Help Please! Wedge Tongue and Groove Bit

I have never used this bit, but my guess would be that all work pieces must be the same thickness and the run one edge with the board face up and then flip the board running the other edge with the face down.

However, I am sure someone here has the bit and can give you a more definitive answer.

That’s what I thought… I tried some scrap but it wasn’t working well. I think it might be an alignment issue so hopefully someone with experience can explain.

B

-- Great Coffee= 8oz strong coffee, 1tbsp brown sugar, 1tbsp 1/2&1/2, 1 heaping teaspoon mahoganny

here’s one web page on setting up a glue joint router bit

I have one of those, and it can be a little tricky to set up. Once you have it right, you should make a setup block to make it easier the next time.

1. All your stock should be the same thickness. Any variation in thickness will show up in the seam.
2. The deepest part of the cutter (red arrow) should be carefully aligned with the router table fence.
3. Set the upper tip of the small part of the cutter (black arrow) one half the thickness of your material off the router table (3/8” high for 3/4” material) and make test cuts on two pieces of scrap that are exactly the same thickness as your working material.
4. Fit the two pieces together and measure the alignment error.
5. Lower the bit one half the distance of your error (1/16” error = lower bit 1/32”). That should put you right on the money, but take it from me, you’ll want to cut a couple more test pieces.
6. If the test pieces work, save one as a setup block. Be sure to write on the block what it is, so you’ll remember not to throw it away later. I speak from experience on that!

-- Coffee is best with a fine layer of sawdust on top. -- http://www.north40custom.com

The other suggestion is to use a featherboard to keep the pressure downward. As the link suggests, either take pieces from same board (you should anyways for consistent color), otherwise run through the planer to ensure exact thickness.

I preach to the kids that is more often important that the pieces are all exactly the same than accurate in measurement. For example, a set of fixed shelves for a cabinet can be a hair long or short, but as long as they are all exactly the same, the cabinet will assembly properly.

Thanks for the help. I glued up the mahogany top this evening so we’ll see how it comes out when it’s done cooking. You were very right about the boards being dead flat. I planed and jointed them about 2 hours before I routed the joint and one board had moved slightly so there is probably a 1/32-1/64 lip on the middle board… nothing a little elbow grease and a hand plane can’t fix.

thanks!

Brad

-- Great Coffee= 8oz strong coffee, 1tbsp brown sugar, 1tbsp 1/2&1/2, 1 heaping teaspoon mahoganny