Alright, I'm scared. I'm getting ready to cut the dadoes into the sides of a corner cabinet. These are essentially crosscuts as far as
48 inches from the referencing edge, which would be up against the fence. !/4 inch deep. The panels are about 23 inches across. Beyond just "listening to that little voice" that says to be careful, I'd thought I would ask the group about their ideas in regards to possible kickback, as the fence is so far away, and their personal bests in similar endeavors.... Tom
Would a handheld router with an clamp-on guide make you feel more comfortable? If something feels wrong, or even a little uncomfortable, I always try to find a different way to get the job done. The router might take a little longer, but you could get a
23/32" plywood bit, which should take off 1/4" deep with no problem, and a clamp guide something like this:
Personally, the router is one of my least-liked tools and the table saw one of my favorites, but in this case I would cut the dadoes with a router and straight edge guide.
tom wrote: : Alright, I'm scared. I'm getting ready to cut the dadoes into the : sides of a corner cabinet. These are essentially crosscuts as far as : 48 inches from the referencing edge, which would be up against the : fence.
I thought that using the fence for a cross-cut was a no-no - too much chance of the wood binding between the fence and the blade. I'd use a router, but if I used a table saw I'd use a sled or at least a miter gage.
I've heard that if you want to use the fence on a cross-cut so that you can make multiple cuts of the same length, then you attach a stop block to the fence before the blade, use that to position and clamp the stock to the sled (or miter gage), and make sure that the stock clears the stop-block before it contacts the blade.
No, you don't have it wrong. A very useful tablesaw accessory is a 1" block used for that very purpose. Set the fence up for the needed dimension + 1", then make the cuts referenced to the stop block. No binding, no kickbacks, very repeatable.
No you don't .....but the original guy said he was cutting a 1/4 inch dado.....nothing is loose for a kickback, no single blade to bind or kerf to close........with even downward pressure on the wood, a solid fence or layout for material control and hands always clear of the blade you can't see, it is not a very dangerous cut or definitely safer than any cut when the blade is exposed..... For a dado I'd still rather use a router although for 12 inch or so quickies I'd use my RAS and for long grooves the tablesaw...as always there are lots of ways to get to the same place......Rod
Add me to the choir, unless I was doing enough to justify building a new sled. I prefer dadoing on the TS, but big stuff usually gets done with the router.
To the OP: Keep in mind that dados don't kick back the same way as through cuts. It'll ruin the work, but it'll usually not develop the same sorts of forces as a trapped and lifted board.
Plywood, or wood sides? Are the sides really 96" in length? (if not, can you change/swap your "reference edge"?)
With a good cabinet saw and a long fence, this is not a particularly dangerous cut for the operator, but more so for the workpiece, particularly with only a 23" width that must be held tightly against the fence during the cut.
Rotation of the piece away from the fence during the cut (from the friction between it and the table top, and the drag induced by the cut) is what will ruin the workpiece. Whatever you can do to minnimize these two forces will help ... IOW, wax the table top, and use sharp cutters.
I make these type of cuts routinely on the table saw, but usually in sheet goods where I can dado the full width of a sheet, giving more area to press against the fence, with less chance or rotating the piece during the cut, and then rip to width.
This usually makes for more accuracy of the dado position on opposite sides of a cabinet to boot.
If this is not possible, and you don't trust either yourself or your equipment, a sled, or router is your best bet.
Use a router with a straightedge as a guide -- something you've ripped on the table saw, or jointed, to get a nice clean straight edge.
If the panels to be fit into the dados are plywood, DO NOT assume that their actual thickness is the same as their stated thickness. Likewise, do not assume that all sheets of plywood, even if bought at the same time from the same lot from the same source, are the same thickness. Cut your dados using a router bit that's smaller than the thickness of the plywood. Then either shift the guide and make a second pass with the router to get the exact width, or use the table saw to cut a slight rabbet on the panels.
If the panels are solid wood, it's easier to cut the dados at whatever size you wish, then plane the panels to the correct thickness.
Remember that a router motor spins clockwise as viewed from the top, and position your straightedge so that the force exerted on the router by the wood pulls it *into* the guide, not away:
guide ==================== router O feed direction ----->
There's no danger of a runaway cut if you put the guide on the correct side of the router, and keep the router pressed against it. Easier to do that, IMO, than to ensure that two guides are parallel to each other.
Make a jig that you can clamp onto the cabinet sides and restricts your router base to cut a perfect dado. Test the jig on a scrape piece and make adjustments as needed. Most of your time will be in making the jig, but once that's done cutting perfect dadoes will be easy.
If you have a dado blade for your table saw and you have a 50" fence, the table saw will work. You must keep the work tight against the fence by applying the force between the blade and the fence. Depending on the size/weight of the cabinet sides, this may not be safe. If there is safer way, it is a better way. It is a good thing to listen to that little voice!
Assuming that your table saw is setup properly, and workpiece hangs over the edge of the table saw to the left of the blade, here's another way to do it with the table saw, which I forgot to mention:
Retract the blade below the table top; set your fence to the proper distance for the cut; lay the workpiece, with the center over the retracted blade, onto the table top with the "reference edge" squarely against the fence; securely clamp a straight, pre-cut "guide board", underneath the workpiece, and snugly against the table saw's left top edge.
Now, make sure the piece slides easily, but with no rotation, between the clamped guide board and the fence, with the blade still retracted.
If done correctly, this will seriously reduce any rotation of the workpiece when doing the cut, and will allow you to control the cut from the left of the blade, instead of from the fence, some distance away.
Set the blade to the correct height and you now have two options for the cut:
Some will feel uncomfortable trapping the workpiece between the guide board and table saw fence.
For a 1/4" non-through cut, I would not hesitate to do so, but YMMV.
Move the fence back, and just use the clamped "guide board" against the edge of the table saw top as your guide to make the cut.
Whichever way you prefer, the cut is now much easier to control because the distance between your new temporary "reference edge" and the blade is likely to be much less than the width of your cabinet side.
I have used this method when I have had to dado slightly bowed stock and needed to be in better position to put downward pressure than I would be when trying to control the cut closer to the fence.
Reminds me of a short demo video that Pat Warner put together, and might be available on his website. He used a piece of the shelf material, and a sheet of paper, to set up a jig like that. The jig, in this case, was nothing more than two straight boards and some clamps.
Using the actual shelf would take care of at least some of the variation in material thickness.
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