Readers Box Joint Jigs & Panel Optimiser Update

If only I charged for the plans for my Single Blade Box Joint Jig…with over 1500 downloads in the first month I could have had a nice little payday! 😉

In all seriousness though, it is nice to feel like I’m giving something small back to a community that I have taken so, so, much from over the past few years.

Here are a few photos from people who have made their own, I love how everyone builds it with their own modifications based on what they need, very cool to see. I think I checked with everyone but if your photo is here and you want it taken down, just let me know.

Dan – posted on formeremortals.com

A couple of cool things about this one. Number one, the key is made from wood that Dan ripped down to the width of his kerf. Certainly saves on hunting around for that perfect screw, and frankly, looks nicer. He also made a template for his joints cut directly out of MDF. Then he screws that template to his jig. I did try that originally, but my template was cut on the scrollsaw, it was hopelessly out of alignment. Dan’s one looks to be made to a much higher quality.

 

 

 

 

 

Adrian – posted on GooglePlus

Adrian’s version is pretty similar to my own, and I think he may have been the first to make & post it as well which is pretty cool. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ted – posted on formeremortals.com 

This version has a much better locking mechanism. Whereas I went the lazy route and simply jam blocks in to fix them in place with a friction fit, Ted put the effort into running a bolt through a block of wood which he can tighten up easily. A bit more elegant than mine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jason – posted on instructables.com

Jason posted his version on my instructable page (a really cool and useful site if you don’t already use it) and it just looks beautiful. His key is of all things, a metal L bracket. A pretty good idea I think. It’s strong, secure, and obviously a perfect fit for his kerf. He’s added hardwood strips for extra durability along the edges where parts slide together. He’s also improved the sliding mechanism (as a number of people have) by adding an extra strip of wood to create a U shaped channel which holds on to the jig a lot more securely.

 

He also made it a bit taller which would be great for extra clamping space I would imagine. A very nice version.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jay – posted on jayscustomcreations.com

 If you haven’t already seen Jay’s article on building his version, go and check it out right now, I don’t mind a bit. I’ll wait here for you. … You’re back? Cool huh? He did a fantastic job describing the build, and his is extra cool again because he used his new CNC to cut the runners and templates. He also has a video up where you can see it in action. His one is modified to be able to create box joints across a much wider board, very handy feature to have.

 

There have been many others built as well, and plenty of suggestions on how to improve them further. I think I might revisit this jig in 6 months or so and make a new and improved version then as well. Thanks so much to all the guys who built and sent through photos of theirs, it’s really cool to see them all and get your feedback. Fun too. Apologies for all those that I missed!

And of course a special shout out to Jay from jayscustomcreations.com for spreading the word, thanks mate, much appreciated!

 

Panel Optimisor – I wrote a little last week about the program I was coding to assist in laying out a panel cutlist on a sheet of wood. I had good and bad news regarding it. The good is that it’s coming along nicely, the bad is that I’ve only been able to sneak a few hours work into it. I’ve got a few days off now so I’ll try and pump out as much as I can.

It doesn’t look like much at the minute (understatement?), but that’s ok, I’m after functionality at this stage over aesthetics.

At the moment you can easily add and describe panels and sheets, and then move and rotate them around. Their description will appear in the middle of the panel, eg ‘Top’, ‘Left’, ‘Middle Drawer Base’, etc. When you move the panels around they automagically ‘stick’ to the edges of the sheet or neighbouring panels, you only have to get them in the general area and the program will line them up with kerf space in between. There is a little bit more work in this part but already it can be used as a useful program for manual sorting of panels.

The automatic sorting of panels into sheets is a harder problem to solve, but one that I’m getting through. There are a few different methods of solving it, some take longer than others, and they all have varying levels of efficiency. The more I work on it, the smarter it will become at deciding which is the best option to use. As soon as I have a more rounded product I’ll post a video showing how I want it all to work to better get feedback on what else it should do.

That’s about it for now guys, I’ve got a bit of work to be done in the shop and on the computer.