Box Joints, Any Size, Using Only A Standard Blade

After my dado blade broke, I needed a way to cut thicker box joints (aka finger joints) using only my standard rip blade. This video explains the method I developed to do that quickly and accurately. A text version of this description is available on my blog: blog.beerriot.com/2023/08/27/...
Link to a tutorial for how to make the jig: • How to Make Finger Joi...
Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:09 Initial Jig Setup
3:12 Initial Cuts
5:43 Second Jig Setup
6:37 Second Cuts
10:24 Fin Cleanup
12:04 Assembly
12:50 Wrap up discussion

[@MB-zj3er]

The sacrificial fence with the notch for the pin...how did I not think of that. 🤦‍♂ Thank you Sir! Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees.

[@b3arwithm3]

Very clever design that make this jig easy to make this reduce errors.

[@paulnye1899]

Hi Bryan, I did not mean my comment to be a negative one. Your idea is great but taking many more steps than making one from scratch. I gave you a thumbs up and look forward to more. Thanks

[@beerriot]

Ah, I see. Note that if you're making a different size of jig, you'll need a different size of blade. If you have a dado blade you can set up to cut the whole tooth gap at once, then yes, making a jig to match will mean far fewer steps to cut the joints. The technique in this video will get you by if you don't have such a blade.

[@seadoggozo-fishingguitarsa1837]

Easy to get a dado blade...unless it's illegal in your country 😂 like mine. I like this jig. Simple and effective. Thank you!

[@AusWorkshop]

My head hurts. But now, I just have to try this one day. Thanks for showing me what I always hoped to try figure out myself.

[@beerriot]

I found it to be one of those things that was confusing to plan, but relatively straightforward once I started making cuts. That's also the reason I decided to push discussion of partial teeth/gaps into a future video. Good luck!

[@jelias9247]

My table saw doesn’t hold a dado blade, so this was a really welcome video. Thank you so much for making it!

[@beerriot]

Awesome! So glad I could help. … and now I'm remembering that the joint that I showed right at the start of the video required a dado stack that was just barely too thick for the throat plate of my table saw at the time. I made the cuts without the plate installed. 😬 I wish I would have thought up this method at the time - it would have been much safer!

[@retiredtom1654]

Nice and simple (Once I get the hang of it). Most of us newbies have a difficult time getting the pins to match the mating slot. Nice easy jig!

[@paulnye1899]

Hi Bryan, Yes I have a DeWALT dado blade set and simply put the two outside blades together. Keep your videos coming. Thanks

[@chewbacca8748]

Excellent tutorial, you’ve got a great ability to explain things clearly. Subbed and look forward to more 👍

[@beerriot]

Thanks, Chewie! Hopefully I'll get some time to make one about those (literal) edge cases I mentioned soon.

[@skippylippy547]

Very nice video, thank you! 👍 I've used this method many times successfully. Then I noticed that I could cut two parts at the same time. I take part A and cut the first joint and move it onto the pin. I place part B flush against part A and the pin and cut all the rest of the joints together. Then I repeat with part C and D. This speeds up the process and I get equally good results. I stopped using metal throat plates and make my own plates out of MDF. It's stiffer than the thin metal plates and if the blade contacts the MDF plate for any reason the blade doesn't get damaged. It also gives me the option to cut zero clearance throats for any width blade, including my dado blades.

[@alrives]

Thanks for the video. Good luck with your channel.

[@beerriot]

Thanks! Glad you liked it.

[@diegoribotto161]

Wow! Grazie! Davvero molto interessante. Lo proverò

[@johnkanan5727]

I thought it was well done jig, thats, I also subscribed to you.👍

[@bobbg9041]

Stumpy nubs has a jig you can make to do this just by diling up setting without a dado blade. Go look him up. But this was cleverly done.

[@paulnye1899]

I have a joint jig that I made but want a smaller tooth one. Your video is very interesting but confusing. I think I'll just make a new jig. .

[@beerriot]

Thanks for watching. If you feel like describing what's confusing, I'll see if I can clarify. Or there's also a blog post with diagrams, if that would help: blog.beerriot.com/2023/08/27/box-joints-without-dado/

[@skiphughes7705]

I just want to know how you broke your dado blade

[@beerriot]

Short story: the metal throat plate shifted and came into contact with the blade. Long story: blog.beerriot.com/2023/08/15/dado-blade-explosion/

[@skiphughes7705]

@@beerriot ouch. I never use a throat plate with my dado blade. Now I know why

[@beerriot]

@@skiphughes7705 Yeah, looking back through older projects I remembered that was the choice I made on my previous table saw, that didn't have a plate for dado blades. Live and learn, I guess.

[@TuanBui-yp7oz]

Nice work figuring it out but man, little too much going on for my taste. I can see a lot of margin for a lot of errors to happen with this setup. Again, nice work.

[@fredcheekphx]

Quicker to make different jigs.

[@beerriot]

Different jigs would use a different blade. As stated in the video, and in the title, this is about using a plain rip blade, and thus also using the jig matched to it.