# Whiteside lock joint 3362 45 - 0.48" ok?



## MarkCh (Jul 7, 2020)

After ~1 hour of fiddling, I set up a router table with a whiteside lock bit (3362) that is designed for cutting minimum 1/2" stock. After some poor planning, I realized I need to plane down to 0.49-0.48". This is eating into the "mitered" part that joins together, any advice if 0.5" is a hard limit for this bit?


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

As long as the board thickness is greater than the distance between the two red lines below, you're OK. Don't get too close to it (maybe within 1/16" or so), but I suspect that your boards are plenty thick for your bit.

Also, I did a blog post a few years ago about setting up a lock miter bit. It's easy if you separate the setting of the bit height from that of the fence. The blog post show you how.


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## MarkCh (Jul 7, 2020)

Thanks for the post - it'll help with the setup after I redo it to accommodate the planing.

Do you have advice for how to pass the vertical board over the bit considering the bit is eating away what I was using to stabilize the board? I was thinking of building something to slide along the top of the fence that keeps the board in a secure position. Holding the board with my right hand while pressing forward on a sacrificial push-block with my left worked moderately well. I cut out a big void so the push block does not have the chance to get nicked by the bit and shot at me after the cut and I pull the block back. Still, I have a lot of cuts to make and one of my practice pieces came out a little wavy when I didn't push through steadily, so the process can improve.


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## corelz125 (Sep 23, 2015)

That vertical board is tricky to cut. I built a sled to hold the piece straight and square. The sled keeps your hands away from the bit to.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> Do you have advice for how to pass the vertical board over the bit considering the bit is eating away what I was using to stabilize the board?
> 
> - MarkCh


I spent a lot of time working on a fixture to make that cut. Ultimately, I found that adding a guide to the board, like the blog post shows, and pressing it flat to the fence with a push shoe such as a GRRRipper or something like it worked best. You can use the push shoe to hold the board flat to the fence, as well as pressing down on the attached guide to keep it flush to the router table top.


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## xedos (Apr 25, 2020)

Can't answer specifically on your whiteside bit, but I found 1/2" material a no go on the Freud bit I have. Ended up using a cheap bit from Amazon to complete the job.

I can say that these jigs are a huge time saver for setup, and work on any brand lock miter bit.

https://www.infinitytools.com/lock-miter-master-jigs


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## splintergroup (Jan 20, 2015)

There is also a good document on setup here.


For providing support against the table/fence and avoiding riding on the boards sharp edge, I use a piece of masonite double sided taped to the outer surface. This allow the cuts to be perfect.

If you are mitering the short sides of a board, use a piece of masonite that is wider than your cut, it will help you keep the part square to the fence/table.

The masonite is aligned with its edge flush with the to-be-mitered end of your part. The masonite will not be cut into by the bit and will serve to guide the part. Eliminates any funky snipe or crushed corners.


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## MarkCh (Jul 7, 2020)

Thanks for the advice! This points out that part of my setup/technique was flawed both for horizontal and vertical cuts. Vertical needs the double sided tape or the shoe+sandpaper in the document you posted. For the horizontal cuts, I was pushing the workpiece with a miter bar. It's a little wonky to get the fence both the correct depth and perfectly parallel to the miter slots. Instead, the workpiece can be supported by masonite riding against the fence, rather than miter slot.


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## splintergroup (Jan 20, 2015)

I usually cut my masonite pieces the same time I cut the parts to be lock-mitered. That way they are the same size and can be taped on, then used for all the needed cuts.


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## corelz125 (Sep 23, 2015)

Sled I use for the vertical pieces. Holds everything steady and tight.


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

> Sled I use for the vertical pieces. Holds everything steady and tight.
> 
> - corelz125


I've always liked a sled like that for cutting uprights next to the saw blade, or router bit. It always seemed the premade sleds for routers were for the easiest cut when you are sliding a piece along the table's surface. Now I see a few for standing stock upright, which is far and away the more difficult cut both from a standpoint of accuracy, and safety. I guess you could have a hugely tall fence to avoid tip over, but you still need the stock pressed tight to the fence. That type of sled is much better than using fingers. ;-)

On the TS we usually swap the jig so it rides the fence, rather than the table, but same idea essentially.

Bruce that is a great how to document. Thanks for posting that. Good information like that is helpful to all.



