Signature Greene and Greene uneven width finger joints. How can I cut these with an economy of time.
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Elaborate, be explicit and otherwise ask your question in a fashion which makes clear what it is you're trying to ask without an "economy of words" and the consequent ambiguity. After all, words are one of the last free things we may use ..... although I have heard of attempts to claim copyright on them by various greedy rascals.
Lataxe
Greene and Greene finger joints have unequal widths thus the standard way of doing them on a table saw will not do. I've made small projects where I cut them by hand. The fronts, backs and sides could be bundled and the thinness of the parts allowed for quick markup and accurate cutting with a Japanese back saw.
I am now planning to cut many drawers for a chest of drawers. Accuracy and repeatability become necessary thus the need for a jig or template. I wonder how the craftsmen of yor did this? Got any ideas? Ajay
Ah, now I understand.
I've made quite a few G&G pieces and used both the handcut dovetail methods of making finger joints but (more successfully) a woodrat.
Hand cut finger joints are notoriously difficult to make exact. They seem harder to do than dovetails, which is strange but there it is. Any gaps or corner crumble seem more obvious with finger joints than with dovetails.
Of course, you can always put such gaps or crumbles down to "hand of the maker" - an indicator differentiating a hand-crafted thing from something made in a factory. But personally I wanted mine neat so ....
The woodrat comes out.
https://www.woodratusa.com/
I believe there's a US copy of this somewhat elaborate jig - the Router Boss.
https://www.chipsfly.com/router-boss-machines.html
(The contrast in the names of these two machines is an interesting insight into UK & US cultural differences, eh)? :-)
Such a machine-jig can gang-cut parts, including drawer sides and similar, to make a shared finger joint pattern. But the gaps between the fingers (or dovetails or whatever else you route-out) can be as varied as you like.
Lataxe
Some pics of Woodrat-made G&G finger joints for drawers (afromosia with African blackwood square pins). These were made many years ago to serve as the joints for the drawers in the desk pictured.
I have made a couple of G&G things with handcut finger joints but they were given away and I have no pics of them. Those finger joints were acceptable but it was obvious to the knowing eye that they were handcut. And they took much longer to make. :-)
Lataxe
Once you go uneven you give up the standard pegged sled approach to finger / box joints and wind up with a more dovetail-like workflow. To avoid measuring every point or actually doing a transfer when marking out the joint you can use these:
https://www.tailspintools.com/tailspin-squared/
The Woodsmith had a segment on using a router and set up to cut finger joints. I think you could space them in any manner for your project. Here is a view of it.
https://www.woodsmithplans.com/plan/finger-joint-jig/
I love the overall look and details on your desk, nicely done!
Katzy,
I put a few pics of the desk in my Gallery, just for you. I decided to put a few more past-projects in there and wonder if others would like to do the same. I need stuff to copy from, see? :-)
Lataxe, I'd love to take a deeper dive into your desk as well as take a peek at some of your work, but how do I get to your Gallery?
That's a good question. I can get at them myself via my account details but how to get at anyone else's gallery entries? I don't know.
There is a gallery tab at the top of the FWW pages but this goes to the start of 1140 pages of entries! How to search in them for stuff by a particular person? I don't know.
But here are two links to the two entries I've made so far. Only 5 pics per entry allowed, it seems.
https://www.finewoodworking.com/share/viewproject/398321
https://www.finewoodworking.com/share/viewproject/398312
Lataxe
Both of your gallery links were dead ends. I received the message: "This Reader Gallery has not been reviewed and published.
Hopefully someone can figure out a way to make a specific Gallery accessible.
Thanks for giving it a shot Lataxe, I appreciate it.
Unless you have some even or constant measurements, batching is gonna be difficult by any machine or hand method.
My best suggestion is to use a sled on the table saw with some kind of moveable stop. Then, use typical best practices and do all of the same width cuts at once.
In other words, say you have three drawers of one size, with the same fingers, five drawers with a different spacing, etc. Do all of the ones with the same widths, then move your stop to the next cut, etc.
I know it's probably common sense, but sometimes the simplest answer is the best one....
Five,
What you describe is something like the procedure on a machine like the Woodrat or Router Boss. The advantage of those machines over a table saw are significant, though.
Precision control of the workpiece position, the router and its bit are all possible, not just in advance of the cut but during the cut, in ways that aren't easy with a table saw without making all sorts of jigs and stopping things to adjust balde or fence or jig. Such TS jigs are also unlikely to have the precision and versatility of a Woodrat or Router Boss for adjusting the cuts, especially if the adjustment needed is "a hair's breadth".
Gang-cutting is also easier and safer on a Woodrat or Router Boss, as the jaws holding the workpieces grip those workpieces very firmly, whereas a similar table saw procedure relies on the woodworker to do the gripping - not really best-practice with numerous pieces.
WR or RB gang-cutting can also be done in the best fashion for very clean as well as precise cuts. Because the workpieces are tightly gripped in place, large climb cuts can be made on them, which can result in very clean and spelk-free results.
Woodrats and Router Bosses are expensive, no doubt. But they're very versatile machines and can even do many operations that you would normally do on a router table in an upside down fashion. If you want to make lots of dovetails, finger joints or mortise & tenons, they're very rapid and make exactly similar copies. Dozens of other joints are also possible, as a peruse of the manuals for either machine can explain.
Lataxe
I get it... But, I tend to be a cheap bastard and will spend hours making a stupid jig to make a cut, rather than spend five buck to buy the thing... LOL
Seriously, I agree that having the correct tool is always my preference. I like your descriptions of these tools and they sound like something I would probably use the heck out of!
I am not sure I perfectly understand what you are trying to do, but if I get the gist, try this. Cut strips in MDF that are the widths you want the fingers. Offset them by how deep you want the fingers and glue them back together. Use this as a template for your router. Use the other end of the template to cut the other fingers. They should fit perfectly. I would hog out the waste with a jig saw or coping saw then clean up with a flush cut bit and the template. You will have a little chisel work in the corners, but you will have clean, repeatable, oddly sized finger joints.
The Woodsmith jig is a take on a method I first saw David O. Wade do. The video is out there somewhere. I made the jig and use it for some things. Mostly I just use the tablesaw and good layout methods. I have a DRO which speeds things along.
I have a Leigh D4R Pro dovetail jig, the finest tool I own. Does great quality dovetail and finger joints. You can space the joinery any way you want by locking in the router guides at the desired location and it's then 100% repeatable.
The jig is not cheap but it is well worth the expense.
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