Thanks for sharing this. My first impuls was to make multiple passes on the tablesaw, like you did with the mitresaw. But now I see that taking the time to build the jig results in a much cleaner fit that doesn't need the level of post-cut handwork. It's safer than I initially thought.
Excellent ideas, different methods better for different applications. I've also cut half-lap joints with a router table sliding miter jig and bottom cleaning bit. I really like that table saw jig and am going to try that - with a fine smooth cutting blade there would be almost no sanding of the two matching lap surfaces, if any. Thanks for the video.
The method using a router was easiest and quickest for me. I particularly like the idea of drawing diagonals to find the center on such a narrow space.. At my age, using the fractional measurements on a square are an up hill climb. Thank you.
I am going to test with an electric hand planer with scrap. Just glad someone did this with tooks I have and took the time to say how to do it with the circular saw. Router was going to be my first choice. I had not thought of using my miter.
Great video. Super helpful that you used all 3 tools. I'm a beginner with a circular saw deciding if I want a table saw or a router next and this helped make my decision.
Thanks! What are you going with? I personally love a router, especially as I was honing my craft and wasn't quite ready for advanced table saw work yet.
@@LazyGuyDIY I went with the router for now. Might get a table saw down the road. But I feel like it's less likely i'll hurt myself doing this vs a table saw. Plus just ordered a rabbeting bit for the router that i'm excited to try out. Want to make a box with rabbet joints and feel like this will be much easier to use then creating a jig on my own.
You can do maybe 80% of saw table cuts with your circular saw, if you have the patience. So getting the router as your next tool was the right decision!
Great video, well presented, no irritating loud music, good methods. I have just used the sliding mitre saw method, before watching this video, but the results ain’t that good. Will now try the other two that you presented. Cheers from 🇬🇧
Thank you for showing three methods, I think i'm gonna try the router, seems the easiest, I am newbie DIY. Can you tell me just what router bit to use for this type of joint? Thx
Sure can, I usually like to use a sacrificial fence attached to the miter gauge when I do that just so the piece of material has plenty of support and the cuts are straight. The one thing you'll need to look at though are the teeth on your saw blade. If they're flat tooth then you'll get a nice clean cut. If they're angled like a lot of blades are you'll lots of little ridges, but you can easily clean them up.
@@LazyGuyDIY after cutting and chiseling I’m thinking about cross grain electric planer to clean up… I was always told to you an electric planer with the grain and to never go against it but eh
I’m looking for the directions for joining two 2 x 4 at the corners. You set the table saw up cutting half the 2x4 the by standing the board up and cutting long ways through the end. Then you don’t change anything and you lay the 2 x 4 down and cut long ways . This leaves a 3/4” x 1-3/4” piece cutout. You repeat with each piece till you have eight cuts, then you can glue, clamp and nail them together, for an extremely strong square. My Grandfather, showed me this a long time ago, but I missed something, because my corners weren’t as tight as his where.
Good video, thanks. With the router, once you've cut away the supporting wood, is there a way / tool to support it? I found after cutting 16 laps that balancing the router like that gets pretty tiring and your level gets more and more inconsistent. I know you could use a piece of wood, but then you'd literally need one for every depth of cut. Must be a smarter way.
This is where a router table set up definitely comes in handy when making multiple passes. But with a handheld router, I agree, it gets a little tedious. As long as you strategically start on one side and work your way to the full width of cut, the accuracy really only needs to be consistent on the first and last pass on the outside edges. Balancing shouldn't be an issue at that point.
I'm just gonna put this opinion out there. And it's just that. An opinion. If you're just cutting a few half laps, the overall fastest and easiest way is to use a hand saw and a chisel. Maybe a beater chisel to hog out the waste quickly and your good chisel to actually cut to the line. With the power tools, there's a time investment overhead. It takes time to break out and set up the power tools, figure out any jigs/stops, do the job, pack it all away, and clean up the dust. With the saw and chisel, there's just a few simple hand tools to quickly grab, there's no messing with jigs at all, and it's way easier to clean up chips on the floor than saw dust all over everything. Now sure, the power tools are quicker per cut. The cumulative time saved on the cuts has to exceed that additional investment overhead to be worthwhile though. I'm thinking that the break even point for the average guy at home is going past 4 joints. If you're making a square frame for something, that's 4 joints. If you're making a pair of square frames, let's say to make some garage shelves, that's 8 joints (or more). Again, just an opinion based on my own experiences. Just some food for thought. YMMV.
It is the contractor version. And honestly, if I had to do it again, I would have just bought the cabinet saw. I thought that the footprint of the Contractor's saw would be smaller for the size of my shop, but it turns out the motor sticks out the back a good 10" and negates any saved space.
I think it might be a DAMN good idea to stress that these methods only work if both pieces being joined are the same thickness! What do you think? For instance, make a gate: both rails and stiles have to be the same thickness . . . .
That's the definition of a half lap. You can't half lap two different thicknesses. One side won't be "half" cut. It would still be a lap joint, but not a half lap.
