Hi, I’m very new to wood working.
I’m not sure this would work or not. I was thinking about making box joints and using my drill press to drill holes down thru the joints and put in pins, one in each joint. I was wondering, would make the box joint a mechanical joint like dovetail and is it a good idea or not?
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Depending on how wide the boards are, it can be really difficult to drill a hole straight enough without blowing out through the side.
And even if you could, don't bother. Box joints are very strong if you glue them up well. There really is no need to reinforce them.
Great, thanks for your help.
I was assuming that by "box joint" you are talking about the joint at the corner of the box, not the type of joint called a "box joint" like this:
https://www.popularwoodworking.com/projects/tablesaw-box-joints/
John is correct that doweled joints would not be as strong as the actual "box joint". But if you are talking about making your box using butt joints and then drilling and inserting dowels for strength, then yes it will add strength. As John suggests, you will need to be careful to get your dowel holes centered and not too large. Also, use more than one per joint. It would be best to do several maybe about 1" apart depending on dowel diameter. I did this more than 50 years ago and the drawers are still in use today.
Oh. I now understand that you are talking about running a dowel vertically down through all of the fingers. Nope. Not necessary.
Try both. Glue up scrap box joints with and without the dowel and then take a deadblow hammer to each. I think you’ll discover the dowel offers no additional mechanical strength to an already very strong joint.
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