I recently purchased plans for an adjustable box joint jig.The pieces were all cut and the hardware assembled. I had an old miter gauge that hadn't been used in years, so it seemed logical to make use of it.. With dado blades installed in the TS and the new jig adjusted, I started testing it with scrap pieces of wood. At first it seemed OK with a little adjustment needed.  As I continued, it seemed like things were getting worse instead of better. I soon realized why the old miter gauge had been sitting idle for so long.The locking knob, holding the 90 degree angle wasn't securing it tightly, and the angle kept changing. It wasn't long before I realized that the changing angle had  caused cuts into the jig, making it worthless. After installing a washer under the tightening knob, the miter gauge worked fine, but the jig was a disaster.  

Another kink in the operation.  No fun spending useless time and believe me I have.  I guess it is try again time.  Good luck.

Sorry to hear about that Al, I can completely sympathize with you though! While I do not have a Miter story, I do have quite a few stories that involved not locking down the blade lift lock or the blade tilt lock, and while cutting a long run of duplicate pieces, I finally realize I ripped through two thirds of my lumber all the while the tilt was moving a hair, a wast of material and money, and a big loss of patience! I've done the same thing with the lift lock, I did not tighten that lock and made repetitious cuts, just to find out that my dadoes were getting shallower and shallower. It happens to all of us, it's a bad thing you had to ruin a good jig over it though, I feel your pain.

Sorry to hear your troubles,.Al. I think we all been there. I know I have

hopefully you only need to replace a few parts/pieces...

Like you and others I've been there done that. If it's the same jig I have it works very well and is worth repairing.

BTDT....No, wait...I never make mistakes.

Seriously Al, you have my sympathies. 

 

Been there / am there.  If I were doing commercial woodworking such mishaps would be terrible.  Since it's an absorbing hobby, I try to see error as having saved me from the need to come up with something new to make.  It's a case of journey vs. goal.

Guess it will have to chalked up as a learning experience .I'm sure the same mistake won't be made again, unless I have a senior moment. 

Sorry about the mishap. I know you were looking forward to getting it set-up and making some box joint boxes. I can't speak for anyone here, but I know I've had my share of "duh" moments. I do appreciate your willingness for sharing the error. It's a good reminder for us all to be sure everything is in order. Hopefully it can be repaired/salvaged with minimal cost.

Soo, just how does one use a jig like this?    Jig?   Maybe the "old way" is better....

It sucks, but if you walked out of the shop with the same number of fingers and quantity of blood that you walked in with, it wasn't truly a bad day, just frustrating.

Sorry you had the problem, but glad you were able to fine and fix it. I'm sure you will be running true box joints in short order.

I rather suspect that a sled will serve better for a box joint jig on a conventional TS.

 

When I make a project............that fails. Only God and I know and he don't tell anyone.  I don't either. A few of mine made great firewood. 

It's been some time since my original post on this topic. The box joint jig was eventually repaired. That said, it does seem to have a problem with some creep.  I had set it up and made several practice cuts. When I felt everything was good, I went ahead and cut the pieces of cherry for a box. By the time all eight corners had been cut, I could only fit 2 corners without problems. The other 2 corners fitted so tightly that the only way to get them together was with a mallet. The creep only seems to be about .003 . But as the fingers grew wider, the slots grew narrower, doubling the  problem. Maybe the adjustable idea wasn't such a good idea.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I assume you're talking about the Shopnotes issue 8 jig...?

 

Consider eliminating the miter gage and slap a couple of runners underneath...the more preciser the fit the more betterer the joint...(it does tie you to one table saw, however)