I use plenty of hand tools in my shop. The problem is that the new woodworker doesn't always have the skill set or the tools to make that cut repeatable. Not to mention to have a quality saw that's sharp and then chisels or a plane to clean up the cut to make sure it's a good fit. Not many people own marking gauges either early on or blade guides. At least with power tools they can make repeatable cuts in short time with a low barrier of entry to make it happen. Then that's a gateway technique to get them interested to learn more traditional joinery.
Brilliant. Just brilliant. At last, someone that talks about spacers. Yes, its a real pain when the saw doesn't go back far enough. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing this. My first impuls was to make multiple passes on the tablesaw, like you did with the mitresaw. But now I see that taking the time to build the jig results in a much cleaner fit that doesn't need the level of post-cut handwork. It's safer than I initially thought.
Glad I could help!
Thank you, finally found a good video on this using tools I have. Good job!
Happy to help!
Excellent ideas, different methods better for different applications. I've also cut half-lap joints with a router table sliding miter jig and bottom cleaning bit. I really like that table saw jig and am going to try that - with a fine smooth cutting blade there would be almost no sanding of the two matching lap surfaces, if any. Thanks for the video.
The method using a router was easiest and quickest for me. I particularly like the idea of drawing diagonals to find the center on such a narrow space.. At my age, using the fractional measurements on a square are an up hill climb. Thank you.
Ha! I think I had the chickenpox when they taught fractions in grade school. They've always been my enemy.
I made this table saw jig and was cutting very tidy half laps in no time. Great video, thanks!
I am going to test with an electric hand planer with scrap. Just glad someone did this with tooks I have and took the time to say how to do it with the circular saw. Router was going to be my first choice. I had not thought of using my miter.
Great video. Super helpful that you used all 3 tools. I'm a beginner with a circular saw deciding if I want a table saw or a router next and this helped make my decision.
Thanks! What are you going with? I personally love a router, especially as I was honing my craft and wasn't quite ready for advanced table saw work yet.
@@LazyGuyDIY I went with the router for now. Might get a table saw down the road. But I feel like it's less likely i'll hurt myself doing this vs a table saw. Plus just ordered a rabbeting bit for the router that i'm excited to try out. Want to make a box with rabbet joints and feel like this will be much easier to use then creating a jig on my own.
You can do maybe 80% of saw table cuts with your circular saw, if you have the patience. So getting the router as your next tool was the right decision!
best video to explain lap joints. Thank you :)
Thanks for showing the different methods
Great video, well presented, no irritating loud music, good methods. I have just used the sliding mitre saw method, before watching this video, but the results ain’t that good. Will now try the other two that you presented. Cheers from 🇬🇧
Let me know which one you end up having the most luck with
My wood shop teacher doesn't teach so here I am scouring youtube on how to do things /endrant Thanks for the vid.
Ha! Happy to help!
hi...I made a watching your video. Thank you for being an inspiration to me.
You are so welcome
@@LazyGuyDIY Oh, thank you. Please visit my channel from time to time.
I'll come over from time to time. ^^
- GOOD job. Clear, concise info. Thanx 4 sharing.
Thanks! Hope it helped!
the router one really helped me out
Great video. Thanks.
Glad I could help!
Ah Miter Saw half lap..genius!! Going to use that..Thanks
Great video. Thank you. I am using a circular saw for cutting notches, but that more for outdoor work.
Great video and demonstration man
Matthew Schwartz thanks! Hopefully it helped!
Excellent. Just what I was looking for. Very much appreciated!
Great! Happy building!
perfection, thanks for the idea with using a slide miter saw, my router handle broke and getting it fixed soon.
Glad I could help! Definitely a quick fix!
Thank you for this
Awesome video man! Subbed and liked
Great to hear!
That was a very good video and you addressed my exact question. Thanks for the info, great job!
Great to hear!
Thank you for showing three methods, I think i'm gonna try the router, seems the easiest, I am newbie DIY. Can you tell me just what router bit to use for this type of joint? Thx
No problem! Just a 3/4” straight cut bit, Diablo or Freud has them most places.
@@LazyGuyDIY Thank you so much.
This video is amazing. I learned so much in 6 minutes. I just subscribed and look forward to seeing your other videos !
Thanks Tim!
Thank you. 👍💯
pretty useful, ths.
Great ideas! 👍🏻 saved and subscribed
pretty solid
Can I ask what router bit you used cheers steve🇬🇧
Thanks for this, what kind of bit do you use in the router by hand there at the last one?
I just used a standard Freud Straight Cut Bit. Nothing too fancy.
Thank you. I don’t have a table saw and wanted to be sure I got right bit with router :)
@@LazyGuyDIY It looks like a pretty wide one. The thinner the bit the harder to balance the router and get a consistent surface.
what pieces would the half-lap be most useful for? maybe cabinet doors?
Cabinet doors for sure and picture frames
Could you use the table saw the same way you used the miter saw doing multiple cuts?
Sure can, I usually like to use a sacrificial fence attached to the miter gauge when I do that just so the piece of material has plenty of support and the cuts are straight. The one thing you'll need to look at though are the teeth on your saw blade. If they're flat tooth then you'll get a nice clean cut. If they're angled like a lot of blades are you'll lots of little ridges, but you can easily clean them up.
