So i’ve been playing around with interlocking (box joints?) joinery with my pro xl but I’m thinking there must be a better way to go about doing this then what i’m currently doing. For example, If I were to make a box with interlocking joints I would start by figuring out the dimensions I need the slot and tabs to be then manually placing the small tabs along the sides of my geometry and the boolean operation to join the tabs to box piece to create the joints. Finishing by adding dog bones to the corners to get the fit right. Hope that makes sense? This works well enough but its tricky trying to space everything out exactly the same way when placing each tab by eye. So basically what i’m asking is there any tools in carbide create that would help create multiple interlocking joints more efficiently? Thanks.
Box joints are one approach:
They require a vertical fixture though, and require a minimum of 3 setups:
- cut parts to size and machine any internal features
- clamp all four boards and machine joints into two corners
- rotate the four boards 180 degrees and machine joints into the opposite two corners
They can turn out well though:
The big feature which makes laying these out easier is the Linear Array feature:
e.g.,:
I’ve been working on a full-blind miter box joint for a while — if you’d give me an example box size and stock thickness, and let me know what features you would like (rebate for lid/bottom? hinged lid?) we can walk through this with you here.
Thanks for the reading Will, definitely learned a few things. Here is a photo of the kind of box i was thinking of. 6 seperate peices for the 4 walls, lid and base which all fit together with interlocking tabs. I think this particular example is done with a laser but should be just as doable on a cnc with the addition of dog bones or something similar in the corners. I"m just trying to figure out if theres a relatively straightforward way to design something like this in CC or should i be looking at different software. I"m still not sure of the exact dimensions im working towards, but something like 10" tall, 8 " wide, 6 " deep. With .25 stock.
That is a simple box joint — but the example shown was cut w/ a laser w/ essentially zero kerf.
There are a couple of approaches:
- leave the corners rounded/uncut and use clamps to force things together — if you cut the corners with a very small endmill this can work well
- file the corners square by hand after cutting
- cut dogbones — this leaves visible voids if done w/ a large endmill — if one uses a very small endmill and cuts a not-quite dogbone this can verge on unnoticeable
- EDIT: use a V endmill or a roundover tool to relieve the edges of the joinery which would otherwise interfere: Using unsupported tooling in Carbide Create: Roundover / Cove / Radius bits
- use a vertical fixture and cut the joinery into the edges
- use a narrow V endmill and cut a hidden joint with voids
Do you explicitly want the joinery to show? Are you willing to build/source a vertical fixture? Would you be willing to source a narrow (1/8") 90 degree V endmill?
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