Building an adjustable box joint jig

Techniques

Building an adjustable box joint jig

With a scroll saw, you can cut all sorts of joints. But, when you need to cut several hundred fingers, such as the ones found in the Steampunk Box (found in Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts Summer 2018, Issue 71), the sheer number as well, as the precision required to make them all fit, is daunting. For projects like this, an indexing box joint jig on a table saw will speed up your work a hundredfold. To cut a notch that requires four cuts with a scroll saw, you make one or two cuts with the table saw. In Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts Winter/Spring 2016 (Issue 62), we explained how useful a table saw is for a scroll sawer, and listed our saw of choice for scrollers: the Saw Stop Jobsite Saw.

Woodworkers Journal tested a variety of commercial box joint jigs (www.woodworkersjournal.com/box-joint-jig-reviews/). But prices for those jigs ranged from $70 to $359. And while you can find a variety of plans for shop-made jigs, we really like this adjustable one by Ralph Bagnell, which was a part of the Best of Woodworkers Journal: Jigs and Fixtures for Tablesaws and Routers, available from Fox Chapel Publishing (www.FoxChapelPublishing.com). With basic woodworking tools, and a few common materials (see list below), you can make this jig, which will be the last box joint jig you’ll ever make.

Materials List

T x W x L
Base (1) 1/2 ” x 8″ x 14″
Fence (1) 1/2 ” x 6″ x 14″
Braces (2) 1/2 ” x 41/4 ” x 6″
Sliding Pin Block (1) 3/4 ” x 1″ x 21/4 “
Runners (2) 3∕8″ x 3/4 ” x 8″
Replaceable Backer (1) 1/4 ” x 11/2 ” x 8″
Clamping Screw (1) 1/4 ” x #20 x 13/4 “
Teenut (1) 1/4 ” x #20
Adjustment Screw (1) 1/4 ” x #20 x 53/4 “
Pin (1) Reinforcing strap
Knobs (2) Electrical connectors
Guard (1) 1/2 ” x 2″ x 4″

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