> With my method, a pair of calipers gets me set up and ready to cut in minutes. I don t even do test cuts anymore since it s dead on every time.
> 
> - Rich


LOL, would love to see real time video of that happening. Don't need to do test cuts. ROFL, that's a good one.


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## MarkCh (Jul 7, 2020)

Well, I can't do math and my calipers are from Harbor Freight. So I'll be doing test cuts but I'm also low on stock, so the fewer tries I do with all the advice here the better.

Not to change the subject, but to change the subject, I'd like to use toggle clamps on more jigs, but don't like the woodcraft/rockler costs. There are super cheap ones on amazon, any experience with these? Alternatively I could invest more time, thought, and $$ into the vertical jig and make it double for cutting tenons on the TS.


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## corelz125 (Sep 23, 2015)

The toggle clamps I used on that sled are from amazon. I didn't like my finger that close to the router bit. I tried an extended fence also didn't care for it.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> Not to change the subject, but to change the subject, I d like to use toggle clamps on more jigs, but don t like the woodcraft/rockler costs. There are super cheap ones on amazon, any experience with these? Alternatively I could invest more time, thought, and $$ into the vertical jig and make it double for cutting tenons on the TS.
> 
> - MarkCh


Actually, you're getting it back on subject after a clown act. I've purchased toggle clamps on Amazon and they are just as good as WoodRiver-probably made in the same factory in China. Be careful when you order though. Mine came directly from China and took weeks to arrive. They were inexpensive though…lol

If you're going to be building a high-use jig that will hold various thicknesses of wood, take a look at the Armor Tool clamps with their auto-adjusting feature. They cost significantly more, but can save you the aggravation of having to adjust regular clamps for each board thickness. It's a nice feature when you need it.

Edit: If you do decide to build a fixture for the vertical cut, a good tip is to add some adhesive backed sandpaper to keep the workpiece from shifting during the cut. Something around 180 or 220 grit.


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## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

has anyone here actually tried using rich's method.might be more credible if someone has.i usually find his information to be quite useful.it's sad these thread go this way.dont know why everyone cant give an opinion without ripping each other up.peace guys.


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## paulLumberJock (Aug 5, 2020)

.


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## MarkCh (Jul 7, 2020)

I'm certainly going to give it a try, considering the worst case outcome is a new digital depth meter and some saw dust. Also considering how often I mess up on basically everything, it'll be a low-information outcome. Anecdotally, I've got high end 3M lapping paper, a whetstone, the wheel jig, and stropping leather. I rock at the hips, apply even pressure and after a perfect mirror finish on my Hock plane blade, it's still kind of dull. My friend is a luthier and after 15s freehanding on an old stone is ready for a shave.


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## MarkCh (Jul 7, 2020)

Alright all, gonna wrap this up and flag any "off-topic" posts.


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## MarkCh (Jul 7, 2020)

Note, there was some collateral damage for posts that were both informative and inappropriate.


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## MarkCh (Jul 7, 2020)

For better or worse, my weekend exploits were informative enough to share.

0.48" stock mills just fine with the whiteside 3362 lock bit. I could have likely gone down to 0.46 and saved myself some sanding, but definitely not less than that. There is a bit over 1/16" of mitered faces in contact on both sides of the lock joint, which can help with keeping the boards together over time.

Next, I bought the Igaging snap check depth gage. Not a fan, but it worked for this and it told me one of my jointer blades is 0.03" too high.

Finally, for setup - I used the two cuts+depth guide approach. It was nice to have the gauge though it did take a few tries, but this is coming from a guy who has added 22 1/4" + 1 7/8" to get 23 1/8. Importantly, a minor bow in my router table insert plate meant I needed to get the right down pressure to get consistent cuts on the horizontal pass. Reaching way back in memory to Taylor's book on error analysis, uncertainties add, so the depth gauge works a lot better on a well tuned setup.

For the cuts I braced the horizontal pieces with a relatively large (maybe 8"x20") piece of scrap 3/4" plywood - the more I supported the stock far from the fence the more stable it was during the cut. It did place my fingers maybe 3" from the bit, but the bit was hidden under the stock (unlikely to slip into it even with downward pressure.
To support the vertical cuts I just made a little shoe jig.


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

You nailed it.


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## MarkCh (Jul 7, 2020)

Thanks!


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## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

> Thanks!
> 
> - MarkCh


No, thank you. Anytime you think I can help, don't hesitate to ask.


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## Cricket (Jan 15, 2014)

The bickering will stop now.

https://www.lumberjocks.com/CricketW/blog/42535


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