Screw advance box joint jig

The screw advance box joint jig is designed for making a precisely spaced series of cuts in a stack of workpieces on the table saw. The flexibility of positioning makes it possible to cut precise joints, even without a dado blade.


The jig uses wooden gears and a threaded rod to reposition the stock. Moving to the next increment is as simple as turning the crank one or more turns.
The crank gears are interchangeable and can be meshed with a 12 and a 16-tooth gear on the threaded rod. This makes for a lot of options for how far to space the cuts apart. I made these gears as needed, but mostly, I just use it with the 48-tooth crank gear.


But my favourite method of using the jig is to make several cuts for each slot. By using a large 48-tooth crank gear, I can mark which angles I need to set the crank to for cutting out a slot with multiple cuts. That way, I can cut slots of a specific width without having a saw blade or dado blade that cuts that exact width.



Building the jig
video series
How to make gears
for the jig
Gears with a jigsaw
or a table saw

(if you don't have a bandsaw)
Cutting box joints
without a dado blade
Tiny box joined box
Small boxes for drawers
Plans for the
box joint jig


Projects using the box joint jig:

Ramekin serving tray
Stackable shelf boxes
Kitchen cabinet
organizer boxes
Milk crate boxes
Box joined drawers
Fingerjoint experiments
Box joined
shelving brackets
More on making
box joints
Testing dovetail joints
against box joints
Pat's guitar case

Reader built box joint jigs:

Gerald Finch's
box joint jig
Jim Lundin's
box joint jig
Elyasaf's box joint jig
Elyasaf's double-width box joint jig
Earl Davidson's
box joint jig
Dave Tenney's
box joint jig

Elsewhere on the web: Art's box joint jig build - lots of pictures and details

More jigs on YouTube:

Joe Beuckman     Gene Duckett     cheapwoodworking     Marius Hornberger

Malcom Daly     Francois Calopin's     FarmCraft's     par5endos562


Plans for the
box joint jig