# Finger Joint jig



## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Here is a finger joint jig from Fine Wood Working. It is also referred to as a box joint jig. I know it's been posted before but FWW just resent it to me and I'm sure some haven't seen it.
Dedicated Sled Delivers Perfect Finger Joints - Fine Woodworking Tip

I built one like it about 10 years ago and if you play with a bit it will do a very good job.


----------



## david_de (Jun 3, 2013)

I built one last summer. It works great. My miter gauge was not that good at the time so I added a wood runner for the miter slot and added a piece of wood as a foot on the back. I had already started when I found an advertisement somewhere that you could purchase the plan and hardware so I did that. Much easier then running back and forth between the big box stores to find the needed parts.

Saved way more in gas then I spent on the package. I set it up using scraps milled to the same thickness of the drawer sides to fine tune the fit.


----------



## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

david_de said:


> I built one last summer. It works great. My miter gauge was not that good at the time so I added a wood runner for the miter slot and added a piece of wood as a foot on the back. I had already started when I found an advertisement somewhere that you could purchase the plan and hardware so I did that. Much easier then running back and forth between the big box stores to find the needed parts.
> 
> Saved way more in gas then I spent on the package. I set it up using scraps milled to the same thickness of the drawer sides to fine tune the fit.


I agree with you, the hardwood runners work just fine and if you are willing to take a few minutes to fine tune the fit they can be made with zero slop in them. Do you remember who you got the plan from?


----------



## david_de (Jun 3, 2013)

Memory not that good any more but I was able to dig around and find it. Box Joint Jig: Plans & Hardware Kit

Box Joint Jig: Plans & Hardware Kit 7512131 $15.95

You have to cut the L brackets otherwise all the parts are there including the uncut brackets. If I had it to do over again and a more powerful table saw I would make it wide enough to do two boards at a time. I was doing that but the L brackets could have been just a little longer as well as the ledge. Bogged my saw down some but worked great other than that. 

Cut the finger joints in all the sides then did the ends. Had them all in a pile I could mix the boards any way and they all fit perfect. Could not mix ends and sides, of course.


----------



## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Thanks Dave. That looks like a good investment. $16 plus some scrap is a pretty cheap jig for something like that.


----------



## Botelho007 (Sep 23, 2012)

Charles good jig.

Will help me in my build, I want to join the ideas of the attached video and assemble a jig.
The jig of the video is also mounted on a sled, but lacked measures.
The information from your post will help.

BOX JOINT JIG - YouTube

Here we speak of Box Joint Jig kit by Woodsmith:
http://www.routerforums.com/general-routing/43436-box-joint-jig-kit-woodsmith.html


----------



## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi

Because this a router forum I will suggest the easy and fast way to put the fingers slots in place in just one pass by the router bit..

===


----------



## Botelho007 (Sep 23, 2012)

Depending on the size of the box, two passages.
MLCS Woodworking How to make a Box Joint - YouTube


----------



## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Good Video Claudio. I could easily see using either of those jigs by making a sled for the router table with runners that slid along the edges of the table instead of in miter slots.


----------



## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

No need to make a sled for the runners to fit on the edges just use a brass guide on the router table insert..always dead on and it's fast and easy..many have made a dado jig just flip it over and use it on the router table 


===



Cherryville Chuck said:


> Good Video Claudio. I could easily see using either of those jigs by making a sled for the router table with runners that slid along the edges of the table instead of in miter slots.


----------



## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

I really wish everyone would adapt the same standards to avoid confusion. In the routing world finger joints taper while box joints are square.


----------



## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I wish we were all on the same page too Mike but it was FWW that called that a finger joint jig and there are some of the most knowledgeable woodworking experts in North America on staff there so exactly whose page should we be on? In the world I grew up in the "box joint" was a finger joint and the joint you describe was a tapered finger joint. You might admit that when you lace the fingers of one hand together with the fingers of the other hand that it looks much like the box joint. I suppose we could rewrite history. It is necessary at times.

I forgot to mention that I have also seen the tapered finger joint called a splice joint.


