I'm making 1/2 inch deep and 3/8 inch wide mortises on my router table. I set a block and use guidelines for the length. I push the wood straight down on the bit and slide the wood forward until the mortise is made. I sort of looked around on the web for examples of others using this method and found none. Is this a no-no for some reason?
Thanks,
S.
It can be a bit tricky to do it that way, but many people do.
I prefer using a plunge router and an edge guide. Clamp the part in a vise, set the edge guide so the mortise ends up in the right position and then carefully make the cut. Make sure you are moving the router so that the bit rotation pulls the edge guide toward your part rather than away from it.
Charley
Actually, what you are doing is a quite common method. Where it gets dicey is on deep mortises close to end of the stock.
A plunge router, either equipped with an edge guide, or a with a router jig, is ideal for this task and may be more accurate in many situations.
For a look at a couple of ideas go to:
No problem. Although, 1/2" might be a lot to hog out with a 3/8" bit in one pass. Two passes might be in order.
One more thing, I highly recommend an up-cut spiral bit for this job. Make sure the bit is in the collet tight because they have a tendency to creep out of the collet (through the wood) if not tight.
Check out a site called EagleLakeWoodworking.com for a really elegant way of doing what you need .. .. ..
sams> I'm making 1/2 inch deep and 3/8 inch wide mortises on
Not only tight, but make sure the bit and collet are _clean_. A tiny bit of grease will let the bit creep right out even if it's tight. DAMHIKT.
High risk, blind cutting on the router table. Smart to be skeptical. Work can jetison unexpeditly. In my view, one of the most frequent reasons for loss of work piece and injury.
Routers _________________
There's nothing really wrong with it so long as you're careful. Make sure your hands never get close to the bit, even if it is buried in wood and make sure the workpiece isn't going to come back at you and you should be fine.
Depending on the size of the piece though, using a hand-held plunge router is probably easier and more exact.
It will work, but a mortising jig would be a good bit safer.
Mortising jigs come in "many" different flavors but here is a "dead simple" method for basic mortising.
sams> I'm making 1/2 inch deep and 3/8 inch wide mortises on
I've done lots of router table mortising by lowering the work onto the spinning bit, and I find Tage's jig to be far safer. The table works, but definitely has a higher pucker factor.
I forgot to mention...
Mounting two edge guides to a plunge router, on one set of rails, also works really well.
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