Mine are done by hand.....and about as fast as some of the powered jig set-ups out there.  

 

Wait until you try to do full blind MITERED box joints....BTDT....

3 hours ago, CharlieL said:

 In my opinion box joints turn out best with a dovetail jig using a box joint template and a router.

 

agreed...

Yeah, I would agree with that too. I have done it once or twice and set up was quick and easy.  I prefer to use dovetails over box joints because they by nature keeps box square and there is more wow factore in my opinion.

On 5/9/2017 at 1:08 PM, CharlieL said:

 In my opinion box joints turn out best with a dovetail jig using a box joint template and a router.

Uhhh, how you do that? Sounds interesting.

34 minutes ago, Gene Howe said:

Uhhh, how you do that? Sounds interesting.

 

Gene, I have a Porter-Cable 4112 Dovetail Jig. For this unit I bought 

The 4115 1/2" Box Joint Templet.

The 43318 1/2" Carbide Tipped Straight Bit (1/4" Shank),

or the 43057 1/2" Carbide Tipped Straight Bit (1/2" Shank).                                                                                   Instructions on how to make it all work are started in page 11 http://powertool.manualsonline.com/manuals/mfg/portercable/dovetail_fixturejig_instruction_model_4112_4113_4114_4115.html?p=11 , then go to page 12 for final instructions.

Edited May 11, 20179 yr by CharlieL

Aha, thanks Charlie. 

I've made box joints a few times.   They seem very fussy if you are off just a thou or two, by the time you get to the other edge of the board you have some fit problems.  (Like Everett Dirksen once said, "A billion here and a billion there and pretty soon you're talking real money.")

 

.  I did some once with an Incra jig and they turned out well.  Some friends made an elaborate jig with 3/8x16 threaded rod and you spin it and count the turns (my philosophy is every time you have an operation to do something like this introduces a chance for error, DAMHIKT).

 

I've done this one a few times and it seems to work well (trying to find it again on youtube yields an abundance of techniques and jigs)

 

2 hours ago, kmealy said:

I've made box joints a few times. They seem very fussy if you are off just a thou or two, by the time you get to the other edge of the board you have some fit problems.  (Like Everett Dirksen once said, "A billion here and a billion there and pretty soon you're talking real money.")

 

Thats one reason that I like the dovetail / box joint jig and a router. The box joint template for it has even spacing, plus as I mentioned before, I get flatter botton cuts with a router bit then I do with a circular dado blade set. It's been the easiest way for me to get a consistent all around best fit.

 

Edited May 11, 20179 yr by CharlieL

Hand cut..

Sometimes in Cherry, other times in Poplar

Width, and spacing of the fingers was set by the width of the chisel that was used.   Not all that hard to do, even I can do it..

The dovetail jig, the box joint template, and the router bit of course were of extra cost to me since I didn't have any of it before, but I did it economically, and was hoping to eventually recoup the cost. The Porter Cable 4112 is a entry level dovetail / box joint setup. To me the small investment was worth it in fit finish, and reduction of time spent to achieve a final product that I was going to try to market, small coin banks.

Edited May 11, 20179 yr by CharlieL