Synopsis: Dovetails aren’t the only way to show off your box joinery skills. Gary Rogowski explains techniques for making strong corner joints and matching long grain for elegant but simple mitered boxes. Detailed instructions for cutting, gluing, adding biscuits or through-splines, and clamping are given, along with cutting and fitting keyed miters, dovetailed miters, and veneer splines. Also, you’ll read his technique for milling the four sides of the box on the bandsaw to achieve a continuous grain pattern.

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If a dovetailed box speaks volumes about your craftsmanship, what can a simple mitered box say? From a practical view, mitered joints require only a quick setup on the tablesaw, and once set up, the cuts are repeatable; so a mitered box says that you’re frugal with your time. From an artistic view, mitered joints are beautiful, with only long grain showing around the sides of the box. Because…