Making Lightweight Boxes and Drawers

Making Lightweight Boxes and Drawers

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Publish Date:
April 10, 2023
Category:
Wood
Video License
Standard License
Imported From:
Youtube

Here is another video about the 2022 4x4 Mercedes Sprinter Van I'm converting. One of the methods I'm implementing to save as much weight as possible is to build my drawers our of 1/4" (6mm) plywood. Traditional methods of screwing or butt jointing and glueing are not feasible with such thin material so I use finger joints.

And one last little part of my kitchen build is requiring a finger jointed box so I've decided to cover how I like to build them. Hopefully you find this interesting and useful for future projects.
This video should be considered an addendum to whatever finger joint cutting jig you use. Study the manual or videos about those to get good results, and then this video covers what extra information I wish I had known when applying finger joints to thin materials.

Products (Amazon links help me out, Thank you!)

I'm a big fan of the Incra iBox: https://amzn.to/3U8j9jT
If you enjoy woodworking then this would be a worthy investment, but if this is a one time project I would consider making a box or finger joint jig like the one William Ng presents: https://youtu.be/NutwD7B6tmE

Dado Blade: https://amzn.to/3m3GxTf
Although you could maybe try to make consistent fingers using a single saw blade and making multiple passes, it could be a maddening process. A dado blade allows you to make a 1/2" wide cut in a single pass. I chose this Dewalt model because it has a very logical method for knowing what thickness you are setting up for various projects.

And a note, if you haven't used a dado stack on your table saw you will need a new throat plate.

A cheaper option than a dado stack would be to use a router table if you have one. A router bit like this would do the same trick: https://amzn.to/3nOKwmX


Did you miss our previous article...
https://coolstufftomake.com/wood/create-tables-diy-wood-projects-that-sell