Lock miter joints

[kmealy]

Good article on Lock Miter joints, applied to joints.   I was ready to spring for a bit until I saw the price.

[HandyDan]

Looks to be a good purchase if many drawers needed made.  Definitely would save some time.

[PeteM]

I wonder:  would a spline do just as well?  Spline could work with plywood, too, whereas the router bit would make hash out of the plies?  And in terms of production, you could cut the spline slot first on the TS, on a square end (easier to produce), then 45 that end, again on TS.

Edited March 3, 2019 by PeteM

[Gene Howe]

Lock miter bits work ok with BB. But, due to it being metric, its even more of a PITA to set up. Maybe Appleply? 99.44% of my solid stock is rough. When you're dressing it, it's imperative to get it all planed to exact thicknesses. A 32nd difference between mating pieces will cause curse words to flow freely. DAMHIK.

[Stick486]

2 hours ago, PeteM said:

whereas the router bit would make hash out of the plies? 

not on Baltic Birch...

[Stick486]

I prefer splined miters or a rebated rabbet for the drawer front unless the drawer box is the finished face  and then it's a dado...

the backs are always dadoed to the sides and sit completely on top the the drawer bottom w/ the bottoms not glued only truss head screwed to the back...

the bottoms ride in side and front grooves and the larger sized drawers get underside blocking or ledgers...

[kmealy]

I normally do dovetailed drawers.   Slow but effective.   I needed to replace a kitchen drawer falling apart (stapled particle board) and replaced with BB and rabbet and dado corners.  Easy enough to make one drawer on the table saw.  Since it was the silverware + metal utensils drawer, I put in some corner blocks.  You know, belt and suspenders.

 

I'm learning a bit more about production volumes since working at the furniture bank and theater set shop.  Four of us can cut parts for 65 tables in about 3 hours.  Measure once, cut 80 times.  Fences are your friend.  (Which is another reason why I don't really have the urge for a track saw -- no repetitive cutting).  Yesterday, I cut 70 to 80 pentagons for "shingles" with two fence settings on the table saw (length and width) and one stop on the miter saw to cut the corners off.  About 20 minutes total time.

[Cliff]

HAHAHAHAHA   Way back before I had even a tiny clue  I  bought one.  I got the BIGGEST ONE/

It's been in a drawer  for  decades now and I haven't used it. 

Get one sized appropriate to the wood thickness you will be using

 

And don't trust the joint.  Add dowels to it and it'll never fail.

 

 

Edited March 3, 2019 by Cliff

[kmealy]

File under "Sounded like a good idea at the time."

[Dadio]

28 minutes ago, kmealy said:

File under "Sounded like a good idea at the time."

Me too.

Herb

[Gene Howe]

My lock miter bits have seen a good bit of use. Mostly for boxes of different types. I've used splines or dovetails span the joint and, I've left the plain, too. To my knowledge, non have come apart. There's a good deal of glue surface available.

[Artie]

I bought one, seems like a good idea (you don’t wanna know how much stuff I bought at the fishing expo’s using that kind of thinking, when I had a boat). Haven’t had a chance to try it yet. Gonna try to make a memorial case for our last pet, was gonna try it then.

[Dadio]

I have used mine and had good success when everything was right. Getting every thing right is the problem. If a person doesn't use it for awhile,they forget the procedure and have to learn it over again. I used it on plywood and have had varying degrees of success ,depends on the plywood. It is not something I would recommend to a newbie, I bought both sized bits and set up jigs, there is probably $100-$200 invested in the set up, plus several board feet of lumber and plywood practicing, that doesn't justify the amount of use I got out of it. I have never had occasion to use the large bit yet.

In other words ,if I knew what I know now before I bought it ,I would have spent the funds on something else.

Herb

[Gene Howe]

Artie, get yourself one of these. When the instructions for set up say 1/2 The thickness of the stock, they mean 1/2.  I use it to find the board thickness then find half and set the gauge and then bring that sticky out part to it. That way, your actual thickness is irrelevant...as long as all your sticks are the same. 

[Artie]

22 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

Artie, get yourself one of these. When the instructions for set up say 1/2 The thickness of the stock, they mean 1/2.  I use it to find the board thickness then find half and set the gauge and then bring that sticky out part to it. That way, your actual thickness is irrelevant...as long as all your sticks are the same. 

Now you tell me! After I’ve duplicated your exact experience!  I bought the two sizes, they’ve still got the protective stuff on them. I had heard that the set-up is the difficult part. I did get the set-up blocks with them, but my experience with set-up blocks isn’t too stellar, either. Ahhh I’ve spent money on stupider things  .

[Artie]

22 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

Artie, get yourself one of these. When the instructions for set up say 1/2 The thickness of the stock, they mean 1/2.  I use it to find the board thickness then find half and set the gauge and then bring that sticky out part to it. That way, your actual thickness is irrelevant...as long as all your sticks are the same. 

Gene, I have to carefully weigh the need versus want factor of purchasing tools for my hobby, while we’re trying to figure out if we can go on vacation this year. There’s the mortgage, the kids getting married in August, OT is problematic at work right now. Oh who am I kidding? It will be here Friday. Tiger Supplies had the cheapest I could find  . We’re going to Mystic CT the end of April for vacation, and the mortgage is going in the mailbox tomorrow. 

[Gene Howe]

Way to go, Artie! You'll love what it w ill do for your set up time and frustration level. You can kiss me later.

[Artie]

49 minutes ago, Gene Howe said:

Way to go, Artie! You'll love what it w ill do for your set up time and frustration level. You can kiss me later.

I know we like photos, but I do have my limits, LOL.