----------



## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Chuck, we have over 110 thousand members world wide and over 4.7 million downloads. I am pretty sure these numbers dwarf FWW's numbers. I am not saying anything bad about FWW; the fact is we are the worlds largest woodworking forum. I feel it is in everyone's interest for us to lead the way towards world wide standards. Most of the router bit companies already use the definitions I mentioned, not something I thought up. This should be a standard everyone uses to simplify life and end confusion.


----------



## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

While the forums numbers may (or may not) exceed FWWs, they are drawing their terminology from traditional standards and I am not the only forum member to disagree with you on this. As I mentioned, the staff at FWW is composed of some of the most learned members of the woodworking community in North America. Perhaps if you want to change the standard you could contact them and see if they want to go with that?
https://www.google.ca/search?q=fing...yFMjzoAT03oGAAg&ved=0CDEQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=861
Finger joint - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Multi-Purpose Tablesaw Jig - Fine Woodworking Interactive
Finger Joints

*Tapered finger joint*
https://www.google.ca/search?q=tape...fDondoASEjYLwAg&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=861
https://www.google.ca/search?q=tape...fDondoASEjYLwAg&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=861 notice the description says tapered.

Mike, it appears you will have many thousands of people to convince that what you want to call a finger joint is, in fact, just that. Are you willing to consider calling what you want to call a finger joint, a tapered finger joint instead? This would seem to me to be a more practical approach to get us all on the same page. I'm obviously not not making this up so it is something we have to deal with if we want standardization.


----------



## Dmeadows (Jun 28, 2011)

Well, if you want to talk those numbers... FWW wins!

ABC Statement

Single copy: 39,881

Paid Subscriptions: 142,200

Total: 182,082

Source: ABC December 2012

Fine Woodworking Media Site

Don't think you can decide this issue that way anyway. Think we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one!


----------



## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

I think you're right Duane. I doubt anyone will be swayed away from their position by counting memberships.

Since the links that I included on the other post were the first ones that popped up when I googled "finger joint" that fact says a lot to me. If we are to all standardize our terminology it would seem to me that not calling this joint a finger joint would be creating confusion.


----------



## Dmeadows (Jun 28, 2011)

Yes Chuck, I think it would cause confusion for a large part of the woodworking world!

Doesn't matter to me really. either way. I've heard both terms used for so long that they are pretty much interchangeable to me. It's easy 'nuff to figure out which one someone is referring to. Every time I see a post like this, just say "Oh, no. Here we go again"!

PS: Merry Christmas, Happy New year!


----------



## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Dmeadows said:


> Yes Chuck, I think it would cause confusion for a large part of the woodworking world!
> 
> Doesn't matter to me really. either way. I've heard both terms used for so long that they are pretty much interchangeable to me. It's easy 'nuff to figure out which one someone is referring to. Every time I see a post like this, just say "Oh, no. Here we go again"!
> 
> PS: Merry Christmas, Happy New year!


Thanks Duane. It's Christmas morning now so I hope Santa was good to you. Enjoy your day and happy New Year to you.


----------



## Daikusan (Apr 12, 2013)

David and Chuck
Thanks for the posts on the Finger Joint Jigs, good info.


----------



## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Thanks Steve. A few people have found it useful so I'm glad I posted it. I hope your Christmas was a good one. Is that a celebrated holiday in Japan?


----------



## Daikusan (Apr 12, 2013)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> Thanks Steve. A few people have found it useful so I'm glad I posted it. I hope your Christmas was a good one. Is that a celebrated holiday in Japan?


Chuck
Sorry I didn’t answer sooner, we just got back from the snow country without internet. 300k of 100% snow covered expressway. Thank goodness for 4WD that has a “snow” mode in addition to normal 4WD or Positive-Lock 4WD. Sure glad there wasn’t wind in the pass going up, it was late night and snowing hard. Coming back today the pass had spotted blue sky, the fresh snow was beautiful.

Our Christmas was busy but a good one. Christmas in Japan is not an official holiday, however many decorate with outdoor lights. All the stores have Christmas decorations and Christmas music. You don’t see live Christmas trees for sale, just artificial.


----------



## Hwdavid2 (Sep 8, 2013)

I built this jig awhile back and use it on my router table. I recently rebuilt it with the longer L brackets and shelf in order to cut more than one joint at a time.


----------

