finger joint jig

[peter kolb]

Hi, I would like to cut finger jonts on a cabinet saw.
Shop made or store bought jig.
Maker or designer?
Thanks for your help peter in south central nj

[Corvin Alstot]

I will be interested in any replys as well. I have made a jig for cutting 1/8"
wide box joint on a cabinet saw and was not overly enthusiastic about the
results. I had tear out on the back side of the panel and it was difficult to
maintain a consistant registration when cutting long faces. I was
considering the router next.

[Dave Mcintire]

I recently bought a slightly used FJ jig from a guy on this site. It came from woodcraft and I think they sell it for about $100. I used it once and it worked perfectly. LEt me know if you want more info.

[David Klug]

Peter, when I built a box to catch the sawdust for my contractors saw I used box joints to put it together. I took a piece of plywood and dadoed a 1/4" groove in it then I glued a strip in it a 1/4" high. Then I drilled a 5/16" hole in it about 1/4" away from the strip that I had glued in. I clamped this over the bit so there was a 1/4" clearance between the bit and the strip. Then I clamped the 4 sides together with 2 pieces off set from the other 2 pieces. I made a right angle push board so that when I pushed the pieces over the bit it would be square with the world. Using the strip as a guide I just worked my way across. I was working with 1/4" material and when I got done I just matched the edges together after I had put a groove in for a bottom board and glued the whole thing together. It came together slicker than snot on a tin roof.

DK

[Chris Dodge]

I have the woodsmith fingerjoint jig and bought it from Woodcraft. It is very easy to use and I made perfect fingerjoints the first time I used it. I highly recommend it!

[Guy Germaine]

You can make one relatively easily. Here is one that I made and it works great. This is set up for 1/4" joints. The front fence is replaceable with another that is set up for 1/2" joints. I have the plans laying around the shop somewhere. :rolleyes:
http://www.fototime.com/87C422CCC706EFC/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/8595018F6BA3AF5/standard.jpg

[Tom Drake]

Nice looking jig Guy. Can you post the plans?

[Mark Singer]

It is a simple jig to make. The finger that registers the lateral movement is the same width as the dado blade....the distance of the finger from the blade is also the same....you can adjust that by sliding the jigon the miter gauge...The key is precision ..use calipers to insure the distances are the same.

[tod evans]

here`s my approach using a router.
28507

[Lee Schierer]

In "The Ultimate Jigs & Fixtures Handbook" published by Woodsmith & Shop Notes, there is an excellent adjustable finger joint jig. It is fairly complex , but easy to use once you get it made. It has a replaceable backer piece so you never get tear out. Sorry I don't have any photos of the jig in action.

[Jim Kountz]

This one is a Nick Engler design and works incredibly easy. Its micro-adjustable using a #10-32 machine screw. This means that a 1/4 turn of the screw results in a 1/128 adjustment. Easy to build too!

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/features/fea.asp?id=1109

[M Toupin]

Pete,

Box joints are easy, though Good clean joints require accuracy and repeatability. With that in mind there's lots of ways to make box joints, the table saw or router are the two most common methods. Once you decide what tool you want to use then decide if you want to move the tool over the wood or the wood over the tool. Next is to find a method to accurately cut your joints. Personally I like the table saw and Daido blade method, though others get very nice results using other methods. There are a lot of quality jigs to choose from, both commercially or shop made. I'm a jig junkie so mine is shop built. The cost was next to nothing as it's all shop scrap and a few nuts and bolts that I had laying around. I didn't really have a set plan when I built it, but I did have a list of features that I wanted.

These jigs are really pretty simple, there's only two critical points; first you need a good tight system to keep it square to the blade. I chose hard maple runners attached to the base and riding in the miter slots (think sled). I chose to use two runners for the stability. Two runners are more stable than the single runner and eliminates any twisting or flexing of the jig, especially when dealing with larger pieces.

Secondly insure the registration finger is exactly the width of your fingers and make it adjustable side-to-side to fine-tune the setup. Be careful to get everything exactly square and tight, inaccuracy and/or slop here will effect the accuracy of your joints. Everything else is just a way to hold everything together, make it as fancy or plain as you like. The body is MDF and the rear fence/backing plate is corian because I ran out of MDF and had a piece of corion the right size sitting around. The entire jig is about 14" wide and the rear fence is about 6" tall. The rear fence is adjustable left/right by turning the screws on the ends to fine-tune the fingers. Once it's adjusted correctly the screw in the back slot locks it down tight to eliminate any movement. I could put some fancy knobs on it, but these work fine... maybe if I find some free time... It works great making tight and accurate joints.

The only change I would make if I build another would to make it a bit wider and the rear fence a bit taller. Very wide or tall pieces could use a bit more support, though this size works fine 99% of the time. One other point, the rear fence/backing board serve two functions, first it holds the registration finger, but it also acts like a zero clearance insert to eliminate tear out. Whatever route you decide to go make sure there is some way to replace the rear fence/backer. On mine I have a separate rear fence with the appropriate registration finger for each size joint. I just install the appropriate for the joint size I want. I started with the 1/4" and have made other sizes as I've needed them.

Mike

[Jamie Buxton]

One tip with those jigs which attach to the miter gauge...

Most miter gauges have some play in the slot. In an incremental jig like this, that play can add up. If you use this kind of jig, keep the gauge pushed to one side of the slot for all the cuts you make, from the ones you use to set the finger all the way through to production cuts.