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I’m looking at having to make box joints in a production mode. I have made them before using a table saw, but I have to think that there is a better/faster way to make them, from a qty production standpoint. I was thinking about the old wood cigar box makers, they must have used some sort of machine to do this in large qtys. Shaper? only problem in using a shaper is that most of the box joint bits I’ve seen do not exceed 1 5/8 in height. I’m looking for 1/4 joints across a 3″ face. Does anyone have any recomendations on how best to do this in a quantity production enviroment?
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Buy the $99 Porter Cable dovetail jig and buy the box joint template that is available as an accessory. Once you're setup properly, you can crank them out amazingly fast.
If the PC jig does not accomodate the size joint you want to make, the Leigh jig most likely will.
*Jim: I thank you for bringing back memories of the old sweet smelling cigar boxes. As I remember, they were mostly made of Spanish cedar. Back to your question.In a production situation,the joints can easily be made on the spindle shaper.You can stack 1/4" cutters and 1/4" spacers on the vertical spindle.On most shapers with 3/4" or greater spindles, you should have no trouble reaching the 3" diminsion.I would add at least one extra cutter to allow for vertical adjustment.You may have to "tweak" the thickness of the cutters and spacers to achieve the fit that you require.It is essential that all cutters be exactly the same thickness.The cutter supplier may also supply the spacers. I have found it easier to adjust the vertical offset using a wood spacer of the proper thicknes under the workpiece.I have problems,with my shaper,setting the height to a precise diminsion. FWIW I sometimes use 8/4 stock to make multiple parts. after the joints are all finished,I slice them to final thickness, plus,on the bandsaw and bring to finished thickness on the drum sander. Makes for fewer parts to handle on the shaper. I hope you find these musings helpful. PAT
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