Working up a fingerjoint box generator --- ideas for features?

[William Adams]

Okay, I've been working on a parametric / customizable fingerjoint box generator:

cnc_fingerjointbox_lid.jpg

Thus far one can choose / set:

- dimensions
- number of finger joints (I'll be adding a check to see if they can be cut with the specified endmill)
- whether or no the box has a lid, and if so, the type: sliding (depicted in the above picture), rabbeted (is there a better term for this --- I mean the box has a rabbet around the outside and the lid has a rabbet around the inside), or hinged

Other customization options or features to add?

[Jim Becker]

Milling flat or with the pieces vertical? Flat will require dogbones. Milling vertical is essentially the same as using a traditional box joint jig.

[William Adams]

Vertical --- making a jig will be a part of the tutorial and 2.5D work.

[Brad Shipton]

Are you doing something different from Gerry? http://www.g-forcecnc.com/jc_tutorials.html

[William Adams]

It'll be opensource (the source is already available on the Carbide 3D forums), and I hope have a suitable array of features --- at this time it's going to be finger joints only (but I may do a similar tool for rabbeted boxes).

That's a good point, I should review the other available box generators and joint tools and see what has already been done.

[Brad Shipton]

I would keep it simple. Its not something I need since I have software that does this, but I was curious. I don't think Gerry charges much, and I believe he has put in a lot of effort to make it as easy as possible.

[Bob Falk]

Milling flat or with the pieces vertical? Flat will require dogbones. Milling vertical is essentially the same as using a traditional box joint jig.

Jim,
I know you just purchased a CaMaster.....you can set up a jig to mount pieces vertically, correct? Thanks, bob

[Jim Becker]

Jim,
I know you just purchased a CaMaster.....you can set up a jig to mount pieces vertically, correct? Thanks, bob

Yes, there are several ways to do this on a machine like mine or similar. One can create a vertical material holding setup somewhere in the middle of the table or off to the side. For the former, I'd probably do that toward the back of the usable machining surface since it would effectively have a hole/slot in the table. For the latter, there would be a limitation of board/panel width of the distance between the spindle center and the gantry vertical. Folks with a Camaster machine or similar that have the 4th axis setup have more room on the side for that option. In any case, there's a limit in the length of the workpiece because of the floor under the machine, unless you have it over a pit or something. I'd probably use a slot in the machine bed toward the back for this if I ever decided to cut box and/or dovetails on the CNC. There are some videos on YouTube where folks have done this and the results are very nice. Some folks have machines that support a "drop front" arrangement which allows for vertical work at the very front of the machine. I can't do that on my Stinger II because of the way the very heavy steel structure is designed and because the controller cabinet is also mounted on the front.

For any CNC machine, if you can position and clamp material vertically, you can create really nice box and dovetail joints. It's just a matter of figuring out what works for your particular machine.

[William Adams]

Okay, added another lid type (pinned) and thought of another feature (dividers) --- if nothing comes up after I implement the latter, we'll move on to the production aspect.

[Bob Falk]

Thanks Jim!