Making Finger Joints

[Tim Wagner]

Can anyone tell me how to make finger joints on a table saw? or point me to an instructional page. I do have a Incra Miter 1000 SE, distributed by Woodcraft, but it's just the miter with no xtras (i.e. templates).

I do not have a dovetail jig and I need to get some drawers made. I could do dado at the back, which I will no matter what, and do pocket screws on the front, but this is something I need to learn how to do anyway.

Things I need to know.

1: How to determine the correct spacing.
2: How to use a incra jig.
3: How to make my own jig. ( i think it was norm that did this, can't remember)
Any help would be appreciated.

p.s I do have a Dado I can use too.
:)
Thanks.

[Ed Peters]

offers a set of plans for "Jigs & Fixtures" which includes his steps for making a box joint jig. I have used a hybrid variation of his jig for years and found it to be very adequate. If you chose to go this route, let me know and I'll share an improvement I have made.

Ed

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

You can use a good dado or there are chipper sets sold just for that. I think Freud makes one.

You can use a router table too.

Make a piece of squared up wood as your fence. Insert a bit of wood in it in a T sticking out toward the blade. Use a hard wood like maple for this.

That little piece of wood is the exact size of your intended fingers.

Set the thing on your miter fence spacing the little T piece away from the blade ( on the out feed side) the exact distance of the thickness of your Fingers. I have used drill bits and dowel pins to make this easy but it will likely require adjustment anyway.

Make a test couple of pieces.
Place the work up against the little T piece and take a pass. Move the work over set it down over that T piece and take another pass. You progress that way till you are done. Make a mating piece.

Then check to see if you need to adjust the spacing of that little T piece to the blade.

Google can show you lots of jigs complicated and otherwise that help you do this.

here is one:
http://www.sentex.net/~mwandel/workshop/fingerjoint.html

[Lee Schierer]

I agree with Cliffe. You can cut both pieces to make the corners at the same time to get a perfect fit by setting them one in front of the other on your jig and offsetting one of the pieces by exactly the witdth of the finger and then clamping the two pieces together. Just be sure you number your pieces correctly as they are cut to keep the pairs together at the corner and that you offset the same side or end when you cut the other end of the piece.

[Charles McCracken]

Tim,

As Cliff said, we offer a set of cutters to make 1/4" and 3/8" box joints on the table saw. It consists of two flat grind blades (a dado set will leave little "Bat Ears" in the corners) with the teeth slightly offset so that you stack them back to back for 1/4" or face to face for 3/8". Item is SBOX8 and it comes with instructions to build a basic (but very effective) jig:

http://www.freudtools.com/p-316-box-joint-cutter-set.aspx

[Dave Sinkus]

It cuts 1/4" or 3/8". My problem has been an accurate, repeatable jig. The plan that comes with the Freud dado set is a good start.....my problem comes in with attaching to a miter gauge. I have an Incra 1000SE I am using. I will try to resuse the original miter gauge that came with my job site TS to see If I can permanently attach it that somehow.

The blades do cut nicely :)

[Alan Schwabacher]

The Freud blades cut very square and clean. I made a small double runner sled, and get much more consistent results than I did with a jig attached to my miter gauge. My miter gauge is not so great, but the problem I had was not that. On a jig on any miter gauge the spacer can loosen a bit after you use the jig for a while. This happens because the spacer block is glued into a notch cut in the fence, but in use you cut another notch next to the first, so one side of the spacer is not supported as well. If the spacer becomes loose, your accuracy goes out the window. With a sled, you can glue the spacer block down to the sled so it can't move side to side at all. This also makes it easy to be sure the block is perfectly square to the fence, which is important if you want to stack up your pieces and cut several joints at the same time. If you do that, clamp all the pieces together as you cut. This requires that your fence not be too tall, so the clamp can fit above the fence.

For a few joints, the ordinary jig works fine. I cut about 50' of 1/4" fingers for one project, and with the double runner sled the first joint fit exactly the same as the last joint -- perfectly. That is not what I experienced with my ordinary jig.

[Tim Wagner]

Can I find these blades at HD or Lowes? I did order norms DVD and M-drawings for Jigs 101.

thanks for your time in making replies.

[glenn bradley]

A jig is a great idea. I would forgo the 1000SE and build the jig to ride in both miter slots for accuracy. Here's one idea with plans:

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/FWNPDF/011148060.pdf

I'm sure you'll find or be offered many variations.

[Chuck Lenz]

I use to cut box joints on the tablesaw for many years with a homemade jig that bolted to the miter gauge, then a bought a Craftsman jig that worked the same way but was adjustable, then I bought a dovetail jig and picked up the box joint template to go with it and never looked back after that. Spaceing is better and the bottom of the cut is flat. For a drawer front I'd dovetail it. But this is all personal preference, some people like hand cuting dovetails, and maybe box joints too.

[Hubert Carle]

you will have to check out this thread. It shows a box joint jig I use often. It is variable from nothing all the way up to 3/4 inch with micro adjust features. It was well worth making.

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=551

[Tim Wagner]

well I bought the box cutter blade and built the jig per instructions that came with it.

I make some sample joints 3/4 of an inch heavy, needless to say I think i was taking too much at one time because the basement filled up with smoke, I thought the wood would catch fire. plus the joints seem extremely tight. does this sound right? should they be real tight?

[Doug Shepard]

FWIW this months Wood Magazine has a pretty good article on making TS fingerboard jigs which also includes a method of cutting the fingers that make the sides reversible.

[Roy Hatch]

Looks like Doug beat me to it. While I was looking for my copy of Wood magazine, he responded. The issue to which he refers offers a great series of photos that make the procedure as clear as possible. Better than anyone could do with written instructions.

And here's a link to their video - http://www.woodmagazine.com/wood/file.jsp?item=video/player&temp=yes&bcpid=979295690&bclid=1243638292&bctid=1295326931

Roy

[Doug Shepard]

Also forgot to mention that the same Wood issue has one of the perennial "Which Joint is Stronger..." articles. The finger joints came out way stronger for drawer joints than any other joint.

[Al Garay]

After reading the Wood magazine, I found this at BT3Central, seems like a simple solution for making box joints. Watch the video.
http://us.oak-park.com/catalogue.html?list=boxj--&product=DVD20109

And here is the thread where CGallery made his own version of the box joint jig.
http://www.bt3central.com/showthread.php?t=30571&highlight=box+joint

has to go on my Christmas wish list.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

(a dado set will leave little "Bat Ears" in the corners)

Whose dado does that? I have three dado sets:
1.) 30 year old craftsman stacked dado with tiny side cutter teeth (when sharp it is a great dado~!!)
2.) A no name 4 cutter carbide tipped chippers that stack (purchased at discount at a show)
3.) the Hammer $450.00 carbide insert dado cutter.

None of them leaves bat wings.