mark Carlson]

I'm currently working on a G&G dresser, and I finger jointed all the drawers using an akeda dovetail jig. Incra recently came out with a finger joint jig for the tablesaw/router table called an ibox. That looks like a good option.

~mark

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[Roy Harding]

I have the same Leigh jig. To cut finger joints, you need a different comb - which I also have. It works well, but is pricey. I make a lot of small boxes, so I'm using it all the time, and it paid for itself in short order.

For a one time use, you'd probably be better off making a box joint jig for your table saw or router table. The internet is FULL of free plans for such a jig.

Best of luck on your project.

[Bruce Page]

Hopefully Glenn Bradley will chime in. He's a master at G&G and jig making.

[Mike Henderson]

You can easily make a jig for cutting finger joints on your table saw. The one "secret" is to have some backing material so you don't get tear out. Check the web and you'll find descriptions of how to make a finger joint jig.

Mike

[glenn bradley]

David O Wade's method (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHGuqXUI-eg) is used by many. I notice Shop Notes had a version on one of their recent covers that used his basic method on a jig with t-track. I am planning on trying David's method some time between projects. I know others in the community who use it successfully.

I use a dado stack on the tablesaw for large pieces like drawer fronts. For smaller pieces I will generally bandsaw out the bulk of the waste and chisel to fit. This let's me keep them somewhat irregular which lets me (attempt to) use the scaling of the fingers to draw attention upwards or downwards ;-)

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[jim sauterer]

I just did 10 drawers with a d4 joe.once you get it set up it works great.with the d4 you can make them as wide as you want.glen is the master he gave me help with drawer pulls.good luck.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I made a jig to cut finger joints on my tablesaw. I used both of my miter gauges and the jig screwed to both of them. Thus, it was extremely stable.

In this thread is a photo of the finger joints. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?186807-My-wife-s-long-delayed-entertainment-center&highlight=

At the end of the thread are photos of the jig used to produce the finger joints.

[Joe Adams]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

They have helped clarify everything in my mind (which seems to get more cloudy as I get older).

I suppose this should have been clear from the beginning but it finally dawned on me that Greene & Greene style finger joints are essentially overextended box joints.

I'm going to use my miter sled on the tablesaw with a tall supplemental fence that has a T-track in it so that I can utilize a stop block for positioning.

This setup should give me the accuracy and repeatability that I need to make the 40 or so junctions in my project.

[Prashun Patel]

Nice, glen. Wow.

[Gary Muto]

Nice, glen. Wow.

Yeah, no kidding! The design and execution is truly amazing. Waaay beyond anything I've done. Nice work Glenn.

[Brian Williamson]

I know, old thread... However I have to say that dresser is *GORGEOUS*.

[Shannon Brantley]

WOW! Got any more pics of that thing Glenn?

[glenn bradley]

WOW! Got any more pics of that thing Glenn?

Some other folks have this design in mahogany or cherry but, I made the one for me out of walnut (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?185526-Chest-of-Drawers-G-amp-G-Inspired/page3). <== Link . . . Not the Greene's traditional material but, I just love walnut ;-)

[Bill McNiel]

Glen,
Beautiful work, great design. I'm a big fan of the brothers. I actually lived in the Gamble House for a semester while studying architecture at USC. I assume you did all the pillowing by hand?

[glenn bradley]

Wow. Thanks everybody. I didn't mean for the examples to become a threadjack, sorry about that Joe :o.


Glen,
Beautiful work, great design. I'm a big fan of the brothers. I actually lived in the Gamble House for a semester while studying architecture at USC. I assume you did all the pillowing by hand?

You . . . are a lucky dog! Yes, I gave up on machine pillowing because by the time I got the "machine" look out of them, I could have just done them by hand :rolleyes:

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[David Helm]

Check out Darrell Peart's two books on Greene and Greene. "In the Greene and Greene Style" and "Greene and Greene Design Elements for the Workshop". He gives lots of interesting hints and describes jigs that work. I had the good fortune to take a week long class with him a couple of years ago. He has an interesting way he does the pillowing for the ebony plugs; a combination of machine and hand work that goes quite fast.

[Thomas S Stockton]

Joe
Sounds like you got some great advice. One comment though don't be worried about doing the finger joints by hand the Hall brothers who made a large portion of the furniture for the Greenes ran a pretty high end shop and used plenty of power tools .
Tom