Time for a new thread. Since its been raining here for 4 days, so I decided to build supers today. I have a fairly clugee jig for doing 3 at a time. Michael posted one awhile ago as well. I'm trying to improve on mine, so I want to see ideas and comments. I'll go first...
The fourth side is floating in the slots. This allows me to use clamps to draw all 3 together at once. The little feet keep it centered so I can nail all 4 sides while in the clamps. http://www.myoldtools.com/Bees/boxjig/jig1.jpg
It is considerably faster than one at a time to me. They always come out square. I'm thinking of ditching the clamps in favor of Deco toggle clamps. If I do that I may go to a 4 box jig. Anything much bigger gets hard to handle when you flip it to nail the bottom sides.
Harry Vanderpool in Oregon had an interesting one a year or so ago. Think he does several hundred at a sitting. He was on the forum...you might search.
Think I would build his style if I ever did more than half dozen at a time.
I use a similar design to what MB uses, made it to fit two deeps or three mediums, and cut the height down a bit - no need to support the box that high. No clamps, I spread glue with a disposable foam brush, use a plastic mallet to seat the joint and shoot 1 3/4" narrow crown staples into the fingers.
You should use outdoor rated PVA (Titebond III) glue. You have to really trust your glue, as that is what is really holding the boxes together. I use PVA III for many outdoor projects, and it holds up very well. Your box joints should also be prepared correctly - when dry-fit, there should be some resistance -- no sloppy fitting joints.
I use the typical formula for the minimum size of the fastener (in this case staples) -- twice the width of the boards, plus .25", or 1 3/4". I shoot the staples into every finger of the box joints. Just takes me a few minutes to glue and shoot staples into each corner - no pre-drilling for nails or screws. Many folks use drywall srews which can fail, as they are very brittle, and not designed for fastening wood together! Of course, a good coat of primer and two finish coats of outdoor paint protects the joints from premature failure.
...i made one based on looking at michael's picture (on his website). mine does 2 deep boxes at a time.
even when applying the glue on more than one piece at a time, i find this the slow part of the process...i'd like to build a big, profiled brush that will do all the joints at once.
my jig is pretty tight, and i countersink each hole and use drywall screws to hold things together. this way, the screws act as the clamp, and they can be tightened in the field.
fwiw, i find the best way to design/build these things is to (using some cad program) draw the part first (based on your actually measuring the actual part), then draw the jig around the part.
i'll try to take/post pics of mine when i get the chance.
this might be a dumb question but... I have some 34 inch pine stock. it is only 6 inches wide. Can I join those boards and make deeps with those? or would the joint cause a problem with moisture?
Cellophane tape I refer to is any scotch type 2" packing tape. Probably plastic these days, but you get the picture. Kelly Mehler that wrote The Table Saw Book taught me that one.
I use a dadoed lock joint instead of the standard box joint on all my boxes. I have found it to be just about as durable and with careful construction of my dado sleds, I don't need a jig to keep it square during assembly. The joints fit tight and are glued with TB3 and stapled with crown staples. For gluing I just lay the parts for several boxes butted together on a table so that their grooves/glue surfaces are all lined up in one line, then I just run my bead of glue down the grooves on one side and up the grooves on the other side of the line. Takes about 20 seconds to apply the glue to 5 or 6 boxes at a time. Then I tap them all together on the table (its a pretty long table) and go up and down the line and staple. Occasionally a joint is slightly loose but all it takes is a second with the speed square during stapling to keep it square. If I have one of my sons following behind me with the stapler as I tap them together, we can really crank them out.
Do you mean a drawer lock joint, or a sliding dovetail or a _____? To be on the technical side, a dado is a groove (slot, trench, recess) down the center of a surface of wood (metal, plastic, etc). A rabbet (rebate) is a groove down the edge (or end) of the material.
Beesource.com has plans for the "10-Frame Langstroth Beehive." Part of the instructions refer to the ". . .steps described on how to make a box joint from the PDF 'Box Joint files." But there is no such file that I could find. Can anyone either tell me where to find it (trying to contact Beesource is futile), or recommend a good source?
Beesource.com has plans for the "10-Frame Langstroth Beehive." Part of the instructions refer to the ". . .steps described on how to make a box joint from the PDF 'Box Joint files." But there is no such file that I could find. Can anyone either tell me where to find it (trying to contact Beesource is futile), or recommend a good source?
i have been to Ross getting bees and he does have a good setup. i have taken some of his ideas and put to use.
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