Box Joints

[Tom Bender]

Hand cutting joinery is one of the most rewarding activities. For dovetails I involve the table saw and the bandsaw a little but mostly it's a process of layout, sawing and chopping, followed by glue up , trimming and finishing. I'm in no hurry and refining the steps is satisfying.

Box joints are different. They seem like such a natural fit for table saw or router that I always go to one or the other. But it's always a struggle to get accurate and consistent results. I have made and had poor results with a few jigs over the years and usually think it would have been easier to cut them by hand. I should cut a set or two just for practice.

[David Carroll]

Were box joints ever made by hand? I've always assumed that they were developed with gang saws and dado blades in mind. I've seen folks do it by hand, but with the amount of work required, a typical dovetail joint would be preferable, I would think.

I think the jigs I have seen are fiddly, because they rely on registering one pin over with the socket you just cut, you can get an accumulating error. If you're off by a thousandth of an inch, then you are introducing a running error every notch you cut. So if you have, say 15 to do, then you will be off a 64th at the far edge. Doesn't sound like much, until you try to glue up. If you're working narrow boards, like for shallow boxes or drawers, it likely wouldn't matter too much. But for wider stuff it would.

DC

[steven c newman]

Have always done Box/Finger Joints with hand tools..
A Friday, fitting out, ready for finish.JPG

But, since I am never in a hurry, or in "Production Mode"

The "Machine Made Look" is rather boring.

[jack duren]

I’ve seen very few who can cut clean crisp lines hand cutting,

if your doing it by hand your ahead, I’ll just stick with the machine.

jig building…It has to be correct no matter what. When in commercial I must have a 100 jigs in the last 7 years. Residential is pretty straight forward and didn’t really need any.


hand cutting versus machine. It’s want versus need

[Richard Coers]

I rank box joints right in there with the pin and crescent joint. Part of the industrial revolution in woodworking. If you have to go through all the effort to lay out a joint for hand work, it might as well be a joint with mechanical strength in some direction.

[Ben Ellenberger]

I’ve thought about cutting box joints, but they’ve always struck me as basically dovetails with 90 degree sides so I’d cut them exactly the same as dovetails. It doesn’t seem like they would be any faster or easier and I like the way dovetails look. So, every time I’ve considered making a box joint I’ve just cut dovetails.

[Jimmy Harris]

As I understand it, the box joint was invented to be a dovetail joint that you can do on a machine, back before dovetail jigs and router bits were common. Basically a way to get "good enough" without spending a whole bunch of time/money.

If you're going to do it by hand, then dovetail joints are the way to go. They take about the same amount of effort and skill, but they create a stronger joint.

[Cameron Wood]

I just made this- the woodworking equivalent of a sketch.

IMG_4758.jpeg

[steven c newman]

Ever find a vintage shipping box? Wooden, note how the corners are done....Remington used to make their boxes with 1/8" fingers...

Machine made? yes, when you need a few Million boxes made....when you only need one or two? Well......

[David Carroll]

Ever find a vintage shipping box? Wooden, note how the corners are done....Remington used to make their boxes with 1/8" fingers...

Machine made? yes, when you need a few Million boxes made....when you only need one or two? Well......

I understand. I have several old crates, peaches, bleach, matches, and even an old Remington box with the 1/8-inch fingers!

But what I was wondering about in my earlier comment is, were box joints used prior to the invention of machine tools invented to cut them quickly and accurately? I can't recall, for example, 18th century furniture using box joints. Seems to me if you were to go through all of the trouble of laying out a box joint, you could just as easily make a dovetail joint. So I wonder if box joints were developed after gang-saws and pin routers and such.

Just curious.

DC

[Rob Luter]

I use a jig and a box joint blade for small ones. I'm planning an homage to Greene and Greene that will have some big hand cut versions.

[steven c newman]

The jig I use? Is just the same chisel that will be doing the chopping. It set the widths of each and every finger.

[Tom Bender]

Dovetails are nice but I think glued box joints can be stronger, they have more glue surface and they leave more wood across the base of the tails.

In some cases I have used a buried box joint. Don't know how to bury a dovetail.

Joinery 1.jpg

[Dave Zellers]

In some cases I have used a buried box joint. Don't know how to bury a dovetail.

Joinery 1.jpg

Oh my! Those fingers interlock inside the leg? I am seriously impressed. I love it. I want to do that before I die.