how to route a thin deep slot in end grain of 18mm wood

perfect job for a groover cutter!

Try here

Bob

jkn wrote:

I think a 3mm bit is going to be a problem at 15mm deep.

What I think you actually want is a 3mm wide slotter fitted to an arbor

Or if you have a table saw try using that.

These are deeper cutting

Solid wood, or ply-wood?

Table saw would be my choice.

SteveW

Forget the router. This is a job for a table saw or - at a push - a biscuit jointer.

NT

Hi All Thanks for the quick replies! At first blush the Groover Cutter looks like the thing - me not thinking of this just shows my inexperience in what's available for Routers.

Too little strength or rigidity for what, please?

FWIW (a) It is in solid wood, not ply, and (b) I don't have a table saw (or Biscuit Cutter)

Cheers Jon N

You need to fit an arbor and a slotting cutter which is like a miniature saw blade.

You'll need to check sizes although you can alter the diameter of the bearings on the arbore to determine the depth of the slot.

You lay the work flat , run the router along the top and the bearings in the arbor either side of the blade run against the side of the wood.

michael adams

...

for what you're doing of course

So what saws do you have?

NT

You will have difficulty finding a 3mm straight fluted bit - and if you do, it will be very weak so you would need many light passes to get to depth.

You can get some slotting bits - the type designed for biscuit jointing in a normal router may do what you want.

I think if I were doing this, I would actually use a small circular saw with a guide fence fitted (or better still do it on a table saw if you have access to one). You may need a narrow kerf blade to get 3mm though (use multiple passes if you need to go wider than a single blade kerf.

And be very careful planning your movements - its wickedly easy to forget you can't lift or plunge, and end up taking a lump out of the face of your wood. DAMHIK!

Use an extra bit of wood on the other side of the router base to add stability when doing this type of cut - otherwise its difficult to balance it on edge and then slide it into the cut.

A groover is not a bit, tabby.

Before you make a bigger fool, look up the links I posted.

Yes, I get that, thanks!

I worked that out for myself last night after visualising things in a bit more detail - thanks! ;-)

As it happens there will be a 'scrap' area (to be cut away subsequently) of a few cm at the start end end of the slot, so the cleanness of the entry and exit points are not over-critical.

This has all been very helpful, thanks a lot.

Jon N

IIUC, clamp the wood in a workmate and run a circular saw set to 15mm. I did this to build a frame to hold the tongue of T&G cladding.

The best way to do this is with as we have arrived at a groover tool/arbor and using a router table. as well which allows a fence to be used to control the depth, and the table to support the workpiece.

end of a sheet of wood.

A 3mm diameter cutter can not do that, no matter how many shallow passes yo u make. I know because I have one. The only things it's able to manage are drilling downward and sideways cutting where the material being cut is at t he surface & thus close to the chuck. Anything else is a nonstarter.

NT

... if those are the tools the OP has. Otherwise it isn't. Random questioners are more likely to have a circular saw than a groover for a router.

NT

Dear tabby. PLEASE read what has been read. We are not talking about a