I forgot to mention that there is a box joint jig build video and there are also simple plans available for the jig that I used in this video. The build video is a long watch but it is step-by-step instructions on how to build it and how to use it. That video can be seen here: ua-cam.com/video/aiqpKV0OnGY/v-deo.html Happy drawer making!
This is the best video I've seen on making box joints using a jig on my table saw. There are tons of video's on UT about making them but they always just show one corner and not how to keep tops and bottoms level. Using your method of cutting two sides at one time and the pencil mark to show botttom is perfect. I usually always had to waste a couple pieces of wood to get them correct. Thank you very much.
I have watched several videos trying to figure out how to make ends of my box joint fit together. Your simple explanation on making the bottoms made everything come together. Thanks! I'm new to woodworking and all the other video's just didn't make it so simple. Thanks again, i really appreciate it!
I've watched a lot of videos on wood working lately because I want to start doing some stuff. I thoroughly enjoy yours and I hope you realize what a good teacher you are.
I am finding that a consistent way of marking my pieces makes me less prone to errors in cutting and assembly. I’d figured out that marks on the bottom of shelves don’t need to be sanded out but that’s a great tip. My marking system is a work in process …
I have been making box joints for forty years, using lever actuated and screw actuated jigs. I have built quite a number of these jigs, and I have to say your jig is the best. I really liked the tip regarding cutting the front and back pieces of the drawer first to hide the dado for the drawer bottom. Who said "you can't teach an old dog" Liked your presentation as well. Thank you. John G.
Excellent once again. I liked your videos from the very first one I saw. No junk, no language, great editing, good sound quality. You demonstrate an obvious quality and expertise of woodworking technique. Well done, and thank you. Jim
7:16 You mentioned that you cut the pieces loose, could you explain how that happens if you use your jig to cut the dado widths and use the key you have in the jig? Thanks much as always! Very informative.
Very well explained. This is the most complete and easily understood tutorial on box joint drawers I have seen. You are a great teacher. And, of course excellent craftsman. Thank you. G
I made a copy of your box joint jig and used it (with 3/4" dado blade) to make box joints on a cedar chest. It worked perfectly. Re box joints on a drawer -- seems like overkill. Most drawers I've seen fail when the flimsy bottom material traditionally trapped in grooves fails due to overloading. That's why I build drawers with a 1/2" baltic birch floor then set the walls on top. By connecting the drawer slides to the bottom, you get maximum strength where it's needed. By keeping the drawers closed when not being accessed, you can minimize the wisecracks from your buddies.
Just made my first attempt at a box joint (literally today) and realized a bit more research might be good. I am quite pleased I found your video showing how to do this (in a much simpler way than in the instructions for the router jig I bought). Heading back out to the shop now to give it a go. No doubt still plenty to learn, but your simple, common sense approach seems like a really good place to start. Thanks!
Excellent demonstration and very well explained. As someone not to sharp at woodworking i feel after seeing what you do and say helps me benefit in my venture in woodworking. Thank you for sharing ( Stay Safe ) .
i made a box joint a few months ago but had only used it a couple times. Worked great but didn't use it much. The tips in this video were really helpful for me to make the process go even smoother. Now i'm in the middle of making a whole bunch of new drawers for some shop projects. Thanks for the great video! 👊🏻
The helped me greatly. I was hung up on getting my key to be exactly the size of the kerf, but it doesn't need to be as long as you hook it like in your video here. Thanks!
True. The commercial jigs have various thickness kerfs, which avoids errors because they fit tightly into the cut slots. However, it isn’t necessary if you are careful to press the wood against the correct side of the kerf.
Another great vid Jodie , , clear and concise as usual, , , , BUT , , could you run this one by us again as Europeans, unable to obtain/use dado stacks- just single blade kerf cuts, , , I for one would love to see how YOU manage to keep it simple and objective 👍 thanks from the UK
Thanks. These seem like good instructions, and remove a lot o the complexity. It seems worth noting that always cutting the front/back first is based on these particular measurements. It has to be consistent, but if you change the measurements (finger width, bottom thickness, or bottom inset) you need to think about how the dado and fingers will interact. You'll want to change your offset to ensure that the dado falls within one finger, and not split between two, and may need to switch to cutting the sides first depending on how things line up.