Great tips! Very helpful video! Cheers!
What about using a electric planer for lap joints
I've never seen it done and it sounds like a lot of work, but doable.
@@LazyGuyDIY after cutting and chiseling I’m thinking about cross grain electric planer to clean up… I was always told to you an electric planer with the grain and to never go against it but eh
Bandsaw... long lengths - easy, safe, fast, accurate. Fence rails at 6m no problem. Just adding to the topic.
Great addition! I didn't have a bandsaw at the time, but do now!
Same. I cut the cross cuts with a chisel and backsaw, then cut the longer rip cuts on the bandsaw with the fence. Very quick and safe.
I’m looking for the directions for joining two 2 x 4 at the corners. You set the table saw up cutting half the 2x4 the by standing the board up and cutting long ways through the end. Then you don’t change anything and you lay the 2 x 4 down and cut long ways . This leaves a 3/4” x 1-3/4” piece cutout. You repeat with each piece till you have eight cuts, then you can glue, clamp and nail them together, for an extremely strong square. My Grandfather, showed me this a long time ago, but I missed something, because my corners weren’t as tight as his where.
nice
Good video, thanks. With the router, once you've cut away the supporting wood, is there a way / tool to support it? I found after cutting 16 laps that balancing the router like that gets pretty tiring and your level gets more and more inconsistent. I know you could use a piece of wood, but then you'd literally need one for every depth of cut. Must be a smarter way.
This is where a router table set up definitely comes in handy when making multiple passes. But with a handheld router, I agree, it gets a little tedious. As long as you strategically start on one side and work your way to the full width of cut, the accuracy really only needs to be consistent on the first and last pass on the outside edges. Balancing shouldn't be an issue at that point.
@@LazyGuyDIY Okay, thanks, I'll try that. I've also seen that you can extend the base of the router by screwing in a piece of mdf.
@@Mekchanoid that or a thick piece of acrylic so you can see can still see.
I'm just gonna put this opinion out there. And it's just that. An opinion.
If you're just cutting a few half laps, the overall fastest and easiest way is to use a hand saw and a chisel. Maybe a beater chisel to hog out the waste quickly and your good chisel to actually cut to the line.
With the power tools, there's a time investment overhead. It takes time to break out and set up the power tools, figure out any jigs/stops, do the job, pack it all away, and clean up the dust. With the saw and chisel, there's just a few simple hand tools to quickly grab, there's no messing with jigs at all, and it's way easier to clean up chips on the floor than saw dust all over everything.
Now sure, the power tools are quicker per cut. The cumulative time saved on the cuts has to exceed that additional investment overhead to be worthwhile though.
I'm thinking that the break even point for the average guy at home is going past 4 joints. If you're making a square frame for something, that's 4 joints. If you're making a pair of square frames, let's say to make some garage shelves, that's 8 joints (or more).
Again, just an opinion based on my own experiences. Just some food for thought. YMMV.
excellent. thank you for sharing
Is it possible to use a jig saw to cut?
Honestly, I would say no, there's too much blade deflection on a jig saw to get a straight enough cut. A bandsaw with a fence would work though.
What bit did you use on the router?
Double flute straight bit. This was a 3/4" diablo/freud with a 1/4" shank.
Can you use a jigsaw to do these?
Blade deflection is such an issue with jigsaws that I think it would be tough to be accurate
@@LazyGuyDIY thanks!
4:06 - 4:57 1/2 lap using router
Why did you hold the second piece vertically? Seems as if you risk not having the same cut depth and width. What am I missing?
That looks like the contractor version of the SawStop. Do you feel like you are giving up much over a cabinet saw of the same make?
It is the contractor version. And honestly, if I had to do it again, I would have just bought the cabinet saw. I thought that the footprint of the Contractor's saw would be smaller for the size of my shop, but it turns out the motor sticks out the back a good 10" and negates any saved space.
Great tips! Some awesome ways to make half-laps!
I think it might be a DAMN good idea to stress that these methods only work if both pieces being joined are the same thickness! What do you think? For instance, make a gate: both rails and stiles have to be the same thickness . . . .
That's the definition of a half lap. You can't half lap two different thicknesses. One side won't be "half" cut. It would still be a lap joint, but not a half lap.
Thanks, I knew how to do these with the dado blade, but don't actually own one.
Hmm.. Need some yardsticks now.
It amazes me how hard you tried not to use just an ordinary tenon saw.
I use plenty of hand tools in my shop. The problem is that the new woodworker doesn't always have the skill set or the tools to make that cut repeatable. Not to mention to have a quality saw that's sharp and then chisels or a plane to clean up the cut to make sure it's a good fit. Not many people own marking gauges either early on or blade guides. At least with power tools they can make repeatable cuts in short time with a low barrier of entry to make it happen. Then that's a gateway technique to get them interested to learn more traditional joinery.
Table saw method may not work if you are using heavy long boards, like the ones to build pergola….
You just need a mallet a chisel and handsaw much faster and easier
How about using lumber next time instead of doll house pieces. Good god man?
DIY - Don’t Involve Yourself.....
Great content, very useful...thanks for posting!!