BOX JOINT JIG

For years I’ve pondered on whether or not to make a box joint jig. After seeing this jig on You Tube by Ed Stiles, I got really excited about making it. I’m not going to go into much detail on building this. Ed Stiles provides a very good set of free plans for this.

As with most every project I see, I usually find a way to make some improvements. On the carriage that travels back and forth on the back fence, I added some Formica on the fence and the carriage. This lets the carriage slide effortlessly back and forth. I also added some ball bearings in the handles for the 3/8” all thread. These two additions have to make a big difference in how smooth the operation is.

In Ed Stiles’ video, he mentions an optional “stop” on the carriage, for lining up the boards. I feel it’s a necessity. I made the carriage a couple inches longer in order to mount the adjustable stop on it.

Unfortunately if you want to take advantage of the full length of the jig, which can go up to 12 13/16”, the carriage got in the way of the handle. To rectify this, I dished out the carriage enough to clear the handle.

To test out the jig, I made a couple of boxes for the shop out of some cheap 3/16” plywood. It was easy making four different patterns of joints on the box.

I was ecstatic about the joints which all turn out perfectly sized.