Arduino project – box joint jig

My first real Arduino project

Let me introduce my latest project: An Arduino driven box joint jig for my table saw! I saw a video on YouTube where some guy showed a box joint jig driven by a stepper motor and I decided to make one myself.

I already build a hand driven box joint jig very much like this one made by Matthias Wandel (it works fine by the way), so I started to build the electronics using an Arduino One, a 16×2 LCD screen, a Pololu A4988 stepper motor driver shield, a rotary encoder (with a micro switch included), a 18.5 V power supply, a Nema 8 stepper motor (SY20STH30-0604A) and some smaller parts (resistors, an LED, a LM7805 regulator and a capacitor). The whole thing looks like this:

Electronics for my box jointer project
Electronics for my box jointer project

Here is the schematics for it (without the LM7805 regulator and the capacitor):

Schematics for my box jointer project
Schematics for my box jointer project

The rotary encoder is used for controlling the menu (the switch labeled S1 on the schematics is actually built in the rotary encoder). The switches S2 and S3 are used for resetting the jig and for moving the stepper motor forward.

Here’s the sketch (it may be subject to change or include bugs): BoxJoin

2 thoughts on “Arduino project – box joint jig

  1. THANKS for this, Amazing !.
    I’ve build and used your code.
    Do you have any enhancements ?.
    I can not find the place you set the blade position because it is not the same as the zero.

  2. Hi Seb.

    Thank you for your comment. You’re absolutely right: there is no place where I set the blade position. I built the jig with a length that matches my table saw so that the zero is exactly the same as the zero blade position – that is the point where my blade just passes the wood without cutting anything.

    At the moment my jig is taken apart because I thinking about a rebuild. The stepper motor wasn’t strong enough so it would skip some steps and ruin my work. I’m considering a rebuild using a Makerslide and a stronger stepper motor.

    A rebuild of the code might also be something that I would do in the future. Adding a menu item for setting the blade zero as you suggest is one possible enhancement. Making the code more automated is another (so you won’t have to keep track of where you are in the process).

    I’d love to see a photo of you jig if possible.

    /Henning

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