box joints

On Jun 27, 9:15 am, [email protected] wrote:
> I've just started making box joints and they're so tight I don't see
> how I can get them together after putting glue on them and get a box
> assembled before the glue sets up. How do you tweak them so they
> slide together a little easier?

Use a slower setting glue and/or tweak the box joint jig to give a
little more breathing room.

R

On Jun 27, 9:15 am, [email protected] wrote:
> I've just started making box joints and they're so tight I don't see
> how I can get them together after putting glue on them and get a box
> assembled before the glue sets up. How do you tweak them so they
> slide together a little easier?

Pare the obviously tight areas with a sharp chisel -- look for
shiny, burnished spots and hit them. Repeated dry assembly /
disassembly makes the fit easier. Chamfer the inside edges before
glue up -- this has added benefit of forcing glue into joints rather
than
scraping it off, like a sharp edge would. Use pipe clamps to drive
the
joint home instead of a mallet so you can apply maximum force without
stopping, especially with yellow carpenter's glue, which tends to
seize,
usually a good thing when you're wrestling slippery glue ups
together.

On Jun 27, 2:06 pm, Father Haskell <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Jun 27, 9:15 am, [email protected] wrote:
>
> > I've just started making box joints and they're so tight I don't see
> > how I can get them together after putting glue on them and get a box
> > assembled before the glue sets up. How do you tweak them so they
> > slide together a little easier?
>
> Pare the obviously tight areas with a sharp chisel -- look for
> shiny, burnished spots and hit them. Repeated dry assembly /
> disassembly makes the fit easier.

It seems to me that the joint should fit well right off the machine.
Planning on repeated fitting is planning on wasting time.

R

On Jun 27, 2:44 pm, RicodJour <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Jun 27, 2:06 pm, Father Haskell <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > On Jun 27, 9:15 am, [email protected] wrote:
>
> > > I've just started making box joints and they're so tight I don't see
> > > how I can get them together after putting glue on them and get a box
> > > assembled before the glue sets up. How do you tweak them so they
> > > slide together a little easier?
>
> > Pare the obviously tight areas with a sharp chisel -- look for
> > shiny, burnished spots and hit them. Repeated dry assembly /
> > disassembly makes the fit easier.
>
> It seems to me that the joint should fit well right off the machine.
> Planning on repeated fitting is planning on wasting time.
>
> R

It's not always done with a dedicated machine or jig --- the pin type
jig will accumulate error each time you step it. I use a regular
crosscut
sled. Take the mating boards and butt them together end to end.
Strike the
cut lines across both at the same time with sharp pencil (0.5mm
mechanical
pencil, honed on a bit of 600 paper). Cut each board one at a time,
end down,
lining up the pencil line with the kerf in the sled base. Finish by
chopping the
baselines with a chisel. Just like cutting dovetails, except with a
tablesaw instead
of a backsaw.

On Jun 27, 8:15 am, [email protected] wrote:
> I've just started making box joints and they're so tight I don't see
> how I can get them together after putting glue on them and get a box
> assembled before the glue sets up. How do you tweak them so they
> slide together a little easier?

I assemble the joint, then apply superglue to the outside of the
joint. The joint will wick the superglue in. It works great and is
extremely strong.

Wed, Jun 27, 2007, 9:15am [email protected] doth query:
<snip> How do you tweak them so they slide together a little easier?

BFH.



JOAT
If a man does his best, what else is there?
- General George S. Patton

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I've just started making box joints and they're so tight I don't see
> how I can get them together after putting glue on them and get a box
> assembled before the glue sets up. How do you tweak them so they
> slide together a little easier?

The glue should actually act a bit as a lubricant.

As for how to adjust, many joints are difficult to impossible to redo. Like
the old saying goes if you don't practice on scrap you will be practicing on
the actual project pieces.

You should always test fit on scraps of the same wood and should try to
assemble on the same day. Humidity and temperature changes from one day to
the next can cause joints to fit loosely or more tightly.

>> I've just started making box joints and they're so tight I don't see
>> how I can get them together after putting glue on them and get a box
>> assembled before the glue sets up. How do you tweak them so they
>> slide together a little easier?
>
>Depends on how you're cutting them...???
>
>Need to adjust whatever jig/setup you're using, but since don't know
>what that is, can't really tell what is the appropriate thing to adjust.

I'm using a Woodhaven 4554 Box Joint Jig. I've only had it a few days
and have cut up a lot of scrap, but unless there is a way to make the
pins slightly smaller than the slots (or the slots slightly larger
than the pins) when cutting the joint I don't see how they will ever
just easily slide together.

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I've just started making box joints and they're so tight I don't see
> how I can get them together after putting glue on them and get a box
> assembled before the glue sets up. How do you tweak them so they
> slide together a little easier?

When I have tight joints I use delayed set glue; it is thinner so it
tolerates tight fit better. Seriously, it works!

As others said, without knowing how you made the joint, it is impossible to
tell you how to tweak it.

"Father Haskell" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> It's not always done with a dedicated machine or jig --- the pin type
> jig will accumulate error each time you step it.

Nope. The width of the material removed will remain constant because of the
width of the blades or the router bit. You simply adjust the "fence" which
is either a fence in the traditional sense with a router jig, or the side of
the finger nearest the blade with a dado jig. Make the amount of wood left
behind slightly narrower than the tool kerf. Decrease the fence to blade or
bit distance to loosen the joints, increase to tighten.

Since each pair is independent of the previous, there is no accumulated
error, merely constant distances. Gap plus wood is a constant measurement.

Really good stuff at http://www.routerworkshop.com/boxjoints.html to make
box joints almost effortlessly. You can make the jig, of course, rather
than buying.

[email protected] wrote:
>
> I assemble the joint, then apply superglue to the outside of the
> joint. The joint will wick the superglue in. It works great and is
> extremely strong.

Can you see the super glue through the finish?

[email protected] (J T) wrote in news:15115-4682D023-85@storefull-
3331.bay.webtv.net:

> Wed, Jun 27, 2007, 9:15am [email protected] doth query:
> <snip> How do you tweak them so they slide together a little easier?
>
> BFH.
>
>
>
> JOAT
> If a man does his best, what else is there?
> - General George S. Patton
>
>

preferably, a yellow one.

[email protected] wrote:
> I've just started making box joints and they're so tight I don't see
> how I can get them together after putting glue on them and get a box
> assembled before the glue sets up. How do you tweak them so they
> slide together a little easier?

Depends on how you're cutting them...???

Need to adjust whatever jig/setup you're using, but since don't know
what that is, can't really tell what is the appropriate thing to adjust.

--

I picked this jig up at a tag sale without a user guide. I just went
to their website and downloaded the manual and found out how to make
the adjustment. It's a simple matter of sliding the jig one way ot
the other to either tighten or loosen the joint. Works like a charm!

Thanks to all for the suggestions.
>
>>> I've just started making box joints and they're so tight I don't see
>>> how I can get them together after putting glue on them and get a box
>>> assembled before the glue sets up. How do you tweak them so they
>>> slide together a little easier?
>>
>>Depends on how you're cutting them...???
>>
>>Need to adjust whatever jig/setup you're using, but since don't know
>>what that is, can't really tell what is the appropriate thing to adjust.
>
>I'm using a Woodhaven 4554 Box Joint Jig. I've only had it a few days
>and have cut up a lot of scrap, but unless there is a way to make the
>pins slightly smaller than the slots (or the slots slightly larger
>than the pins) when cutting the joint I don't see how they will ever
>just easily slide together.