Ed Stiles Box Joint Jig Cut Template

Ed Stiles Box Joint Jig Cut Template

I love the “Ed Stiles Boxes Joint Jig for cutting finger joints on the table saw. With it I can create varying width fingers.  When I saw this video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYxDXHGRRrk&t=1024s ), I downloaded the plans (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B9T6WASIBNBMYUNsUkc5dEtXMEE?resourcekey=0-eGDkCKW1SoQgAyHH0hjZcQ ) and built the jig.  Once it was tuned up, it worked exactly as described in the video.  The only problem was that I routinely counted wrong when indexing for the next cut.  Tired of wasting wood, I designed an add-on that ensures I always cut at the right position.  I use a 1/4” dado blade setup so I made little selector boxes that are 1/4” wide with a dark color on two sides and light on the other.  I rotate the selectors to create my pattern with the light colored side indicating the put position.  Once the two parallel side frame panels are cut, I lift the stack of selectors, rotate them 90’ and put them back in place.  Now the light colored selectors indicate where to cut the mating box frame panels.  I no longer make bad cuts.   

Some design/printing notes:

• I printed these in PLA .2mm layer height as I can get better detail and in my garage they will not get too hot. The only supports I used when printing was for the frames.
• The 48 selectors have to be exactly 1/4” wide for this to work.  I would print 4 at a time and in the slicer adjust the X direction scaling % between prints until the 4 when stacked, equaled exactly 1”.  I used the Prusa MK3 and Prusa Slicer.  My final scaling for the selectors was X=98.5%, Y=100% and Z=100%.
• I added detents to the selectors so that once they are oriented to your liking, you can tighten them on the rod and move them without selectors rotating.
• The Frame was too long for my Prusa print plate so I cut it in half and slid some left over 1/4” threaded rod in the frame to loosely join them.The mating of the top and bottom of the pointer assembly is a tight fit to eliminate the need for a screw.  The slot and hole are included if needed.
• Using the Prusa Slicer “Change Color” feature, I printed the first two and last two layers of the selectors in white filament with the rest in red.  I also printed the top two layers of the Top Pointer in white.
• For my Ed Stiles Box Joint Jig, I followed all the dimensions provided in the plans except my wood was 5/8” thick, not the 3/4” called out in the plans, so be sure to check measurements with your jig before printing.  I did include step files for all the parts so you can modify as needed.  I also included a version of the Frame with long tabs that might work better for your application (beware that I did not test print the long tab version).
• I used a 1/4” threaded rod to slide the selectors onto.

Hope this helps others as it did for me.  Happy woodworking!

If you have any questions or find any issues, please let me know and I will make any necessary updates.