I really enjoyed and followed your video, I have a Dewalt contractors table saw a cannot use a dado stack, would you please make the same video using a single blade. Thank you
I'm sure you won't read this by now...but thanks. Love you videos. You are an ace teacher! Can I just ask....on cutting the dado in the sides, front and back for the base to slide in to, could you not just run the 4 pieces through first to get the cut for the "bottom" of the base, then use an off cut of the base against the fence to reference against, to get the exact width of dado that you require, instead of doing a test cut and fit? I am new fairly new to wood working so I hope that my description makes sense...
Box joint are great for making drawers. I've built a dresser with 1/2" shop grade plywood for the drawers. Using box joint on the front and a dado for the rear joint and dowels it. Dresser is working fine since 1997.
Yes and no on it not mattering how high the drawer is. If you leave about 1/100" extra room in the notches versus the tongues, the imprecision and friction will build up to the point that 1 foot tall is about the maximum, depending on your particular jig.
Great video! Marking the bottoms as reference points is a great ‘hack’ - thank you! That makes it so clear. One thing that did confuse me a bit is that at 3:42 and again at 4:01 you say “top mark” instead of “bottom mark” while you’re setting up the cuts.
Sorry about that. I caught that when I edited as well but I was so pressed for time that I didn't have time to correct it afterwards. I think I said "top" because I picked them up with the mark facing up so in my head I got it mixed up. But yeah, if you mark the bottoms and then always keep that mark towards the key or the fence you should be good to go!
Nice job, nice jig. I'm surprised no one has said "drawers don't get made using finger joints". They don't have the mechanical joint that a dovetail joint offers. When the glue fails, so will the drawer.
Well, crap. I have good tools and thanks to you I have outstanding instructions even I can follow ("plus 1/32" for glue" even), so now the only thing left I can blame my mistakes on going forward is my own incompetence. I hope you're happy.
What if you don't want a false front to the drawer? I want to show off the box jointing! Your system is solid and a perfect way to demo how to do this. My problem is running all pieces over the saw to make the rebate for the base. My solution is to create a matching peg to then hide that hole. It's precise work but I'd rather not waste my material on false fronts. Cool vid though man!
Thank you. Loose fitting joints would mean the pins are two small and the key would have to be scooted a little farther away from the blade. On the jig there is a micro adjustable block on one end to make measurable small adjustments. I made a whole video on the jig build and covered that near the end of the video. It's a long video but you could skip to the last third or so to see how to adjust for too loose or too tight fitment. ua-cam.com/video/aiqpKV0OnGY/v-deo.html
Your videos are outstanding. The explanations are very clear and concise. You mentioned that your joints were too loose. What do you need to do to make them tighter?
Thank you. To make them tighter I would just adjust the key on the jig. Too loose fitting and I would move it away from the blade. Too tight and I would move it in closer. I made the jig myself which can be seen here: ua-cam.com/video/aiqpKV0OnGY/v-deo.html. It's a long watch but if you can't watch the whole thing skip towards the last half of the video to see how to use it and adjust it.
Well disregard... the UA-cam overlords must have read my comment and put the very video I was asking about at the top of the page when I went back to the homepage. I look forward to checking it out! Keep up the good work.
Hello, I just downloaded your Box joint jig instructions. I want to build 1/2” thick kitchen drawers. My question is what size finger cuts to make for 1/2” material? I never heard that addressed.
Is there any reason not to cut the dado for the drawer bottom before cutting sides to length? I’m a newbie and so far that’s the method I’ve been using… I was just wondering…
@InspireWoodcraft - I've watched both videos, the build and the use - excellent stuff. Here's what I'm unclear about - I want to use undermount slides, which means 1/2" space required under the drawer bottom. Next, I want to use 1/2" bottom material because these are very wide drawers. How would I set this up, in order to not have the drawer bottom groove show on the sides? Is it as simple as just making the dado blade wider (lets just say 5/8") to ensure that when cutting the dado groove for the bottom (which WILL be 1/2") that it ends up correctly? My thinking is the drawer bottom material has to be at least thinner than the box joint dimension?
