I'm more comfortable with a router. It is easy to setup and cut. Preferably in a router table. You didn't state what was the board size. A long board might be hard to hold on a table.
I'd have to use a comination of tablesaw, (with or without a dado set up) and a plane or chisel. (Not having a router quite yet.) I've planed many a board down with a small hand plane (having to get things to fit my old house) and I'd bet that it would go just as quickly as getting out the router and setting it up.
Karson: I'm not comfortable with any tool yet, so I want to try and start out "right" so my comfort level doesn't involve processes that you guys would shake your head at!
Don, thanks for the picture: that really helps clarify.
If you have access to a table saw and a daddo, that is what I use and would suggest. I get a lot better control with this. I have one table saw set up with a daddo blade , thus saving time breaking it down each time.
I, too, would go with the table saw and dado blade set-up. Debbie, a Dado blade is sveral saw blades used on your table saw at the same time each blad being a little larger than 1/8" thick with the thickness usually totaling up to 13/16ths of an inch
router: back-up plan
dado blade: first choice. Got it.
(Not that I'm making a 5' box. I'm still struggling with a small one! We bought a router table and a jig set from a woodshow. Actually, we bought the jig set at a wood show - seemed easy enough for me to use, and then went to Sears and bought a router/router table. Well, we get the table home and give it a try and the blade and spacer thingy and the jig are chewed up by the router. Call the jig company and find out that the jig setup doesn't work with models from Sears. DAH!
So we have to get an adapter (mistake number one-shoulda' returned the Sears model).
The new jig stuff arrives in the mail; we set it all up and darned if the same thing didn't happen again. Something or other moved on the Sears model, throwing everything out of sync.
Change of plans: remove the jiggy stuff and just try the router out. Rick takes a router bit from his router (that he bought at Sears years and years ago and has worked like a charm over and over again, ) and what happens? The bit breaks. Well, maybe the bit was old/flawed. So we buy a new router bit. Run it through a couple pieces of wood and the end of the bit broke off.
So now what? Is it the bit? Is it the table? Is it the router? Is it us?
Not sure of the cause but I do know what the effect is: no box building this month! And it will take a long time for me to get the courage up to tackle using a router table. I'm going to stick with my Dremel.
Debbie, this is a sad tale. Without really knowing the cause of these LO's (remember Learning Opportunities), it's difficult to comment. But my strong suspicion is that your technique needs honing.
In my opinion, there is no better place to learn the basic skills of woodworking than at a woodworking club, or perhaps equally good from a community college course. Woodworking tools are inherently dangerous. You need to learn the basics and when you do, your fears will be diminished.
A few rules about routers. A hand-held router should trim the outside edge of wood by moving it in a counter clock-wise direction, ie from left to right.
A router always needs a guide. In a router table this is the fence. (By the way - when in the table you move the work piece in a clockwise direction, ie. from right to left.) The router bit may also have a bearing guide. The guide controls the amount of wood that is being cut. It's always best to take less than more. In other words, cut small amount until you have crept up to the size you want. When using the router as in the picture above, the fence or guide controls the direction of the cut, making it run true. If you are cutting a trench, or dado, start with either a smaller bit and work up to the desired width of the trench. Or, and perhaps this is more practical, start with a shallow cut and sneak up on the desired depth with multiple passes.
Using the router is a matter of control. You need to control the speed and direction of the wood passing the router bit, or the router-bit passing the wood, depending on whether it's table mounted or hand held. You need to control the amount of wood being cut per pass. And you need to control the speed of the bit rotation, assuming it has a variable speed control.
My suspicion is that in one of these areas you were not controlling the process.
Debbie: Take a look at John Lucas web site www.woodshopdemos.com You have to enter his site and at the bottom of a page you will see a Main Menu button go there and you might find something that will give you some clues on using a router table or a table saw. He is not doing videos but he does take you through the process of making some things.
I appreciate all of these bits of information. I'll be reviewing it over and over to really understand it all before I touch the router. Most of it sounds familiar, as Rick gave me some mini lessons when we bought the table.
I didn't really watch what Rick was doing but since he's been doing this for years I can only assume that he was "following the rules" (at least the rules of his old router).
DEBBIE !!!
Use the simplest and easiest method. Routers are great, ( I have 3) but when it comes to cutting dado's I find that nothing works as easy ( for me) than a dado blade set on my table saw. It's hard to mess that up. KISS ( Keep it Simple, Silly)
I'm all for keeping it simple!! And since I have chosen not to use the scary table saw I can leave the dados for Rick to cut - now that is REALLY simple. hahaa
I was reading this and thinking the length of dado is what has me leaning to the router with edge guide. The decision is already made, but controlling a router along a clamped workpiece with clamped edge guide is really very safe. A dado blade held along a fence over a 6 foot length with limited experience in doing so? though not unsafe, is second in my books. However, it depends on the tools available. This is a good discussion that warrants completing.
Debbie.
I just looked at what I wrote back in January. I'm sorry I made an error. I meant rabbet, & not dado.
You can use your router with a straight bit, & the fence on your router table. I do that most of the time now. I used my jointer before I had a router table.
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