box joint jig

[Günter VögelBerg]

I just got the Freud box joint set and am brainstorming the best way to do the jib. I've poked around the internet and there are lots of different variations doing essentially the same thing. Would folks please mind sharing some pics of theirs and tips? I am just curious.

Thanks.

[Frank Pratt]

Not sure if it would apply to the Freud jig, but William Ng - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NutwD7B6tmE - has a great video on making a jig & using it.

[Thomas McCurnin]

Ditto on Ng's video. I made his jig and got within 5-7 thousands accuracy. I also took a class of his last week, and he is a genius.

[Günter VögelBerg]

"Don't know what to tell 'ya; kind of , huh?"

[Rick Potter]

Why unhappy?

My Freud box joint set works great, with any jig that does 3/8 or 1/4", home made or not.

Perhaps I am missing something?

[Günter VögelBerg]

I was quoting the video. I just thought it was funny.

[Frank Pratt]

I was quoting the video. I just thought it was funny.

And it is. I love his somewhat dry sense of humor.

[glenn bradley]

I have an i-Box and still use a method similar to William's since that is the way I started making them. The i-Box is handy for a lot of small fingers if you are doing that.

[Charles Lent]

I also have the I-Box jig and the Freud SBOX8 blade set, and have been using this combination for about 10 years. All of my shop made box joint jigs (one for each size) went in the burn pile after I bought the I-Box jig. It's so easy to set up and use, and requires much less space to store in my shop. Since purchasing these I have made a lot of boxes using them.

A tip for I-Box users - Remove the sacrificial strip that comes with the I-Box jig and use it as a template to make a bunch of them. It's just 1/4" MDF. I bought a 2' X 4' piece from Home Depot for about $5 and cut about a dozen from it. Once cut, you will need to drill 4 holes and countersink them. I set up two stops on my drill press to drill the first hole. Then by flipping the piece over I drilled the second hole. Then flipped the piece end for end and repeated the process for the other two holes. Then I removed the drill press stops and changed the bit for a countersink bit and countersunk the 4 holes in each piece from the smoother side of the MDF. In less than an hour I made a dozen spare sacrificial strips for $5 and an hour of shop time. Trust me, when you find how easy the I-Box jig is to use, you will be using it a lot. Each time that you set up the jig to make box joints you should move the sacrificial strip so that you make a fresh cut through it. This fresh cut will then act as a zero clearance function for all of the box joints that you will be cutting with that saw blade height and width. If you will be making box joints all day, it might be good to move the sacrificial strip and make a fresh cut through it about half way through your day, because, just like zero clearance inserts in your table saw, they will wear out and reduce the quality of your cuts. You can buy these sacrificial strips already made at 3 for about $10, but they are so easy to make, why not and save your money for real projects.

Attached are a few photos of some of my box joint projects. Who was it that said "You can't cut box joints in plywood". I do it in Baltic Birch plywood more often than solid wood and they are always perfect using the I-Box jig and Freud SBOX8 blade set. For 1/8" box joints, I found a 10" Ripping blade with a FTG grind (.126" tooth width) that works just as good as the SBOX8 blade set does for 1/4 and 3/8" box joints..

Charley

[Charles Lent]

Duplicate post - removed

Charley

[Günter VögelBerg]

Thanks, guys. I see the ibox jig on sale, so I think I am going to just order that. I always cringe a little buying something I can make, but at the moment with my new job my time for workshop is scant and the couple hours I might spend making jigs of different sizes are worth $170 to me.

[Frank Pratt]

I had struggled with box joints until I made William Ng's jig. This was the first box I made with it & it worked great. The boxes were for a local charity fundraiser. There was more than one comment about how 'those dovetails are beautiful' :)

424771

And like Charles, I've made them from Baltic Birch plywood and they turned out very well.

[Rick Potter]

Great answer Charley. Well said.

[Thomas McCurnin]

Gunter

Where is this jig on sale and for how much?

[Günter VögelBerg]

Gunter

Where is this jig on sale and for how much?

https://www.infinitytools.com/incra-ibox-box-joint-jig-for-table-saw-router-table?gclid=Cj0KCQiAmsrxBRDaARIsANyiD1oL3ilV_CUo4n wttaAYWmo45Fv0v01uJeQO2HZP2axXahQn2y1yeIwaAkZtEALw _wcB

$40 cheaper than Woodcraft. They say mine has already shipped.