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Box joints in minutes, with no fitting
Even easier than it cranks out mortise and tenon and dovetails, the PantoRouter uses segmented templates to
make immaculate box joints in two sizes, with perfect joints right off the machine—no sample boards or fitting
required. For 1/2-in. fingers, use the 1/2-in. bit supplied and follow the slots over the top of the templates. For
1/4-in. box joints on smaller projects, use the 1/4” bit and follow each slot from the bottom of the template. The
10mm guide bearing is the same for both.
There isn’t much more to say, other than the fact that when the segments are all pushed together the spacing is
fixed, meaning only certain board widths will give perfect fingers on the ends of a joint. Stock that’s a multiple
of 1/4” or 1/2” will have full fingers on the ends but if you don’t mind partial fingers, you can use workpieces of
any width. Also, the tall box joint template lets you cut joints in stock up to a hefty 1-1/2 in. thick.
You can add a space in your box joint array by sliding the segments apart. For instance, if you want to make
a box and glue-up all 6 sides then cut the top off at the table saw, you can add 2X your saw blade kerf at the
appropriate place then when you cut the lid off, your box joints will again be perfectly spaced. Check out the
Video Tech Tip on this on our website.
Soon you will be finding all sorts of reasons to use these clean-looking box joints, from shop trays and cabinet
drawers to quick gifts for clients, friends and family.
Cut one side of the joint
Set the depth.
Just as you do with dovetails, scribe the thickness of the parts on the ends of two mating boards,
and use those lines to set the bit depth, locking the depth stop that limits the router’s forward travel. You’ll also
want to center the board on the table by adjusting the fence as you do for mortise and tenon and the dovetailing
process.
Center the workpiece using the Centering Scale Fence.
The
PantoRouter fence includes a half-scale ruler, letting you sim-
ply measure any board and align the corresponding dimen-
sion on the fence with the center mark on the PantoRouter’s
table.