Being a complete beginner, I have a question about using this technique to actually make a box rather than a draw. When the draw is made, there is always going to be a gap showing where the flat piece of the draw is inserted into the surrounding sides. In one case this was hidden by a false front, the other end was at the back of the draw and so didn't matter. But, what if I wanted to make an actual box? I would still need apiece of wood for the bottom of the box and, because it's a box, all the gaps would be visible. So, my question is, what is the best way to fill in those gaps? Do I simply use a wood filler and try to make it look as though it isn't actually a gap? Or, is there some other technique such that the gaps will either not show, or can be filled in somehow? Thanks to anyone who can help out this old guy who is just rediscovering the joy of working with wood. 👍
Hi, As advised I cut all the sides first including the captured bottom groove however, upon assembly the notch was on the sides rather than the front & back. I noticed in the comments this issue has been raised several times without reply. So I'm hoping you could just comment on what the problem is for those with the same problem. Other than that I really like the instruction and work you do. Kind regards - Sam
By adjusting the block on the end of the jig. If you look at where my right hand is on the jig, there is an adjustable block there that can be dialed in to the thousands of an inch. I made a separate video on the jig itself. It's a long watch, but it covers every little detail on how to make it, how it works, and how to use it. If you have the time, the video is here: ua-cam.com/video/aiqpKV0OnGY/v-deo.html
@@InspireWoodcraft its because the guard and riving knife need to be removed in order to use a dado stack. I believe even the arbor or table saws sold in the Eu are shorter than ones sold in the US
@@Tboji I heard that the saws over there have a mandatory "brake" which stops the blade quickly when you shut the saw off, and that can allegedly loosen the arbor bolt on the dado stack. Ironic that somewhere as litigious as the US allows for purchasing of the danger dado stack!
Its simply because to comply with workplace regulations the saw has to be guarded at all times. I think you can get away with it if its an overhead guard (one not bolted to the riving knife) but they aren't standard or cheap. We just use a router instead.
Timo - I see no reason why a dado stack is essential. I think that the jig would work with a single blade - it would just need to take multiple passes to create each joint. I intend to buy a flat-top blade and build this jig.
Jody ...congrats on discovering metric ...good for yer weight...but the waist size is a problem...if yer a 36” belt ...you are now asking for a 110 cm belt....what goes around, comes around ...best regards JPM courtauly France ....
Jody, this video is the only video I have seen that actually explains the COMPLETE process for cutting all the joints in the box. Your explanation of the orientation of the pieces was the key information I was missing. Awesome! FWIW, this is the post I created on Lumberjocks that led me to your video: www.lumberjocks.com/topics/317802. Thanks again!!!
I forgot to mention that there is a box joint jig build video and there are also simple plans available for the jig that I used in this video. The build video is a long watch but it is step-by-step instructions on how to build it and how to use it. That video can be seen here: ua-cam.com/video/aiqpKV0OnGY/v-deo.html Happy drawer making!
I was just about to ask if you would mind making one. Thanks
Ur mail id plz
Mark on the bottom is the easiest yet most concise explanation ever! Nice job.
A method often made more complicated by the explanation. You've made it simple. Very will explained. Thanks.
This is the best video I've seen on making box joints using a jig on my table saw. There are tons of video's on UT about making them but they always just show one corner and not how to keep tops and bottoms level. Using your method of cutting two sides at one time and the pencil mark to show botttom is perfect. I usually always had to waste a couple pieces of wood to get them correct. Thank you very much.
I have watched several videos trying to figure out how to make ends of my box joint fit together. Your simple explanation on making the bottoms made everything come together. Thanks! I'm new to woodworking and all the other video's just didn't make it so simple. Thanks again, i really appreciate it!
This is by far the BEST demonstration I've seen on building drawer boxes. Thank you so much for this video. You are an awesome instructor!
I've watched a lot of videos on wood working lately because I want to start doing some stuff. I thoroughly enjoy yours and I hope you realize what a good teacher you are.
Best learning video's on youtube. Thanks for them all, no music or bull, thanks Jody. I'll watch all you put out.
Thanks so much for the simplest explanation out there as to how to align and cut pieces. I will always remember “the mark always faces the key”.
I am finding that a consistent way of marking my pieces makes me less prone to errors in cutting and assembly. I’d figured out that marks on the bottom of shelves don’t need to be sanded out but that’s a great tip. My marking system is a work in process …
Got it!! I had to fiddle around with the position of the pin so that the sides would come together. Got it figured out. Thank you!!
I have been making box joints for forty years, using lever actuated and screw actuated jigs. I have built quite a number of these jigs, and I have to say your jig is the best. I really liked the tip regarding cutting the front and back pieces of the drawer first to hide the dado for the drawer bottom. Who said "you can't teach an old dog" Liked your presentation as well. Thank you. John G.
Excellent once again. I liked your videos from the very first one I saw. No junk, no language, great editing, good sound quality. You demonstrate an obvious quality and expertise of woodworking technique. Well done, and thank you. Jim
Thank YOU, Jim!
Great video.
