Any recommendations on whether to use a dado blade/tablesaw or a
router/table to make box joints. Would one method have smoother cuts over
the other. I will have to build a jig no mater which method I use.


Thanks Ron

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 10:20:58 -0400, "Ron Stitt"
wrote:

Any recommendations on whether to use a dado blade/tablesaw or a
router/table to make box joints.

Depends on the height (length of joint). The router table jigs
(Incra) are unhappy and unstable for long joints. A table saw jig can
be, if you make it so. A router jig for a hand-held router is equally
stable, up to the length of the jig.

For quantity production, I'd use the tablesaw. For a one-off, I might
choose a hand-held router over a finger jig. I wouldn't use a movable
fence on a router table.

I've used both methods, and I can't really say that one way is better than
the other. Some woods, especially the harder woods seem to cut a little
better with the router, but this doesn't always seem to be true. Using a
fresh un-cut backing board to reduce the chip-out is the best way to get a
clean cut no matter which method that you use.
--
Charley


"Ron Stitt" wrote in message
news:1113229277.725c1410a769dc6452b892ecb5373de1@t eranews...
Any recommendations on whether to use a dado blade/tablesaw or a
router/table to make box joints. Would one method have smoother cuts over
the other. I will have to build a jig no mater which method I use.


Thanks Ron

Ron Stitt wrote:
Any recommendations on whether to use a dado blade/tablesaw or a
router/table to make box joints. Would one method have smoother cuts
over the other.

How big, how many? Keep in mind that router bits are really meant for
*trimming*, not hogging out gobs of wood.

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

"Ron Stitt" wrote in message
news:1113229277.725c1410a769dc6452b892ecb5373de1@t eranews...
Any recommendations on whether to use a dado blade/tablesaw or a
router/table to make box joints. Would one method have smoother cuts over
the other. I will have to build a jig no mater which method I use.


Router table, straddle jig. Works up quickly, cuts beautifully, and with a
bit of right-angle help can do 22 inch deep drawers like it did this weekend
in my basement. With a spiral bit and a push block, the cuts are clean as a
whistle.

As you can see, they're not complicated. Buy or build. Got mine as a gift,
built for the school, and other than slick, no difference.
http://us.oak-park.com/catalogue.html?list=boxj--

Any of these methods work well. I'd prefer using a dado blade. The
jig is very easy to build. Test it out before using good wood.

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 10:20:58 -0400, "Ron Stitt"
wrote:

Any recommendations on whether to use a dado blade/tablesaw or a
router/table to make box joints. Would one method have smoother cuts over
the other. I will have to build a jig no mater which method I use.


Thanks Ron

dadiOH wrote:

How big, how many? Keep in mind that router bits are really meant for
*trimming*, not hogging out gobs of wood.


You don't mortise or dado with a router?

There are some pretty hefty hogging bits available.

Barry

I would say it depends on:
a) the size of the fingers and the thickness of the stock
b) how flat-bottomed a cut your dado stack makes
A dado will work better (quicker) for bigger (1/2"+) fingers - I wouldn't try to
hog out 1/2" x 3/4" sockets on one pass with the router, but a dado can do that
easily. OTOH, a router bit will cut very flat and square sockets. In either
case, a backer board will control tear-out. I think a micro-adjustable fixture
is a really good idea when using a dado setup.

There are pictures of my favorite box-joint fixture (near bottom of page) at
http://home.san.rr.com/jeffnann/Wood...odWorking.html

--
JeffB
remove no.spam. to email

Ron Stitt wrote:

Any recommendations on whether to use a dado blade/tablesaw or a
router/table to make box joints. Would one method have smoother cuts
over the other. I will have to build a jig no mater which method I use.


Thanks Ron

Phisherman wrote:
Any of these methods work well. I'd prefer using a dado blade. The
jig is very easy to build. Test it out before using good wood.

On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 10:20:58 -0400, "Ron Stitt"
wrote:


Any recommendations on whether to use a dado blade/tablesaw or a
router/table to make box joints. Would one method have smoother cuts over
the other. I will have to build a jig no mater which method I use.


Thanks Ron



I'll second the testing part. I just did a rough drawer using 1/4 inch
fingers. I'll do 1/2 inch fingers on rough work next time....

Anyway -- the test pieces looked pretty awful, but I analyzed them,
reset my brain and the drawers cut out just fine...

The Complete Book of Wood Joinery by deCristoforo (ISBN 0-8069-9950-0)
has the jig on page 126 - I adapted it for the Ryobi BT3000SX table saw
which has a sliding miter table -- which makes the jig a little simpler.
I used a clamp on the wood to make sure it did not shift as 1/4 inch
fingers can accumulate lots of error across a few inches of cut-outs. On
a 3 " height carcase, Just 1/32 error can give you 12 * (1/32) if the
errors go the "wrong" way. So mark where the cuts should go and analyze
and problems after a test joint.


--
Will
Occasional Techno-geek

B a r r y wrote:
dadiOH wrote:

How big, how many? Keep in mind that router bits are really meant
for *trimming*, not hogging out gobs of wood.


You don't mortise or dado with a router?

Sure I do. But as much as possible I use a saw to make dados and
grooves a skosh narrow, following up with a router.

There are some pretty hefty hogging bits available.

There sure are. And they are handy. Doesn't change the fact that a
router is basically a trimming tool and that there are lateral forces on
a bit that don't exist on a saw.

--
dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico