Automating A Box Joint Jig #Woodworking #Automation
The WB8NBS blog posts:
In 2009, I built a Lead Screw driven Box Joint jig. Box joints are common, they look like uniform intermeshed fingers. A box jointed corner is very strong due to the large glue surface. My jig was based on one by Matthias Wandell at Woodgears.ca but is quite different. It was originally controlled by simply turning a crank. You had to count crank turns to get the right pin spacing. Matthias has a write up on my original jig here.
A 16 TPI lead screw advances the carriage 1/16 of an inch with each rotation. I screwed up counting crank turns enough times to make me think about automating that process with my new found Arduino skills. It was, I think, my second Arduino project. I won’t post the code as it is really awful, but it does work.
My automation started with obtaining and modifying a motor assembly. It had an Acme threaded shaft about 6 inches long. The worm gear drive motor from All Electronics (DCM-697), was made for actuating automobile power seats. I sawed the shroud off the connector housing so I could use standard push on terminals. The mounting base is a bit of hardwood flooring rounded out to fit the motor and hose clamped on. I can loosen the clamps and slide the motor to adjust the chain.
See the post for the electronics used and how well it works.
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This is a cool project! I love workshop automations.
But even more awesome is the “Prove you are human by reading this resistor” bot check below this. So great! This stuff is what I love about AdaFruit