Is there such a thing as a box joint cutting machine that's set up with multiple cutters so the cut only requires a single pass to cut all the joints at once?
I am not aware of one, but it is sure a
conceivable idea. I worked at a mill work
for 5 years back in the 70's making and
running cabinet parts (styles and tenons
for the most part.)
One of the most "awesome" was the gang rip
saw. The arbor supported several 16" blades
and was usually set up with 12 or so. I can
imagine a smaller version with dados. You'd
have to have some HP behind it though.
Sure is coyote. The one I've seen is as big as a small car... or as small as a big car. Literally, it was the size of a large couch. I'm thinking of the unit that Humble Abodes uses. Looks like it was built about 1910 and weighed about a half a ton. If I recall properly, which is suspect, they'd feed in a whole stack of boards clamped tightly together at one time and cut the fingers on one end in one pass, then they'd turn the boards around and do the other ends.
Bill Mraz, in Middlebury Vermont made one. Shaft has several stackable dado setups, spaced properly for box joint spacing. Place board on table, step on treddle, cutters rise up and make cuts. Very slick. If i had that machine, I'd probably make finger joints, and not rabbetted joints.
In my mind I'm seeing a couple of used old
vintage arbors (well built and $25 on ebay)
modified to hold 7 stacked dadoes mounted
on a removable shaft. 2 pulleys on each end
driven by a 3 to 5 hp 220V motor. Hmmmmmmm
if I'm not mistaken, Ross, who posts here, sells vintage woodworking stuff
you ought to talk to him
It doesn't seem like it would be to hard to build one if you're "handy"
I've got one of these old Craftsman saws. It was working when I bought it, it's now disassembled. The thing was too heavy for one person to move safely on and off of a pickup so I took it apart. It has really heavy parts.
Nice pic Coyote, thanks. I tried to buy a shop full of old iron a couple of years ago. One of the neatest machines was a tenoner. Wow could it rip off a tenon! Pretty amazing the ingenuity and quality of those old machines, although that picture looks pretty new.
Careful now. That photo is from the old woodworking machines website. It's the same model as mine, but that's not mine. The one I have is complete but in pieces, and it doesn't have the casters. When I bought mine, I thought someone had cobbled the on/off switches together, but I found out that's actually the way they were built.
PM'd Sundance with this story, which I'll share.
I got a call yesterday to go look at a piece of property and give the owner an estimate on it's value. He's 91, and worked as a cabinetmaker and woodworker here for decades. He's selling his home/shop and moving somewhere warmer. The shop was full of hand and power tools, everything from fine chisels to planers and jointers. It was one of those gems you only run across once or twice in your lifetime. Ethics prohibit me from trying to buy a clients stuff, so I could only look. Later in the day I found out that he'd sold all the equipment and tools to one fellow at a real bargain price. It was like looking at a museum.
Hi coyote,
There is another method for cutting joints if your interested. Something that I am going to try is a dovetail jig for a router. Dovetails are actually mechanically superior to box or finger joints because of the dovetail's tensile strength. I think that the dovetail joint has not been used more for hive production because only within the last few decades did they become easy to do.
Porter-Cable makes a jig that can cut both dovetails and box joints.
Here: http://www.coastaltool.com/cgi-bin/welcome.pl?ref=froogle+page=/a/port/4212.htm
pretty cool huh? Thats for less than $150. The router bits can get a bit on the expensive side but I think that kit comes with them. Anyways I though I would share this in case you were interested.
Hi Atlas,
The dove tail corners that I have been using with no nails or screws, just good glue, have been holding up great! I use a very cheap, old, Craftsman jig with either a 1/4" collet or 1/2" collet router. I also make sure that the cutter has two blades. What I like is the fact that each cut makes a complete corner of a box. The other thing is that I don't have to worry about leaving extra material to trim a possible error with finger joints. Initial Set-up precision is critical though for dove tails and I use a square checking my clamping. Oh, well, that's just me. Take care and have fun.
Alex,
Thanks for the encouraging words. I'm glad that some one else saw this improvement before me "all is not lost" . I think it will be a while before the industry changes over, but for now it's just me and you.
Hello, yes there is such a machine, it's made by Wadkin a woodworking machine manufacturer in the U.K.
I used to run a Bee Farm in the 70/80's and we had one in our woodwork shop. It could take boards up to 18inches wide, and had cutters with spacers to make the comb joints.
Hope that helps.
A year or two ago there was a fellow on here who was a mechanical engineer and had made a machine for cutting box joint on a commercial scale. He had a link to it on youtube. If you do a search it should come up.
Hi maybe some one will still read this . I found what they are looking for here in 2014 is made bya man in Oh. got a video on youtube google John Rohrer has a video on youtube i have his phone number i order on yesterday
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