RE: ATM How to make a box

[Bob Prabowo <BOB@BAHANA.CO.ID>]

Hi Mike,

> - Does anyone know of a cheap way to make box joints in birch plywood,
> without having to master esoteric joinery skills?
> 
IMO, the simplest way is butt joint reinforced with corner gusset or brace.
I prefer brace because they're more simple than gusset. You can buy corner
brace at any hardware stores while gussets (at least here in Jakarta) have
to be made by yourself.

Other alternative is using dowel joint. Make a dowel joint every several
inches but IMO it's still has to be reinforced with either a gusset or
brace. This dowel joint is stronger than simple butt joint and easy to make
if you have the right equipment. Just get a doweling jig, it's much much
cheaper than router.
The hardest part in making box is cutting the plywood straight :-)

Just my 2 cents (in US dollar, in Rupiah it's worthless).

Bob P. Sumitro
Jakarta, Indonesia

visit my still-under-construction astronomy and telescope making page:
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hall/2670/