Every other one on UA-cam says you have to have the key the same size as your cut. This looks so much easier
7:16 You mentioned that you cut the pieces loose, could you explain how that happens if you use your jig to cut the dado widths and use the key you have in the jig?
Thanks much as always! Very informative.
He also mentioned the 'microadjuster' - see the jig build video for details.
Very well explained. This is the most complete and easily understood tutorial on box joint drawers I have seen. You are a great teacher. And, of course excellent craftsman. Thank you. G
I made a copy of your box joint jig and used it (with 3/4" dado blade) to make box joints on a cedar chest. It worked perfectly. Re box joints on a drawer -- seems like overkill. Most drawers I've seen fail when the flimsy bottom material traditionally trapped in grooves fails due to overloading. That's why I build drawers with a 1/2" baltic birch floor then set the walls on top. By connecting the drawer slides to the bottom, you get maximum strength where it's needed. By keeping the drawers closed when not being accessed, you can minimize the wisecracks from your buddies.
OUTSTANDING, well done. Now I need to make that jig.
USN Ret.
Excellent video that takes a lot of the mystery out making drawers, for novices such as myself. THANKS!!
Bud, what a great way to teach people how to build drawers. Super simple and well explained.
Just made my first attempt at a box joint (literally today) and realized a bit more research might be good. I am quite pleased I found your video showing how to do this (in a much simpler way than in the instructions for the router jig I bought). Heading back out to the shop now to give it a go. No doubt still plenty to learn, but your simple, common sense approach seems like a really good place to start. Thanks!
Excellent demonstration and very well explained. As someone not to sharp at woodworking i feel after seeing what you do and say helps me benefit in my venture in woodworking. Thank you for sharing ( Stay Safe ) .
May God Almighty continue to bless you outstanding work young man 🙏🙏👍👍
Info just in time for my shop drawer project. Thanks so much.
YES!
This is the Best video of finger joints.
Saw that ''micro adjustment'' in another of your videos. Great Idea!!! I never thought I'd need a set of feeler gauges in my shop, YES I DO!!
Perfect timing to see this video. You made the task seem very approachable. Thank you very much.
Thank you for this video. I have been really confused on which direction to face my cuts.👍👍
Very clear and very easy to understand, have used your technique ever since!! 👌🏻👌🏻💎
I'm so impressed of how clear you explained everything, even in your other videos, I get it right away. Thanks for sharing.
Terrific video. Clear and concise. An absolute pleasure to watch.
i made a box joint a few months ago but had only used it a couple times. Worked great but didn't use it much. The tips in this video were really helpful for me to make the process go even smoother. Now i'm in the middle of making a whole bunch of new drawers for some shop projects. Thanks for the great video! 👊🏻
Straight and to the point. Love your way of teaching. Thanks so much for sharing
Thank you ...great info ...smart and simple...quick and easy...thanks again...
I wished that I had watched this before building my box yesterday. Ended up with a non-matching corner. Your method would have easily prevented that.
Good video. System is adaptable to any size drawer. 👍
I love how explain things, you make it very simple and clear, thank you
Good take on a classic joint, thanks for sharing
You’ve a talent for clear and linear explanations. Excellent video
The helped me greatly. I was hung up on getting my key to be exactly the size of the kerf, but it doesn't need to be as long as you hook it like in your video here. Thanks!
True. The commercial jigs have various thickness kerfs, which avoids errors because they fit tightly into the cut slots. However, it isn’t necessary if you are careful to press the wood against the correct side of the kerf.
Nice video thanks for sharing have a blessed day
Another great vid Jodie , , clear and concise as usual, , , , BUT , , could you run this one by us again as Europeans, unable to obtain/use dado stacks- just single blade kerf cuts, , , I for one would love to see how YOU manage to keep it simple and objective 👍 thanks from the UK
Thanks. These seem like good instructions, and remove a lot o the complexity. It seems worth noting that always cutting the front/back first is based on these particular measurements. It has to be consistent, but if you change the measurements (finger width, bottom thickness, or bottom inset) you need to think about how the dado and fingers will interact. You'll want to change your offset to ensure that the dado falls within one finger, and not split between two, and may need to switch to cutting the sides first depending on how things line up.
I really enjoyed and followed your video, I have a Dewalt contractors table saw a cannot use a dado stack, would you please make the same video using a single blade. Thank you
I'm sure you won't read this by now...but thanks. Love you videos. You are an ace teacher! Can I just ask....on cutting the dado in the sides, front and back for the base to slide in to, could you not just run the 4 pieces through first to get the cut for the "bottom" of the base, then use an off cut of the base against the fence to reference against, to get the exact width of dado that you require, instead of doing a test cut and fit? I am new fairly new to wood working so I hope that my description makes sense...
