Inside Phil's Bunker

Introduction

 

Box joints are a popular method of joinery. When gluing a box joint, it is important to have clamping pressure on the fingers.  Using regular clamps, pressure can’t be applied directly to the fingers which can cause racking of the structure and bowing of the sides. Clamping cauls that apply pressure to the fingers are commercially available, though this author was dissatisfied with the results of one such product - the fingers of the cauls aren't solid and can make dents in the box joint fingers even with moderate pressure.  In addition, the commercial cauls are only for uniformly space box joints.  pyRouterJig is a powerful application that allows you to create custom templates for box and dovetail joints that are compatible with the Incra LS positioner.  In addition, it automatically creates templates for custom box joint clamping cauls. The resulting cauls have solid fingers and don't suffer from the "denting problem".

 

Some legalese

 

A router, table saw, Incra LS Positioner and other shop tools are dangerous. You need to be familiar with those machines and tools, practicing safe operations at all times. The authors of this document are not responsible for any injury, death, or financial loss that could conceivably be caused by using the information and suggestions in this tutorial. In short, use your brain and be safe.

 

What is a Template?

 

In this context, a template is used to guide the positioning of a router fence to allow cuts to be made with a router in specific locations.  Box Joints and Dovetail Joints are easily created using these templates.

 

Installing and Using pyRouterJig

 

Go to                                            (http://lowrie.github.io/pyRouterJig/) to download the software and follow the instructions on the “Installation” page for your specific computer type. Once it is installed, run the application and you will see the following screen.