Hi,
I’ve made a finger joint jig using the Tage Frid approach. I’ve cut the spline to fit the dado setup (1/4″) on the tablesaw. I set up the fence holding the spline as close to 1 sawcut from m the blade as I could get it. I made a test cut and the joints are fitting a bit loose-not bad but not perfect. What do I adjust in my setup to dial in a nice piston fit? I’ve searched the forums and haven’t had any luck so far…
Thanks, Dave
Replies
The problem is that your dado set is cutting a hole that is a little too big. I use a Dial Caliper to measure the cut in the wood as I setup and make test cuts. I dial it in, until it fits within a few thousands... than I make it a little bigger.
You need some slop to give the glue enough room to work. Maybe it has turned out just right? I have found if it fits together only with extra force, it is to tight and glueing up all four corners becomes a problem.
How big are the gaps, really small or too big? :) Good luck, hope this helps.
Assuming your spline is to the right of the blade, first try pushing the workpiece firmly to the right, to make sure the surface that you're indexing from is firmly against the spline. If that doesn't help, or doesn't help enough, start moving the spline to the right in increments of a few thousandths of an inch. Increasing the distance between the blade and the spline will increase the thickness of the fingers.
When the fit is right, you may have to recalculate the layout to avoid getting a skinny finger at the bottom or top of the joint. In one article I read, the author cut his stock wide by one finger width. This allowed him to run all four side through the saw together without worrying about the offset. Then after glue-up he could decide how much to trim off the top and bottom to get everything looking balanced. Of course he was just rabbeting the tops and bottoms. If you're putting the top or bottom in a groove, this wouldn't work.
I also agree with what the previous response said about not getting it too tight. I seem to remember reading somewhere that .003 inches was a good starting point for clearance in a glue joint. Unfortunately, I don't remember the tolerances. :) If you don't have feeler gages, you can get a fair idea of the thickness of some paper by measuring a small, tightly compressed stack of it and dividing by the number of sheets in the stack.
Edited 9/8/2002 2:39:04 AM ET by Uncle Dunc
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