# Lap Joints



## phone_63 (Dec 31, 2009)

is there a easy way to make lap joints on a router table. I'm making Japanese type screens to hide the washer,dryer and sink from view. They will be roughly 3' x 6'. Would 1x4 pine be ok?


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## Hamlin (Dec 25, 2005)

Pine will work just fine. A straight bit, spiral bit and a good fence setup will work for this. You will need to make adjustments constantly. The way I've done them is different than what others may or will do. Others should chime in soon.


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## jschaben (Jun 21, 2009)

phone55 said:


> is there a easy way to make lap joints on a router table. I'm making Japanese type screens to hide the washer,dryer and sink from view. They will be roughly 3' x 6'. Would 1x4 pine be ok?


Hi Greg, Yeah, pine would work fine. And not bad to do on a router table but I think I would do them hand held. Mark all the cuts, clamp together with the marks on all the boards aligned, set up a couple of guide strips and run them all off at once. JMHO
Good Luck.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi greg

It's a very easy job with a shop made jig on the router table 

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phone55 said:


> is there a easy way to make lap joints on a router table. I'm making Japanese type screens to hide the washer,dryer and sink from view. They will be roughly 3' x 6'. Would 1x4 pine be ok?


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## LexB (Apr 12, 2010)

Any wood should be fine. As with doing them on the table saw, ensure that your cutter height is exactly half of the thickness of your wood. You could either gang-cut them on the router table, or if the six-foot long pieces are too cumbersome to use on the router table, you could gang-clamp them together, along with a guide for a handheld router. The nice thing about 1x4 Pine is that it's cheap enough for you to experiment with a few test pieces to get the setup right.


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## Padawan Learner (Oct 12, 2009)

LexB said:


> ensure that your cutter height is exactly half of the thickness of your wood.


+1 on getting your cuts exactly halfway through the thickness of the board. I was cutting mitered half-laps through some red pine and couldn't get the height adjustment just right. I ended up using a piece of scrap the same width as my project, cutting a divot into the edge with the height of the bit set as close as possible to half way. Then flip the scrap over and cut another divot right next to the first one. Any height adjustment needed will be instantly visible. Just divide the adjustment by two and tweak with repeated divots until it's right on.

BTW, I did mine on the table saw because of the miter angles needing so much control, but I only roughed them to within a sixteenth of an inch. Then cleaned it up as described above with my table router. Much smoother final surface that way with the large bit I was using.


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## allthunbs (Jun 22, 2008)

phone55 said:


> is there a easy way to make lap joints on a router table. I'm making Japanese type screens to hide the washer,dryer and sink from view. They will be roughly 3' x 6'. Would 1x4 pine be ok?


Hi Greg:

I'm the expert on failed lap joints. I'm now using a router and skis. However, the critical aspect is that all of your pieces are exactly the same thickness and you leave exactly 1/2 of the thickness after removing the unwanted material.

Any hiccups on any of these aspects will wind you up in "repair mode" which is to resurface your entire project with a sander or whatever else you use to relieve your frustrations.


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