to quell or to add fuel to the fire er discussion what do you guys say...

is this a box joint or a finger joint or both???

 

  

 

and this one.. finger joint only???

 

 

The top one is a box joint, the lower one a finger joint. But the top one is often called a finger joint....no big deal to me. Can't say that I've ever heard the lower called a box joint, tho'.

I know the top one is called both but can it realistically be both...

this one could muddy the waters...

 

.

Hmmm, neat discussion Stick, assuming nobody Googles this question, we could keep this one going for a while!

I am thinking out of the box on this one, perhaps the terminology is interchangeable depending on the use of the joints? If either joint is used to join two boards together to form one board, then could they both be called finger joints?

 

But only one joint between the two could actually make a box, so in that case it could only be called a box joint. So your first image, and the image in the last post you made, could both be used to make a box, so in that case, they'd be called box joints.

 

The last image you posted, could be used to make a box, and a single board, in which case it's both a finger and box joint. MHO

16 minutes ago, John Morris said:

The last image you posted,

that method isn't used too often unless a contrast is desired...

 

If you interlock your hands with your finger tips towards your palms,( this is the church this is the steeple) and look at the knuckle side of your hands

  it will look just like the finger joint in the picture. Might be where the phrase comes from.

 

6 minutes ago, Stick486 said:

that method isn't used too often unless a contrast is desired...

 

Or if the tooling is limited in a typical home shop? I don't know of any home shop owner that has the tooling necessary to create the pointy finger joint thingamajig. But most of us could join two boards together using the traditional box joint or as in your last image.

 

EDIT: I take it back, it's just a router bit that creates that pointy finger joint.

6 minutes ago, John Morris said:

Or if the tooling is limited in a typical home shop? I don't know of any home shop owner that has the tooling necessary to create the pointy finger joint thingamajig. But most of us could join two boards together using the traditional box joint or as in your last image.

I thought everybody eventually acquired one of these or a variation there of......

it's an invaluable addition to the arsenal..

 

it's counter tooling...

 

14 minutes ago, Stick486 said:

I thought everybody eventually acquired one of these or a variation there of......

it's an invaluable addition to the arsenal..

I've never required one of those router bits Stick. But the Pointy finger joint is what I was talking about though as far as folks not having the ability to make that factory joint, but I was wrong, I found there is also a router bit for those too! Pretty cool.

I have made box joints in the past for making "boxes" but I used my Keller DT jig I inherited from dad, he used it to make his bee hive boxes. I have also made box joints on the table saw, but really, I just never really had a need to make them but just a few times, so I never invested in any "specialty tooling" for it.

 

Back to the finger joint box joint discussion, I think they are both the same, just different terminology? What do the others think?

the FJ bit is an asset for gluing up contrasting wood panels of thinner material when you are making , say a jewelry box or such...

or stretching a board to cut down on waste when you do a closet build...

Like the difference between a torte and a layer cake, I suppose the nomenclature is determined ad hoc. With the exception of the pointy end profile, (the board stretcher) if the joint is used in the construction of a box, it's a box joint, regardless of the relative width of the interlocking pieces. The term "finger joint" is just a subset, used to describe a box joint with skinny fingers. 

That's my story and, I'm sticking to it.

 

 

I think it is similar to the difference between a dado and a groove.  They are basically the same cut, the only difference being the orientation to the workpiece. 

True, Tom. And, unless you're really picky, about the same level of inconsequentiality.

It s referred to as.  "Using the term loosely"

 

I say box joint for a corner joint and finger joint for lineal joint.

If the joint is to be at right angles to each other I believe it would be a box joint.  If the joint is to be in a single plane it is a finger to glue joint.  A glue joint extends the length of a board.  

I’m surprised no one has already noted the following, “ A square and a rectangle, both have 4-90 degree corners. A square is also a rectangle, but a rectangle is not necessarily a square”  Can’t a box joint be a finger joint, but a finger joint not necessarily a box joint? Or vice versa? Just trying to keep the conversation going  

Hmmm...more "mud" to the waters..

When is a mitre joint NOT a mitre joint...

When it is also a box joint?

1 hour ago, Artie said:

Can’t a box joint be a finger joint, but a finger joint not necessarily a box joint? Or vice versa?

That was the premise of my first comment! Great minds and ya know.

@John Morris the question is who is the great mind.

@Artie that is some deep thinking

Sometime I wonder why do we have all these names for joints. Is it just to confuse us woodturners?