Great video 📹
Good to see you Bro. Hope all are well. This video is very helpful thanks.
Consistently excellent content and explanation, as we always expect from you. Thanks!
Good instructions! Thanks!
Thank you for that mate. I enjoy your easy to follow explanations. Keep up the good work
Really simple...thanks for sharing!
Thank you, great job explaining it clearly
Thanks for this! I made your jig (purchased the plans) which works great but couldn't get my boxes to come out. This should do it.
Box joint are great for making drawers. I've built a dresser with 1/2" shop grade plywood for the drawers. Using box joint on the front and a dado for the rear joint and dowels it. Dresser is working fine since 1997.
Yes and no on it not mattering how high the drawer is. If you leave about 1/100" extra room in the notches versus the tongues, the imprecision and friction will build up to the point that 1 foot tall is about the maximum, depending on your particular jig.
Great video! Marking the bottoms as reference points is a great ‘hack’ - thank you! That makes it so clear. One thing that did confuse me a bit is that at 3:42 and again at 4:01 you say “top mark” instead of “bottom mark” while you’re setting up the cuts.
Sorry about that. I caught that when I edited as well but I was so pressed for time that I didn't have time to correct it afterwards. I think I said "top" because I picked them up with the mark facing up so in my head I got it mixed up. But yeah, if you mark the bottoms and then always keep that mark towards the key or the fence you should be good to go!
Nice job, nice jig. I'm surprised no one has said "drawers don't get made using finger joints". They don't have the mechanical joint that a dovetail joint offers. When the glue fails, so will the drawer.
excellent video!
Well, crap. I have good tools and thanks to you I have outstanding instructions even I can follow ("plus 1/32" for glue" even), so now the only thing left I can blame my mistakes on going forward is my own incompetence.
I hope you're happy.
Perfectly explained thank you very much 🤗
What if you don't want a false front to the drawer? I want to show off the box jointing! Your system is solid and a perfect way to demo how to do this. My problem is running all pieces over the saw to make the rebate for the base. My solution is to create a matching peg to then hide that hole. It's precise work but I'd rather not waste my material on false fronts. Cool vid though man!
Great demonstration. How would you correct for loose fitting joints?
Thank you. Loose fitting joints would mean the pins are two small and the key would have to be scooted a little farther away from the blade. On the jig there is a micro adjustable block on one end to make measurable small adjustments. I made a whole video on the jig build and covered that near the end of the video. It's a long video but you could skip to the last third or so to see how to adjust for too loose or too tight fitment. ua-cam.com/video/aiqpKV0OnGY/v-deo.html
Great explanation method and technique! Thanks for the video and I'm definitely watching the jig build video as well.
New Subscriber..
Can you make box joints on a "solid" drawer front? Good video, thanks.
wow so simple thanks
Nice tutorial!
thanks
Do you have a video showing how to make the jig?
Yes! I forgot to mention it in the video. It's a long watch but it's step by step. ua-cam.com/video/aiqpKV0OnGY/v-deo.html
Fantastic tips, dude! Thanks a lot!!! 😃
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Rill vid ,can this be done with a single blade.kindest regards tim
Your videos are outstanding. The explanations are very clear and concise. You mentioned that your joints were too loose. What do you need to do to make them tighter?
Thank you. To make them tighter I would just adjust the key on the jig. Too loose fitting and I would move it away from the blade. Too tight and I would move it in closer. I made the jig myself which can be seen here: ua-cam.com/video/aiqpKV0OnGY/v-deo.html. It's a long watch but if you can't watch the whole thing skip towards the last half of the video to see how to use it and adjust it.
That was good. Thanks. There must be a way to make a box without showing the cut outs for the bottom. I'd like to find it.
Dude, this is awesome!! Now, about that box joint jig... do you have a video of how you made it? Thanks
Well disregard... the UA-cam overlords must have read my comment and put the very video I was asking about at the top of the page when I went back to the homepage. I look forward to checking it out! Keep up the good work.
I like it!
Hello, I just downloaded your Box joint jig instructions. I want to build 1/2” thick kitchen drawers. My question is what size finger cuts to make for 1/2” material? I never heard that addressed.
