Box Making Joints

[Greg Fairweather]

I need help deciding which tool to use (easiest) to make box joinery with. I am mostly interested in dovetail and double dovetail joints, however I will also use mitered and splined corner joints. For all those who have used either the Wood Rat, Router Boss, Pantorouter, Multi-Router, or router table for these joints, please tell me your preferences.

Greg

[Carl Beckett]

I have a Woodrat and also a Wirth machine (similar to the panto/multi) and a router table/incra fence and a Leigh jig (I just sold the Leigh and listed the Wirth for sale).

I cut pins on the Woodrat then tails by hand (often times my pins are smaller than a router bit would allow). Or sometimes I just cut them all by hand and remove waste by eye with a palm router.

Double dovetails (contrasting wood?) I would think would show if something not spaced perfectly. If small pieces not sticking up in the air too high, it is hard to beat the Incra fence on the router table.

[Lisa Starr]

I had been using a dedicated table saw and jigs setup but recently acquired a WoodRat. The saw will soon be listed for sale.

[Scott Bernstein]

I'm a non-pro woodworker with a garage shop. I use the following tools for joinery: table saw, router boss, Leigh DR4 Pro dovetail jig, router table, and Pantorouter. For miter joints with or without splines I use the table saw. For box joints in relatively short pieces < 10-12 inches wide, the Pantorouter works great. For box joints in longer pieces, say 24" for example, I use the Router Boss. For dovetails I use the Leigh Jig. This will also do box joints and other types of dovetail-like joinery if you buy their extra templates. I find the setup for dovetails on the router boss (to do both pins and tails) to be much more time consuming than the Leigh jig. For simple, quick drawer boxes I sometimes use the router table to do lock-miter joints and these do seem to hold up very well. Obviously there is some overlap with the various machines and techniques I mentioned. I believe the WoodRat and Router Boss are really quite similar. I don't know if one is really better than the other. I actually mostly use my routerboss for making round legs or dowels with a motorized z-axis drive unit I ordered custom from Sherline for the machine.

[Greg Fairweather]

Thank you all for the replies. No real consensus yet. Most of my work will be in the 16" length x 4 " width if that matters at all.

[Scott Bernstein]

Well of course you can do anything with anything if you have creativity and time... Having said that, the table on the pantorouter is 12" wide so doing longer pieces than that would require you to move the piece and take multiple passes - this is opportunity to get things misaligned, so not great. Also the router based and router-table based dovetailing/box joint jigs can handle only certain lengths. My Leigh dovetail jig is 24" wide, so no problem there. Also the RouterBoss can handle long pieces, and box joints are pretty easy to do. Lastly doing box joints on the table saw with a simple box joint jig and dado stack (shop-made) is another method to do really long pieces.

On the other hand my Leigh dovetail jig, while able to handle pieces up to 24", is a bit of a one-trick pony. The pantorouter can do dovetails, box joints, mortise & tenon joinery, standard dowel joinery, integrated dowel joinery, slot mortising, horizontal router applications, such as raising panels, and pretty much anything else you can make a template for. Router boss similarly can do all sorts of things, but I purchased it mostly for box joints and utilizing it as a router-based, simple lathe.

[Charles Lent]

I have a Leigh D4R Pro jig for cutting dovetails, and one of their top guides for it for cutting box joints, but since getting an Incra I-Box jig I have only used the Leigh D4R for a few dovetail projects. I have gotten away from using the router for box joints and now only use my Unisaw and the I-Box jig when I want box joints. Most of the time I use a Freud SBOX8 blade set to cut 1/4 & 3/8" box joints, but found a Freud Ripping blade with a 0.126" square tooth design, so now use it for 1/8" box joints. I have used a DADO blade set, but only for large box joints where the uneven bottom of the cut doesn't show as much.

A router with a straight bit cuts in both directions as it passes through the work when making box joints, resulting in tear-out on the face side of the work when entering the cut, and on the back side of the work when the bit exits the cut. To avoid this, sacrificial backers can be used, but at least one of them needs to be replaced after each joint is cut, since it is difficult, if near impossible to repeat the positioning accurately enough to use them and get good results again.

A table saw cuts in one direction, so only one sacrificial backer is needed, and it is included in the Incra I-Box design. Since it remains in exactly the same position for each cut and the work piece moves, the saw blade goes through the sacrificial piece in exactly the same position every time, and no sacrificial piece is needed on the blade entry side of the work piece. It's only necessary to re-position the sacrificial piece to a blank position befor beginning the first cut of your project. It does not need to change if you don't change the blade set width or cutting height after that.

The attached photos show box joints that I've cut using my Unisaw, Freud SBOX8 blade set, and the I-Box jig. Even in Baltic Birch the cuts are perfect. I was once told "You can't cut box joints in plywood", but I do it in Baltic Birch plywood frequently with no problem using this combination of tools.

Charley

[Michael Schuch]

I am a big fan of lock miter joints. Basically cutting a miter and spline at the same time. ...if you have a shaper.

[Thomas Wilson]

One year, I did a short run of boxes with double box joints with contrasting woods for a decorative effect. Maybe 10 boxes, they were Christmas presents. I used an Incra fence with templates that came with the fence and followed the template recipe in the manual for the joint. I stacked and clamped a set of pieces together to make the operation more efficient and prevent tear out. The Incra fence system is not the fastest way to do this type of joint but it gives a lot of options. You can do single and double dovetails or box joints. Plus it is a good general purpose router table fence.

[Rob Luter]

I've done some hand cut dovetails and will do more, but the majority of my boxes either used box joints or miters and splines. I've used locking rabbet joints too. All were done on the table saw using shop made jigs. Mitered corners simplifies a lot of things. If I was to make large quantities of dovetailed boxes I'd think hard about one of the powered options you cite.

[Alan Lightstone]

I use the Incra I-box. Simple, and just works.

[Frank Pratt]

For finger, or box joints, William Ng has an excellent video on making a jig & using it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NutwD7B6tmE

I spent way too many hours on the subject & his was, by far, the easiest and simplest to build & use. I highly recommend his other videos as well. His approach to wood working seems to be to keep it simple yet accurate.

[Robert Engel]

I don't do many box joints b/c I've never been able to get one set up just right. Seems Mr. Ng and all the others make it look very easy. Got the I box jig & it is collecting dust. Too fiddly for me.

If memory serves, I think I figured out a trick and that was get the pin width set to about .003 under the blade, and the distance from the pins to the blade about .003 less.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I was once told "You can't cut box joints in plywood", but I do it in Baltic Birch plywood frequently with no problem using this combination of tools.

Charles - those boxes are a thing of beauty.

[mike stenson]

I don't do many box joints b/c I've never been able to get one set up just right. Seems Mr. Ng and all the others make it look very easy. Got the I box jig & it is collecting dust. Too fiddly for me.

If memory serves, I think I figured out a trick and that was get the pin width set to about .003 under the blade, and the distance from the pins to the blade about .003 less.

I have an I box jig. I don't use it. If I have to make box joints, a shop made jig has proven to be easier.