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I am in the process of buying a router table, lift and fence. I would like to incorporate a box joint jig into my new set up. The Peachtree Woodworking and
Woodpeckers table tops use t-track to attach fence.......looks to me that could be an easy way to attach a box joint jig. Have any of you tried that?
I am strongly considering on Bosch 1617 and Jessum routrlift 2
I have the Jessem Table with the Rout-R-Lift II. Been using a Bosch 1617 for the past 8 years with acceptable results. I have used several box joint jigs, but currently use the IBOX box joint jig to very good results.
Any table should be able to accommodate any finger joint jig. I made a super small router table specifically set up finger joints with a fence which rides on a pair of TTracks, and I made my own jig setting it up for 1/4” slots and bought a cheap compact (DeWalt 611) router with a 1/4” bit. I make my own tool boxes. I prefer the table saw method but it’s hard to have that taken up with a dado setup, so I reluctantly use a router set up.
thomas how did you build that box joint jig for router table.....where did you add t-track
they have a video on you tube about making a sled for the router table for box joints not using any t tracks,,it looks good but i perfer to use a table saw myself
I've made a lot of boxes with box jointed corners. I tried doing it with a router table, but then moved to my table saw, because the table saw only cuts in one direction. A spinning router bit makes each cut of the joint in both a forward and a reverse cut at the same time, due to the rotation of the bit. This makes it difficult to reduce splintering of the cut edges because you really need a sacrificial backer on both sides of your work piece.
A table saw cuts in only one direction, so the use of a sacrificial backer is only necessary on the blade exit side of the wood. I use a blade or blade set with a FTG (Flat Tooth Grind to get nice clean and square box joint cuts. A FTG ripping blade with a 0.126" kerf works well for 1/8" box joints. The Freud SBOX8 blade set is actually two blades with 3/8" carbide teeth that are also FTG and the teeth are offset, so with the two blades installed with the printing out you get 1/4" and with the printing facing in you get 3/8" box joint cuts. The offset teeth of one blade fits into the gullets of the other blade when cutting the 1/4" box joints. There are other blade manufacturers making similar blade sets. I just happen to have the Freud set.
At one time I had about a dozen shop made box joint jigs of different sizes, but I bought an Incra I-Box jig almost as soon as they became available, after watching the inventor demonstrate how easily it could be calibrated and adjusted for any box joint between 1/8 and 1". All of my shop made box joint jigs went into the burn pile after I got my I-Box jig. Those old wooden jigs took up 4X the space in my small shop, so if for no other reason, I gained precious space in my shop, but the I-Box jig works so well that I prefer it anyway. It will work on both a router table or a table saw, and a sacrificial backer is part of the jig, but it only protects one side of the work from splintering, which is the saw blade exit side. To have a sacrificial backer on the opposite side of your work would require attaching it to your work piece before using the jig, and you would need a new sacrificial piece for every box joint that you cut, if you want to get the same results using a router table.
I was once told "you can't cut box joints in plywood", but I do it frequently with great results using Baltic Birch plywood, my table saw with a FTG blade, and my Incra I-Box jig. Here are a few examples.
Charley