Super-Simple Box Joint Jig
Author: Suwat PhruksawanDate: 24 October 2005
While I was working on my Bar Clamp Cabinet, there was a need to create several notches of equal width and equal spacing on the frames. This is similar to what usually found on the typical box joints. However, I don't have the dado blades to create the notches for the width I need. And I don't want to go out and buy one just for this project, so I came up with the idea of this super-simple box joint jig to help me work on these notches more efficiently with only the standard table saw blade.

As seen in the picture on the left, this jig is nothing more than a wood fence that is attached to the mitre gauge and a drill bit insert to define the spacing.
I started by attached just the wood fence to the mitre gauge (in my case, the sliding table on BT3100) and run the first notch through the table saw a few times to create the width I need.
To cut the second notch, I place the first notch over the drill bit and push it somewhat tightly against one side of the notch before I start the cut. Then I slid the piece to the opposite side and make another cut. At this point I'd have defined both side of the second notch exactly the same width as the first.

By sliding the piece slightly left-to-right before pushing forward to the blade, I can quickly clean up the remaining wood out of the notch. Then, I'll be ready to cut the next one.
The rest of the notches are created in the same way. This box joint jig is so simple to build and it is flexible enough to be used for many situation.
This box joint jig is so simple to build and it is flexible enough to be used for many situation. As long as your blade is sharp and the cut is precise, there should be very little clean up work to do afterward.