Greetings Gary,
I am embarking on a project to build cabinets for the garage. I plan on using 3/4 smooth plywood and using dadoes and rabbets to join the boxes together. The size of the stock, however, is too large to rip and to rabbet/dado on my table saw (I have a small table saw and no help). What is the easiest way to cut these 3/4 inch dadoes and rabbets? If a router, what is the easiest way to jig the router to make reliably straight cuts (and do they even make a 3/4 straight cutting router bit?). Thanks, SToma
Replies
Hi,
Sure they make a 3/4" straight bit for these kinds of cuts. However your plywood is probably not dead on 3/4". I'd check it first for its thickness and then use a readily available 1/2" bit.
You can use a fence on your router, they usually come with one, and add a wooden auxiliary fence to it to make it longer and more stable. Use this to make all of the end or edge rabbets. For the dados I would make up a T-square fence that indexes off the edge of your plywood and has a long edge on it. Clamp this in place to your plywood. Use a scrap piece of plywood as a locating shim to index the cut from the top or bottom edge of the plywood. Then when you make the mating cut, use this same shim to guarantee the placement of the cut.
Run your router base off the long edge of the T-square fence to make your dado cuts. Just figure out the offset of the bit from the edge of this fence. I'd also look into this great book on joinery by some guy named Rogowski. You're sure to see that fence in that book. Have fun.
Good luck. Gary
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