Lynn Sabin's Box Joint Jig

[J. Z. Guest]

Every now & then, a post comes up regarding box joint jigs. Everyone posts their regular old box joint jigs, not that there's anything wrong with them, of course.

But this one seems much more flexible to me. There's no cumulative error, and the spacing can change from one project to the next with no changes to the jig.

Plans & photos are hosted by the LeeWay Workshop the address below.
http://www.leestyron.com/lynnjig.php

I recommend saving the photos, text and plan to your hard drive, as the site hosting this plan disappears from time to time. I couldn't find it for a year or so there...

[Lee Styron]

Hi Jeremy.
Thanks for the link. My site doesn't actually disappear for that long at a time. ;)
It does go out for a few minutes each week. It was a little worse with my old provider.
The original host of these plans let his website go down for personal reasons.
I host it for posterity and I add my own little flavor to the newer version.
It is a sweet jig and well worth building, I think. Not my original design of course. It is however extremely accurate for many different sized fingers.

[Jeff Bratt]

I've always wondered about Lynn's Jig. How is it better than the traditional method - a key sticking out of a fence? The crucial detail in good fitting box joints is adjusting the finger width to the slot width - which is determined by the cutter used (saw blade, dado stack, or router bit). How is joint fit adjusted when using Lynn's Jig? Also, in the assembled joints shown on the pages, the sides do not match at all. Since all the pieces are cut at once, and two are reversed for assembly, I see how this happens - but what makes this a better way?

I've never used this type of jig - I'm looking for enlightenment...

[Lee Styron]

I have made some nicer boxes and drawers with this. I just never had a good camera at that time. The accuracy is all determined by rotations of the handle. 1 turn is a 1/16". There are formulas there that will help with the layout of when to cut and when to turn and how many for given finger sizes.

The joints I show on that page were just scrap.
If you cut the parts to the width you want for the height, just make sure it is a multiple of your finger width.
They will then come out just right when cutting all four sides at once.

It all looks rather complicated, but really it is very simple and very accurate. It can also be used on a router table.

[Ralph Barhorst]

I made one of these several years ago and they work great. Make sure that you use a 1/8" thick blade on your table saw. The first time I used my jig, I used a thin kerf blade and had problems getting the spacing right.

[Lonnie Cook]

I use Lynn's Jig for cutting box joints and for cutting dovetails on my table saw. I use a dado blade for box joints and for pins on dovetails - to save some knob turning.

The jig can make variable spaced dovetails. Just keep track of the knob turns for both pins and tails.

Here are some of the results ...

Bed Stool 3/4
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s50/lonnieinorlando/WoodWorking/Projects/BedstoolOak3-4600.jpg

Bed Stool dovetails
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s50/lonnieinorlando/WoodWorking/Projects/DoveT.jpg

Candle Box walnut #1
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s50/lonnieinorlando/WoodWorking/Projects/Walnut1-e640.jpg

Candle Box walnut #2
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s50/lonnieinorlando/WoodWorking/Projects/Walnut2-e640.jpg

Candle Box walnut #3
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s50/lonnieinorlando/WoodWorking/Projects/Walnut3-a640.jpg

Candle Box cherry #1
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s50/lonnieinorlando/WoodWorking/Projects/Cherry1-b720.jpg

Candle Box cherry #2
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s50/lonnieinorlando/WoodWorking/Projects/Cherry2-d640.jpg

- Lonnie

[Don Dorn]

How do you do pins with the Lynn's Jig? I made one years ago and don't use it a whole lot, but it does work well. I can't figure out your pin arrangement because it seems that the face would have to be at an angle to the blade. I'm missing something - help me out.

[anthony clark]

Lonnie
Beautiful work on all of them.
Really like the walnut candle box.

[Lonnie Cook]

>> Don:

You're right. The jig is clamped to the miter fence. To make the pins, the miter fence is angled to the blade. A dado blade is much faster for cutting the pins than a standard blade. Almost no handwork required for fitting and cleaning out between the pins.

Two ways to cut the pins ...

Method 1:
Miter fence at +7deg (or whatever), blade bevel at 0deg. Cut one side of the pins, plus remove some of the waste between pins.
Then move the miter fence to -7deg and cut the other side of the pins, plus the remainder of the waste.

Method 2:
Miter fence at +7deg, blade bevel at 0deg. Cut one side of the pins, plus remove some of the waste between pins.
Then leave the miter fence at +7deg, and flip the workpiece. Cut the other side of the pins, plus the remainder of the waste.

Make a few test cuts to see which method you prefer. Also experiment to learn how to count turns to move the blade to make matched cuts for pins and tails.

To confirm the blade and miter position for tail cuts ...
Thin kerf blade. Blade at 7deg bevel, miter fence at 0deg.
Cut one side of tails. Flip the workpiece. Cut the other side of the tails. The blade will not make a clean 7deg angle in the edge of the waste to receive the pin. Chop out waste with a chisel. A scroll saw may help remove the waste, too.

I cut the tails first. Then sneak up on the first side of the pin cut. After that, count turns based on the turn-count used to cut the tails. The "flip" method of cutting pins may be easier to match up to the tails.

>> Anthony:
Thanks for the compliment. Actually there are three walnut boxes. One with rolled pull top and three pins. One with straight edged top and three pins. One with straight edged top and five pins. Two different cherry boxes with box joints. I made all of them a few years ago. Dovetails, box joints, and coved tops made on the table saw. They went together pretty easily, once I learned the format.

Box Joint Tip --

Use a dado blade to make box joints. Experiment adding shims to make joints that fit well with full-turns of the knob. Record the shims used. Then future setups will be a breeze.

- Lonnie

[Fayette Thornal]

I have made some nicer boxes and drawers with this. I just never had a good camera at that time. The accuracy is all determined by rotations of the handle. 1 turn is a 1/16". There are formulas there that will help with the layout of when to cut and when to turn and how many for given finger sizes.

http://www.leestyron.com/chesstable1.php


The above website does not work and I would like a copy of the plans you used to make the finger joint jig. Can you help me out?

[John McClanahan]

I can't get the links to work, either. Stop teasing us! :D:D

John

[Daniel Smith]

This thread is about 5 years old, so that might explain the dead link. I was curious about the jig too and a Google search of "Lynn's jig" gets plenty of relevant results.

[John McClanahan]

Here is the current link to the plans.

http://www.thesharkguard.com/lynnjig.php