Making a finger joint cutter, an experiment!
As many know, I do a lot of body wood work and the need for a long finger joint cutter is becoming more apparent. In the past making one or two joints by hand has worked but now I need to make many more joints. I need a tool bit that will make deep joints, 1 1/8” or deeper, as commercially available bits have a maximum depth of 5/8”. Inquiries in the general forum yielded what I expected, any long finger joint bit has to be custom made.
Looking at tapered slitting saw blades, their req
Made up my arbor last night on the lathe. Came out very nice, true, and with very close tolerance so they’ll be no blade slop. The 3/4” section is 2” long, a 1/4” blade flange left the 1” diameter of the stock, the blade area is 5/8” diameter, 2” long, then the end was turned to 1/2” and threaded 1/2-20. Made up a recessed end cup to apply pressure on the blade stack when the nut is tightened. Bored the cap with a 1/2” drill, used a 5/8” end mill to make the recess, then using a cutoff tool, se