Is there a way to cut the bottom dado for the bottom, without having the little gaps at the front and bock of the box?
very cool!!
Well taught!
Can you use the dado blade safely to make a spline like you do with a single blade now?
It would probably be an intimidating endeavor but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
Is there any reason not to cut the dado for the drawer bottom before cutting sides to length? I’m a newbie and so far that’s the method I’ve been using… I was just wondering…
Great video, can't wait to make one. What double sided tape do you use?
I get mine here: lddy.no/m666. There is a whole assortment of sizes. It's always good to have options!
Love your content!
Awsome thx
@InspireWoodcraft - I've watched both videos, the build and the use - excellent stuff. Here's what I'm unclear about - I want to use undermount slides, which means 1/2" space required under the drawer bottom. Next, I want to use 1/2" bottom material because these are very wide drawers. How would I set this up, in order to not have the drawer bottom groove show on the sides? Is it as simple as just making the dado blade wider (lets just say 5/8") to ensure that when cutting the dado groove for the bottom (which WILL be 1/2") that it ends up correctly? My thinking is the drawer bottom material has to be at least thinner than the box joint dimension?
GOOD STUFF
You might want to wrap the pieces together with blue tape to keep them aligned when cutting the box joints.
Yeah that's a good idea too. Thanks for mentioning!
Being a complete beginner, I have a question about using this technique to actually make a box rather than a draw.
When the draw is made, there is always going to be a gap showing where the flat piece of the draw is inserted into the surrounding sides. In one case this was hidden by a false front, the other end was at the back of the draw and so didn't matter.
But, what if I wanted to make an actual box? I would still need apiece of wood for the bottom of the box and, because it's a box, all the gaps would be visible.
So, my question is, what is the best way to fill in those gaps? Do I simply use a wood filler and try to make it look as though it isn't actually a gap? Or, is there some other technique such that the gaps will either not show, or can be filled in somehow?
Thanks to anyone who can help out this old guy who is just rediscovering the joy of working with wood. 👍
Great video... show us the jig pls.
Thank you. The build video for the jig can be seen here: ua-cam.com/video/aiqpKV0OnGY/v-deo.html
Hi, As advised I cut all the sides first including the captured bottom groove however, upon assembly the notch was on the sides rather than the front & back. I noticed in the comments this issue has been raised several times without reply. So I'm hoping you could just comment on what the problem is for those with the same problem. Other than that I really like the instruction and work you do. Kind regards - Sam
in Europe it is not that simple to get dado blades und my litle saw would just die :)
is there a "simple way" to do it just with a normal saw blade
WHY did it end up loose? Because the dado width didn't match the jig key width???
But how do you get uniformed size fingers?
By adjusting the block on the end of the jig. If you look at where my right hand is on the jig, there is an adjustable block there that can be dialed in to the thousands of an inch. I made a separate video on the jig itself. It's a long watch, but it covers every little detail on how to make it, how it works, and how to use it. If you have the time, the video is here: ua-cam.com/video/aiqpKV0OnGY/v-deo.html
Man, it sucks dado’s aren’t available in Europe
Agreed! What is the deal with that anyway?
@@InspireWoodcraft its because the guard and riving knife need to be removed in order to use a dado stack. I believe even the arbor or table saws sold in the Eu are shorter than ones sold in the US
@@Tboji I heard that the saws over there have a mandatory "brake" which stops the blade quickly when you shut the saw off, and that can allegedly loosen the arbor bolt on the dado stack. Ironic that somewhere as litigious as the US allows for purchasing of the danger dado stack!
Its simply because to comply with workplace regulations the saw has to be guarded at all times. I think you can get away with it if its an overhead guard (one not bolted to the riving knife) but they aren't standard or cheap. We just use a router instead.
Timo - I see no reason why a dado stack is essential. I think that the jig would work with a single blade - it would just need to take multiple passes to create each joint. I intend to buy a flat-top blade and build this jig.
What is the width of your key?
1/4"
It's never a good idea to introduce your side pieces to each other. I kid!
Jody ...congrats on discovering metric ...good for yer weight...but the waist size is a problem...if yer a 36” belt ...you are now asking for a 110 cm belt....what goes around, comes around ...best regards JPM courtauly France ....
Jody, this video is the only video I have seen that actually explains the COMPLETE process for cutting all the joints in the box. Your explanation of the orientation of the pieces was the key information I was missing. Awesome! FWIW, this is the post I created on Lumberjocks that led me to your video: www.lumberjocks.com/topics/317802. Thanks again!!!