A Safer Way To Make This Cut?

[hankgillette]

I saw this little box posted on another site.



As you can see, it will have a sliding dovetail lid. The original poster cut the dovetails in the box using the router table. Since the box is made form a single piece of wood, that meant he was cutting with wood between the router fence and the dovetail bit. I assume he fed it from left to right, although he didn’t say.

I would like to make a box like this, but I am not crazy about making that cut on the router table. Is there a better way? I was thinking of doing it on the table saw, which might not give as smooth a cut, but doesn’t make me nearly as nervous as doing it on the router table.

[KC]

Almost any 'plowing cut' on the router table involves a 'buried' cut with wood between the fence. If there's a way around it, I've never figured it out.

[Big Dave]

I would remove most of the material with the tablesaw and then make the final cuts on the RT with the fence set back from the bit.

But that's just me...

Dave

[JGrout]

Big Dave said:

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I would remove most of the material with the tablesaw and then make the final cuts on the RT with the fence set back from the bit.

But that's just me...

Dave

---

It is not just you.....

that is the correct way to accomplish it safely

[Paul K. Murphy]

JGrout said:

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[blockquote]Big Dave said:

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I would remove most of the material with the tablesaw and then make the final cuts on the RT with the fence set back from the bit.

But that's just me...

Dave

---

It is not just you.....

that is the correct way to accomplish it safely

---

[/blockquote]
Agreed.

[Unisaw A100]

Plow out the majority of waste with a dado blade on the saw.

Follow that with a dovetail bit on the router table. Do the far cut first, flip/rotate, make the same cut along the opposite edge.

After that, move the fence incrementally and clean up the area in between.

[EatenByLimestone]

Handsaw, chisel. Watch out for the pointy parts.

[handi]

As said above, remove the waste with a straight bit or dado blade set.

Cut the dovetail closest to the fence by passing left to right, against the bit rotation. (The bit will be cutting on the inside edge) No different than any other cut.

I also recommend using a push block if the cut makes you nervous. MicroJig's GRR-RIP BLOCKs are about $25.00 each and have simply amazing friction. They will control the part and keep your hands well above the bit if anything goes bad.

Ralph

[hankgillette]

handi said:

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As said above, remove the waste with a straight bit or dado blade set.

Cut the dovetail closest to the fence by passing left to right, against the bit rotation. (The bit will be cutting on the inside edge) No different than any other cut.

I also recommend using a push block if the cut makes you nervous. MicroJig's GRR-RIP BLOCKs are about $25.00 each and have simply amazing friction. They will control the part and keep your hands well above the bit if anything goes bad.

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How about if I rotate the box and make both cuts on the side farthest from the fence? That way I could run it both times in the normal direction. Would that be any better, or would it make any difference?

Whatever way I do it, I want to make the two cuts without moving the fence to insure that the cuts are equal distance from the edge.

I will definitely be using a push block of some sort. I am very attached to my fingers and I want to keep it that way.

[thewizzard]

If its the direction of the cut that has you worried, just push it through left to right rather than right to left. If you were using a hand held router, you wouldn't think twice about moving the router in opposite directions for inside versus outside cuts. No different on a table.

As everyone has kind of pointed out, the dovetail in the picture was not made with a single pass. Most of the center channel was removed then each side of the dovetail was cut independently.