Box joints

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larryhrockisland
Gold Member
Posts: 241
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2007 10:47 pm

Box joints

Post by larryhrockisland »

I'm making a cabinet for my daughter and will use box/finger joints for the drawers. I bought a new Oshlun Dado set on Amazon and am using William Ng's youtube video as a setup reference. https://youtu.be/NutwD7B6tmE .
Here is the Oshlun set. I also have a similar Harbor Freight 42 tooth set but this new set is much better for twice the price. I believe I got what I paid for both times :) Here is a close up of my test pieces and I am happy with them. I just wish I hadn't bumped something and moved the setup, but, I'll get it back.
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I used the WoodAnchor systen that BuckeyeDennis came up with, viewtopic.php?p=279257#p279257 ,thanks Dennis, and two miter gauges, baltic birch ply . I should have tied the main table to the auxiliary table before I messed up my setup, (I have since done that in these pictures) lesson learned. Anyway back to my cave :)
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Larry Hargrove
Rock Island, Ok
1981 Mark V 500>510>520(98922)
19?? Mark V 500>Power Pro headstock 556176 06-17-11 factory exchange program original serial unknown
1957 Mark V 500 (350389)
1953 10ER
Another 10ER
Bandsaw 2012 Jointer 2012
Bandsaw, Jointer, other goodies
Craftsman table saw, Delta 46-460 Midi lathe
SS 6” Belt Sander w/power stand 1970’s?
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BuckeyeDennis
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Location: Central Ohio

Re: Box joints

Post by BuckeyeDennis »

Looks good, Larry! I’ve been meaning to build a dado jig like that myself, but am still missing the necessary “round tuit”.

I have the same dado set, but in 6” diameter. I like it a lot, with the only negative I’ve found being the tiny “bat wings” that the chippers make. Nothing that a little glue & sawdust can’t fill though.

That reminds me of something else that I like about a Shopsmith. Unlike a conventional table saw, you can remove a dado stack, but keep it set up on the arbor. My arbor usually has a 3/8” stack set up on it, which makes it really quick to pre-slot for WoodAnchor slots. Much faster than doing it on a router table, if you have many to do.

I did try the dual miter gauge setup on my Shopsmith. I’d say that it’s somewhere between a single miter gauge and a full sled as far as accuracy goes. But unlike a full sled, you don’t lose any depth of cut. And if using a WoodAnchor slot to attach the sacrificial fence, you can loosen the sliding nuts on one or both of the miter gauges, set the miter angle to whatever you want, and then lock the nuts back down.
larryhrockisland
Gold Member
Posts: 241
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2007 10:47 pm

Re: Box joints

Post by larryhrockisland »

Thanks Dennis,
I thought Oshlun did a good job on their Amazon site with a graphic of the batwings and a warning/disclaimer about them. The graphic matched my results and my test pieces are just dry fit, I didn’t even see how they looked with a clamp. The harbor freight set I have is very similar excepting the chippers only have 2 teeth instead 6. Those batwings were much more pronounced and the bottom was rougher. The harbor freight packaging is nearly identical excepting brand graphics. One thing I had to do was remove a wire edge on the shims where were punched out. That did cause a slight wobble at first. Apparently several hundred dollars would eliminate batwings.

I used my MiterSet and counted on the cross piece holding the miter gauges where they should be.
Larry Hargrove
Rock Island, Ok
1981 Mark V 500>510>520(98922)
19?? Mark V 500>Power Pro headstock 556176 06-17-11 factory exchange program original serial unknown
1957 Mark V 500 (350389)
1953 10ER
Another 10ER
Bandsaw 2012 Jointer 2012
Bandsaw, Jointer, other goodies
Craftsman table saw, Delta 46-460 Midi lathe
SS 6” Belt Sander w/power stand 1970’s?
User avatar
JPG
Platinum Member
Posts: 34610
Joined: Wed Dec 10, 2008 7:42 pm
Location: Lexington, Ky (TAMECAT territory)

Re: Box joints

Post by JPG »

BuckeyeDennis wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 10:14 pm Looks good, Larry! I’ve been meaning to build a dado jig like that myself, but am still missing the necessary “round tuit”.

I have the same dado set, but in 6” diameter. I like it a lot, with the only negative I’ve found being the tiny “bat wings” that the chippers make. Nothing that a little glue & sawdust can’t fill though.

That reminds me of something else that I like about a Shopsmith. Unlike a conventional table saw, you can remove a dado stack, but keep it set up on the arbor. My arbor usually has a 3/8” stack set up on it, which makes it really quick to pre-slot for WoodAnchor slots. Much faster than doing it on a router table, if you have many to do.

I did try the dual miter gauge setup on my Shopsmith. I’d say that it’s somewhere between a single miter gauge and a full sled as far as accuracy goes. But unlike a full sled, you don’t lose any depth of cut. And if using a WoodAnchor slot to attach the sacrificial fence, you can loosen the sliding nuts on one or both of the miter gauges, set the miter angle to whatever you want, and then lock the nuts back down.
Using studs??? :D
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