How to Make Box Joints with Only a Router | Woodworking Jig

1. If you ever remove and reinstall the router, the slot will almost surely not line up again with the bit.
   Dont glue the fence, instead glue the backup piece and screw the fence to it with oversize holes as necessary to shift the fence left or right.
   Then reverse the fence, off center enough to allow for a larger size bit and box joint. A hole may be necessary in the backup block as the key will interfere. Or flip the fence upside down with the key facing away from the router.

2. Finally made this! After some trial and error it worked like a charm. Going to make some different sizes sleds for different buts next. Thanks man!!

3. Tanks dude.

4. So basically make a mini simple router table.

5. I was looking for this for my mini router/trimmer , , awesome job…
   Thanks ??

6. love it, make a box joint with only a router! Steps to the table saw, drill press, radial arm saw etc. hahaha

7. Been trying to build this all weekend. Major problem I'm having is the bit ripping chunks out of the plywood I'm cutting the fingers into. I'm using a 1/2" 2 flute straight bit – I see you are using a spiral spin saw bit – is that the secret sauce?

8. Cool video but I don't have a personal assistant to hold the vacuum

9. Very ingenious

10. Best demonstration and explanation of this style of jig. Best part was the running commentary, and clarity and simplicity of the design. Well done Sir!! Thoroughly enjoyed watching the video.

11. The box joint is very strong due to the large gluing surface. BUT, any force that tries to open or close the joint puts all of that force as shear stress along the glue lines with no wood directly resisting the opening or closing of the joint (this is why dovetail is supposed to be stronger than a box joint since the cuts in the tails and pins are angled and so the glue line isn't parallel with the forces trying to rotate the joint).

    I have always wondered if after the joint is glued and set if a dowel could be driven through from top to bottom so that it passes through all of the fingers. Then for the joint to fail the dowel would have to be sheared by the box joint fingers acting scissor blades as the joint tried to rotate. A simple 90 degree corner jig for the drill press that is clamped to the platform of the drill press such that when the piece is pressed into the jig, the bit passes through the middle of the fingers. This would make drilling a hole in each corner of a box rapid and accurate. If the corner is taller than the length of a drill bit, and assuming that the jig produces accurate enough placement, the piece could be flipped over and drilled from the other side. In fact it isn't important that the dowel go all the way through the joint since the added strength comes from the dowel going through each glue line. So for pieces where the corners are taller than the maximum bit depth, drill almost half way through from both sides and then drive in a dowel from each side. For very tall corners that are more than twice the height of the maximum drill depth, just drill through as much of the corner from each side as possible.

12. Watched this when it first came out and loved it then but didn't have an immediate need for it. That has changed now (need to make storage for large sheets of paper). Only got 3/4" ply so I'm going to make an insert for the top with a small bit of acrylic I have.
    One question though: the bit you linked to is an upcut bit so will be pulling the dust down into the slot. Would a downcut bit be better? That would tend to push the dust up to the top of the table making it easier to collect it with the setup you had in the video. Sorry if this is a silly question but I'm a complete newbie in the use of routers.
    PS. Ordering my bit this week from a UK company that imports the Whiteside bits.

13. How (wide) high must key be?If I make thin walled box my key is too high for edge of wood to seat on base of fence

14. Love going through these older videos, and picking up a few tips. I will use your fence design on my Oak Park router table. Thanks.

15. can't see a thing you are doing this video completely sucks Mr. uk

16. Such a great tutorial

17. Awesome video. Router table/jig demystified!

18. Great video mate – love it.

19. Genius papa

20. Make box joints with only a router. But need table saw, chop saw and drill press to make jig. Forget it, I'll just use the table saw.

21. "But I don't have a table saw…." Proceeds to use a table saw nearly every step of the way.

22. OMG, I think this genius man made a table saw

23. Weird flex but ok…
    Love it BRO!!!

24. My lady likes to bake a lot and I want to make her a bread box with box joints. Could you make something like that I have an idea in my head but I would like to see it done

25. This is one of those videos that is so interesting and entertaining that I can almost compare it to a really good suspence movie that you think you know what's coming up next but your always one or two steps behind but in the end you don't mind because it had a happy ending and the moral to it left you wondering if you should or should not . Very good video !!

26. My router doesn’t have enough clearance to go through the sledge and then make the cuts with the wood 🙁

    Any suggestions

27. thanks man … tools are expensive especially dado blade sets … this saves me from buying one….. my router is my best friend!! Awesome video!!

28. Beware dust from certain hardwoods can be very allergenic and some like vermillion are toxic. A dust mask will help keep the ol lungs up to snuff! So they say.

29. i finally made my own after a couple of failed attempts. (with new router table). ive seen this video about 20 times planning it haha.

30. Thanks!

31. The very best video about making box joint jig. I'll probably have to watch it several more times before I get it done but thanks for the video.

32. Best jig for a router I've seen, great video, thankyou so much, can you do dovetails in a similar fashion.
    Martin in the UK ??

33. Nice work, man! Love this jig/mini table?

34. Thanks. Newb question; does the box height have to be evenly divisible by 4 for this to work? For example if box height is 4 3/8 I feel like I will end up with uneven joints.

35. So you built a small router table…..

36. This is great – I've been looking to put my router to more work. Is this possible with a compact router (DeWalt 20V) – I'm assuming so provided I can mount it to the table the same way it is done here

37. This video is great learn to make a mini router table and make a box cut drawers. This is better than doing it on a table saw!

38. You explained it perfectly

39. Hello, Great Jig ! Since the Router is down while the Bit is Up, are you using the Up Spiral Router Bit or the Down Spiral Router Bit ? Many thanks,

40. This is exactly what I need. Thank you very much. Very clear and doable. Well done!

41. Wood working youtubers have a knack for using 15000 dollars of equipment to make everything

42. Where do you get a bit that long?

43. Where do you get a bit that long?

44. So how do you ensure that the fingers are equal? I've seen other videos of similar jigs and they always end up with uneven joints.

45. Brilliant. When I had a concern, you addressed it well. Just got a new Bosch router. This video gives me some nice options.

46. No router table? No problem! Let's start from making a small one! Ok… wait! We need some sledge also! Router only? Really? ?

47. Uh…so you made a router table…

48. 枡？

49. As far as board width goes, is it as simple as the width has to be in increments of the bit width? Meaning 1/4" bit would have to be anywhere divisible by .25? 2" not 2 1/8". Or does this math above just give an "even" look to the sides? If you were at odds with this it would just have a smaller pin on the edge?

Comments are closed.