Box Joint jig tip

[Dennis Aspö]

If you guys haven't seen this, this looks like a great jig for those of use without dado stacks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYxDXHGRRrk

It's been up a while but I haven't seen much said about it. I am currently half way through building this, I was going to build the Matthias Wandel box joint jig, but this one looks way simpler to build and I really like the cam idea. I also only really have one blade to cut with so I don't think I need different gear ratios. My blade is 3mm wide and with an M10 thread I get 1.5mm advancement per turn, so half my blade. That's a nice mathemtical setup.

There are comprehensive plans in the description, printed mine out and they are very helpful.

Here's what mine looks like so far:

[Doug Garson]

I saw that YouTube video a while ago and printed out the plans. I haven't had the time to build it yet so I'm interested in your results. Since I printed it out I also saw a similar but slightly different deign on Stumpy Nubs website. I'm undecided which design I like best. Look forward to your feedback once you finish it and test it out.

[Halgeir Wold]

Nice, Dennis, - I'll follow this one. The problem for us europeans, is for better or worse, dado stacks are more or less banned here in Euorpe. One can of course import one, but the it must also fit the arbor, which of course is mostly metric over here...

[Dennis Aspö]

I can find metric ones and they're legal to own, but my saw can't take one.

But from what I hear, people like who built similar jigs no longer bother taking out the dado stack. So my hope is this jig will make a dado stack obsolete for me.

Put a coat of varnish on most parts last night, I think it will be ready for a testdrive soon, my main issue I don't have any suitable material for runners unless plywood would work. Only have construction grade softwood lumber otherwise.

[Doug Garson]

If you can get some engineered hardwood flooring scraps or samples they are essentially plywood and can be ripped down to make runners. Other option could be UHMW plastic cutting boards. Runners are easily replaced so even if you use a less than ideal material you can always change them out when they wear.

[Dennis Aspö]

Hah this is a bit embarrassing but since my kerf didn't come out to 3mm and attempts to alter the cam to compensate somehow just ended up too complex I decided to just scrap the concept and disassembled the jig to save the materials for other use.

I bought the plans for Wandels box joint jig instead, this project let me realize just how useful it can be to have your own custom gear ratios, that way I can get any kind of widths easily regardless of kerf.