If you’re making boxes for a woodworking project, the classic box joint is a great choice for crafting corners that are as strong and tight as they are aesthetically pleasing.

The simple interlocking design of box joints makes them relatively easy to create. They also provide a lot of surface area between both pieces of wood, giving you a strong and stable connection when the joint is glued together.

What is a Box Joint?

A box joint is a basic woodworking corner joint made by cutting offset profiles in two pieces of wood and interlocking the resulting rectangles or “pins” together. Since these profiles are cut straight, you can slide them directly into one another, then glue the joint.

Box joints are sometimes called “finger joints,” but only when the pins are really thin.

Types of Box Joints

Box joints can sometimes differ from the standard version described above. They still feature the same basic concept, but can appear in various box types.

Angled box joint

Although box joints typically create right angles, they can also form shallower or tighter angles — good for creating decorative jewelry boxes or octagonal trays. Angled box joints are more challenging to cut, requiring a custom jig.

Half-blind box joint

These allow the front side of the joint to stay hidden, good for connecting drawer fronts to the sides. The pins on one side are cut so they’re housed inside the edge of the other, and their end grain isn’t visible.