Beesource Beekeeping Forums banner

Need your opinion finger joints!!!

5K views 12 replies 8 participants last post by  cheezer32 
#1 ·
I couldn't help but noticing that a LOT of people/companies are switching (maybe they did awhile ago but on this scale is new to me) to 1" fingers on their joints. I am still cutting out the 3/4" fingers.

Questions:
Which one do you prefer and why?
Which one do you think will hold better?
Should I switch to the 1" fingers?
 
#2 ·
I hadn't even noticed 1" wide finger joints. I haven't purchased any new boxes for a very long time. Most of my boxes/supers were cut with 7/8" wide fingers. What depth boxes/supers are you referring to? What manufacturer(s) are making these 1" wide finger jointed boxes?

I was thinking that 1" wide finger joints should be nearly the same, durability-wise, as 3/4" finger joints.
 
#3 ·
All size boxes, mediums, deeps, etc. I know a few local people who make and sell them are doing 1", QRC, and several others at the tri-county meeting seemed to be using them (could have easily been 7/8th just eyeing stuff) I just flipped through a recent mann lake catalog and counting the joints there are 9 fingers + the 5/8 frame rest on a deep in there picture so that would be 1" fingers to make it a 9 5/8 box. (figuring that they are cutting a 1" exact slot for a 1" exact finger which is the way I do it.)
 
#5 ·
I can not say that I have seen 1" box joints, but there has been a gradual reduction in the number of nails used in the corner. I am still upset they changed from 13/16 to 3/4 inch thick wood. We still have alot of the 13/16" deeps. Some of the best deeps are the old A.I.Root, with the relief for the frame rabbet so that when you scrap the inside surface, the rabbet is not proud.

I have a deep from 1946, if you would like me to measure it.

Crazy Roland
 
#7 ·
In all honesty as a former cabinet maker we didn't use box joints / finger joints, but dovetails. I don't see any difference in the strength of the joint relative to a different size of the fingers. This is obviously assuming that you use a good glue. (titebond 2 or 3 possibly even liquid nails) Both joints will be more than strong enough to keep bees in. There are some on this forum that use regular wood and rabbit / screw them together and say that they last a long time. IMO I can see using plywood and rabbiting them that way, but not regular pine or whatever. IMO the finger joint is much stronger and better, but if it works then great. Bottom line I don't see that you'll have any issues with using 3/4" 7/8" or 1". They'll all work well. If you have a jig that you use for 3/4" then stick with it. It's seems to me that it'd be easier to not reinvent the wheel.
 
#8 ·
I think it comes down to tooling and time. Most standard dato’s are 13/16” wide and the arbor on my saw does not have enough free space to add the washer. If you are a big manufacture you can purchase a larger dato stack, have the saw power to turn it, and since you are doing fewer cuts, takes less time. If I were to attempt a wider cut than my stack I would have to take a second pass and that would not be efficient for a small hobbyist like myself. I would think strength wise the smaller the dato, the more glue surface and the stronger the joint.
 
#9 ·
Minz: The arbor on my saw is about 16 inches long and I have spacers machined to exact sizes so space isn't much of an issue as far as stacking dado's on goes I cut all of the joints in one pass.

Thanks everyone for your input, doesn't seem to matter to much to people on here what size the fingers are. I think I will keep the 3/4 for awhile, however, I think just to keep pace with everyone else I might soon change over to the 7/8th, or more likely the 1", just keeps it a nice number.
 
#10 ·
Cheezer that's a cool way to do it. I wouldn't have thought of that one. That's the way to go for sure. I have thought of making some sort of router jig of sorts to make them, but apart from safety it seems that you've got a great way to do it. If I were you no matter what the "standard" is I'd keep it the same and not be concerned with what the "Jonses'" are doing. It sounds like your setup is almost nonexistent. :applause: Thanks for the great idea.
 
#11 ·
Delber: I had it made from a old craftsman table saw. Had a local company I knew a few guys at make it, same concept as a hauncher but you need to have someone who knwosd what there doing make it because a lot could go wrong, and with 35 total blades spinning at 4500+ rpm it could get bad. I believe there is a picture of the saw in my picture thread " my small start to comercial" in the photo section. I got the idea from a video someone posted on here from people I "think" in south america where they had a similar vertical set up and just pushed the board into the blades to make the cut, with is the way i do it now as well not slide.

PS. I try to stay with the standard, or more specifically what the people are asking for which promted this question because I want to make sure my boxes appeal, are what the majority of people are wanting.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top