Keezer collar joints help

Hey everyone so I have the wood for my keezer collar. Went with some nice maple. It's going to be 7.5" high & is 1.25" thick.

Where I'm looking for advice is which the joints. I know a lot of people mitre them, some dovetail & others box/finger joint them. Now im going between box/finger joint & mitre-ing them and wanted to see what everyone else has done and the pros as cons of each. Once it's joined the whole thing will get a clear poly satin stain which will assist with sealing it.

Seems the box/finger joint would be a good bit more intricate. Not sure there's really any pros or cons one way or another. Whatever will give you a good, sturdy construction will work, whether that be box/finger, mitre, or pocket screws, or even butting them together and joining with L plate brackets.

I was thinking miter or box/finger due to aesthetics also. The butt joint is ugly haha I may end up just mitre-ing it and using liquid nails to seal it then caulk the inside

I ended up using some oak I had sitting around and milled it to the same dimensions you're planning on. I mitered/biscuit joined the corners and used an angle plate on each inside corner to reinforce.

I bought a dove tail jig at home depot and I'm happy with the way it looks. The joints are visible from the front because I like dove tails.

My problem is I don't have a table saw/ or table mount for my router so I have to have someone cut it for me. Mitre might be the easiest but I do agree dovetail joints look very good

mtnrider said:

I ended up using some oak I had sitting around and milled it to the same dimensions you're planning on. I mitered/biscuit joined the corners and used an angle plate on each inside corner to reinforce.

Click to expand...

Yeah I think thats what I'll end up doing. Time to go pick up some 90` clamps!

Wood is mitred! Time to go get some liquid nails, right angle clamps & silicone!

I would just mitre it, and then install some cleats for support (you can use scrap 2x4 or whatever stock). All you need is a mitre saw and a drill (corresponding bits). I used wood glue to ensure a seal.

For the cleats just cut 45 degrees on each side and fit them in with the screws.

Looks nice and is cheap/easy

Mitre joints are fine for this application. It's not like the piece is going to take a lot of strain or anything like a regular piece of furniture would. I did mitre joints with glue blocks on the inside for some extra reinforcement, just to be sure.

Here's a picture update!