Leigh now offers an economical and easy way to rout 1/2- and 3/4-in. box joint patterns in boards up to 13/16-in. thick with its Box Joint & Beehive Jig. The heart of the system is a glass-reinforced nylon template that mounts to a shop-made baseplate of MDF or other scrap material. One side of the template fingers cuts 1/2-in. joints, and the other side cuts 3/4-in. joints. Adjustable stops register the edge of a workpiece so you can begin the joint pattern with either a socket or a pin, as needed.
The template will accommodate boards up to 9-11/16-in. wide with a full joint pattern, or insert one of two step-over cams to register the jig for wider boards so you can continue routing longer patterns. Leigh’s patented elliptical e10 eBush guide bushing enables you to refine the joint’s fit incrementally with an included pin wrench.
Leigh designed this jig with beekeepers in mind for building beehive supers, but you can use it for making box joints in all manner of box projects and drawers, too. The system offers two modes of router operation: use it with a handheld router in a “template up” orientation by clamping your workpiece in a bench vise, or invert the template and cut joints at your router table instead. The package comes with a 1/2-in.-dia. carbide-tipped straight bit, step-over cams, two side stops, mounting screws, a fully illustrated guide and an instructional DVD. Leigh’s Box Joint & Beehive Jig (model B975) is available now and has a suggested retail price of $109.
