I Box first use with the MKV

Gene Howe · Post by **Gene Howe** » Thu May 30, 2013 10:01 am

Got to use the I Box yesterday. It only took me 3 hours to set it up correctly. Ahh, the joys of a Shopsmith! And, the agony of being as mechanically inclined as an Aardvark.
When I ordered the I Box from Incra, they didn't have one in production for the SS. They did send me a correctly sized miter bar but I had to have it drilled for the I Box attachment. No biggie.
When the Shorty Bill Mayo sent me get's assembled, the I Box will have a permanent home.
I made some drawer boxes from 1/2" Baltic Birch and the I Box is a pleasure to use. The drawers are 26" wide, and that length posed no problems. The fronts and backs were very stable standing on end. I was concerned about that.
The CD that came with the I Box was very well done and a great help in setting up, adjusting and using the tool. At one point, I had a question about the set up relative to the SS. I called Mark at Incra and he was extremely helpful.
I have no complaints at all. Which, I guess, is a pretty typical comment about Incra tools.
If you like box joints (I do) and would like a bit more precision and ease of use, (I did) I highly recommend this tool.
My shop made box joint jig is destined for the scrap bin.

nuhobby · Post by **nuhobby** » Thu May 30, 2013 10:07 am

I'll look forward to hearing about this.

I've only done 2 box-jointed boxes, both using home-brewed solutions on my Overarm Router. I'd like to somehow resume with a minimum of noise and tedious work.

There was a cool tip in a magazine the other day. A guy had some ganged-together hacksaw blades as an adjustable-width, flat-bottomed fine-tuning tool for his box-joints.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Thu May 30, 2013 10:40 am

I too am looking forward to more comments on the IBox. I made my own box joint jig and it failed nearly all of the tests that I used to evaluate it. I may be in the market this one.

Gene Howe · Post by **Gene Howe** » Thu May 30, 2013 11:01 am

Chris,
With the I Box and a flat ground dado set, there is no need to "fine tune" the cuts. All the tuning (easy, too) is done before the cut.
The I Box can be used with a router table too, for those who like the whine.

Dusty,
I hear ya, buddy. My shop made jigs were never satisfactory. Plus, now I can make 1/8th thru 3/4" joints with the twist of a knob.

reible · Post by **reible** » Thu May 30, 2013 12:44 pm

They have been out of stock. I noticed that mine shipped today!

I'm looking forward to seeing how I like it. I've liked most Incra stuff so my anticipation is high. I'll only have time to play with for a short while, then back to other projects to see if I make some headway on them.

I have a project coming up that will be proof positive it it works well or not. I need to finish that by Sept. so it will be a while yet.

Please post any hints or short cuts you come up with so I can get mine in to production sooner.

Ed

Gene Howe · Post by **Gene Howe** » Thu May 30, 2013 1:49 pm

Ed, I think you'll like it.
The only shortcut I can think of would be cutting two (i.e. sides and fronts) fronts instead of one at a time. I didn't on my first drawers but, I will try it next time. I'm guessing that 1/2" per side or front, or 1" total, would be max.
I had some minor tear out on the BB stock I was using. I may tape the area to be cut next time. I was using a newly professionally sharpened dado set, too. Probable not an issue with solid stock.
Gene

reible wrote:They have been out of stock. I noticed that mine shipped today!

I'm looking forward to seeing how I like it. I've liked most Incra stuff so my anticipation is high. I'll only have time to play with for a short while, then back to other projects to see if I make some headway on them.

I have a project coming up that will be proof positive it it works well or not. I need to finish that by Sept. so it will be a while yet.

Please post any hints or short cuts you come up with so I can get mine in to production sooner.

Ed

fredsheldon · Post by **fredsheldon** » Thu May 30, 2013 2:57 pm

Gene, did you use the I-Box on your table saw or router table? When you order it what information do you need to provide to get the correct setup.

reible · Post by **reible** » Thu May 30, 2013 4:16 pm

fredsheldon wrote:Gene, did you use the I-Box on your table saw or router table? When you order it what information do you need to provide to get the correct setup.

The shopsmith part number is 556422.

See:

http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cata ... a_ibox.htm

Ed

Gene Howe · Post by **Gene Howe** » Thu May 30, 2013 6:11 pm

I used it on the Shopsmith table saw, Sheldon.
It can be used with a router table. Just slight differences in how you adjust it after it's set up.
If you order it from Shopsmith you'll get the correct bar. Other than that, there are no special set ups.

fredsheldon wrote:Gene, did you use the I-Box on your table saw or router table? When you order it what information do you need to provide to get the correct setup.

skou · Post by **skou** » Fri May 31, 2013 2:13 am

Gene, do you know if this will work with my antique ER?

It says it will work with a router table, I'm wondering if the ER table would fit it.

steve