Malcolm,

I've cut box joints by hand.  I found it to be very tedious, but it can be
done.  If the fingers are very small, it can really be tedious and the
fingers can be fragile so some amount of care is involved.  It really is
the same process as hand cut dovetails.  You mark it out, saw the sides,
then chisel out the waste.  Some people will saw out the majority of the
waste with a coping saw and then simply trim away with the chisel.  That is
my personal preference rather than chopping, but good work can be done
either way.  I assume the fingers will probably be 1/4" or less which means
you'll need a small chisel.  This also means that keeping the chisel square
will be a touch more difficult, but it can be done.

Doc


On Wed, Oct 22, 2014 at 6:30 AM, Malcolm Thomas 
wrote:

> Sorry chaps, should have mentioned up front, am aware the joints on such a
> box were machined.  But don’t have a treadle powered table saw.   Also
> aware that DT’s are way to go for general work, more aesthetically pleasing
> and better joint around.
>
> But, i do want to replicate the yankee 100 box as much as I can and will
> have a go at it with  hand tools.   If that proves impossible or fails for
> some other reason then I could resort to my small model making table saw,
> but I don’t see much of a challenge in that  :-0)
>
>
>
>
> Cheers
> Mal
> Oz
> (Perth to be more precise)
>
> On 22 Oct 2014, at 7:07 pm, Michael Blair  wrote:
>
> >> anyway, any tips/gotchas i need to be aware of when cutting these
> >> things by hand ?? the finger joints that is...
> >
> > Erm, the finger joints in such boxes were machined joints from the start,
> > a way to get something of the strength of dovetails without all the hand
> > work.
> >
> > A true Neanderthal might do them with saw and chisel, but there is a
> > Galootish solution.  Charles Holtzappfel shows a treadle operated
> > table saw in either volume 1 or volume 2 of his five volume work, Turning
> > and Mechanical Manipulation.  There's one that is wooden construction,
> > and another that is metal (illustrated).  They're pretty much the
> > table saw we all know (but called a "sawing machine" in the text). They
> > have a fence, and they have a slot for a miter gauge.  The miter gauge
> > looks like any miter gauge found on a table saw you can buy today at
> > any dealership in tailed apprentices.
> >
> > Mike in Sacto
> >
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