Box joints (also called finger joints) are great for joining the sides of a box or drawer. Thanks to the popularity of The New Yankee Workshop and Norm Abram’s love of dovetail joints many woodworkers erroneously think the dovetail is the best (or only) way to make drawers, but for the woodworker who doesn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on a jig, box joints are a great option.
Here are three great options for making box joints.
Simple Jig
If you need to cut only a few finger joints, this is the quickest, easiest, and cheapest method.Adjustable Jig
This jig can be used to cut finger joints of varying widths. If you’re planning on cutting a lot of finger joints of many different sizes over a period of years, this is your best bet.
Fixed Jig
This is the simplest and fastest way to make finger joints, and it is my preferred method for making drawer parts. If you're a "set-it-and-forget-it" kind of woodworker, and if you're willing to put in a fairly large amount time up front to save a lot of time over the long run, and if you can commit to one size of box joint, this is by far the best way to go.
Matthias Wandel's computer controlled box joint jig
