Dados

[ctcheatham]

Afternoon all. First post to the group but have been trolling quietly for about a few months now, ever since I got bit by the woodworking bug. Thought I'd post-in for some advice...

Question 1: We have a little ranch house we have been remodeling and I am going to build a built-in desk / cabinet / bookcase for my daughters attic/bedroom. I have never built any cabinetry before so I figured I would practice techiques before tackling something that big. I am going to use dados on the boxes (3/4 birch ply). First attempt was on our Craftsman TS using a dado blade (I think it called a wobble??) Terrible, tons of tear out. My next attempt, I made a jig for my new router that adjusts to any size, scored accross the grain with a box cutter, then routed away with a straight bit. Much better but still some tearout. Any other ideas here? Only happens at the end of the cut.

Question 2: Is normal to have to sneak out of the house to the garage in the middle of the night to play with your new woodworking tools? I got caught last night and my wife thinks I am getting carried away. Hehe.

Thanks,

CT

[Andy]

end of the cut.

You might try backing up the cut with a piece of scrap plywood. In other words, clamp a scrap of the same thickness to the edge of the wood where the cut would have ended, then rout the dado, so you won't get tearout on your good workpiece, but on the scrap instead. That wasn't too clear, but I hope you get the idea - not complicated in practice. And as far as question 2, yes, that's normal - I've been known to sneak downstairs and just fiddle with tools, even if it's too late to do anything noisy. Have you gotten into hand planes yet? Once that bug bites, it's another slippery (but fun and rewarding) slope. Check out knight-toolworks.com and leevalley.com. Ha! There goes a few hundred bucks and some more sneaking out in the middle of the night to play with new tools... Andy

[ctcheatham]

Using a scrap piece on the end worked like a charm. Thanks guys.

I know the wobble blade isn't the best choice, but it is what I had to work with. When the funds become available, (after dust collection, router table, etc) I'll probably get a freud.

[nospambob]

[Teamcasa]

Snip

Steve W said:

Agreed, I too have a Freud set - older but it still cuts great.

Dave

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