Afternoon all. First post to the group but have been trolling quietly
for about a few months now, ever since I got bit by the woodworking
bug. Thought I'd post-in for some advice...

Question 1: We have a little ranch house we have been remodeling and I
am going to build a built-in desk / cabinet / bookcase for my daughters
attic/bedroom. I have never built any cabinetry before so I figured I
would practice techiques before tackling something that big. I am going
to use dados on the boxes (3/4 birch ply). First attempt was on our
Craftsman TS using a dado blade (I think it called a wobble??)
Terrible, tons of tear out. My next attempt, I made a jig for my new
router that adjusts to any size, scored accross the grain with a box
cutter, then routed away with a straight bit. Much better but still
some tearout. Any other ideas here? Only happens at the end of the cut.

Question 2: Is normal to have to sneak out of the house to the garage
in the middle of the night to play with your new woodworking tools? I
got caught last night and my wife thinks I am getting carried away.
Hehe.

Thanks,

CT

Much better but still some tearout. Any other ideas here? Only happens at the end of the cut.

You might try backing up the cut with a piece of scrap plywood. In
other words, clamp a scrap of the same thickness to the edge of the
wood where the cut would have ended, then rout the dado, so you won't
get tearout on your good workpiece, but on the scrap instead. That
wasn't too clear, but I hope you get the idea - not complicated in
practice.
And as far as question 2, yes, that's normal - I've been known to sneak
downstairs and just fiddle with tools, even if it's too late to do
anything noisy. Have you gotten into hand planes yet? Once that bug
bites, it's another slippery (but fun and rewarding) slope. Check out
knight-toolworks.com and leevalley.com. Ha! There goes a few hundred
bucks and some more sneaking out in the middle of the night to play
with new tools...
Andy

Question 1: We have a little ranch house we have been remodeling and I
am going to build a built-in desk / cabinet / bookcase for my daughters
attic/bedroom. I have never built any cabinetry before so I figured I
would practice techiques before tackling something that big. I am going
to use dados on the boxes (3/4 birch ply). First attempt was on our
Craftsman TS using a dado blade (I think it called a wobble??)
Terrible, tons of tear out. My next attempt, I made a jig for my new
router that adjusts to any size, scored accross the grain with a box
cutter, then routed away with a straight bit. Much better but still
some tearout. Any other ideas here? Only happens at the end of the cut.

Wobble dado - toss it. Like anything else in woodworking, sharpness and
quality are your friend. Quality dado kits are available from Ridge Carbide
and Forrest. Quality router bits are also available. However, if your tools
are sharp and you still experience tear-out, the plywood could be of poor
quality. Try dampening the wood prior to making the cut, use a scrap of the
same ply at the end of your dado pass, this too will help reduce tearout.


Question 2: Is normal to have to sneak out of the house to the garage
in the middle of the night to play with your new woodworking tools? I
got caught last night and my wife thinks I am getting carried away.
Hehe.

You might be, if all your doing is playing with them!~

Dave



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"Teamcasa" wrote in message
...



Question 1: We have a little ranch house we have been remodeling and I
am going to build a built-in desk / cabinet / bookcase for my daughters
attic/bedroom. I have never built any cabinetry before so I figured I
would practice techiques before tackling something that big. I am going
to use dados on the boxes (3/4 birch ply). First attempt was on our
Craftsman TS using a dado blade (I think it called a wobble??)
Terrible, tons of tear out. My next attempt, I made a jig for my new
router that adjusts to any size, scored accross the grain with a box
cutter, then routed away with a straight bit. Much better but still
some tearout. Any other ideas here? Only happens at the end of the cut.

Wobble dado - toss it. Like anything else in woodworking, sharpness and
quality are your friend. Quality dado kits are available from Ridge
Carbide and Forrest. Quality router bits are also available. However, if
your tools are sharp and you still experience tear-out, the plywood could
be of poor quality. Try dampening the wood prior to making the cut, use a
scrap of the same ply at the end of your dado pass, this too will help
reduce tearout.



Freud dado sets are also very nice. They got the highest rating in a recent
Fine Woodworking test.

-Steve

wrote:
Afternoon all. First post to the group but have been trolling quietly
for about a few months now, ever since I got bit by the woodworking
bug. Thought I'd post-in for some advice...

Question 1: We have a little ranch house we have been remodeling and I
am going to build a built-in desk / cabinet / bookcase for my
daughters attic/bedroom. I have never built any cabinetry before so I
figured I would practice techiques before tackling something that
big. I am going to use dados on the boxes (3/4 birch ply). First
attempt was on our Craftsman TS using a dado blade (I think it called
a wobble??) Terrible, tons of tear out. My next attempt, I made a
jig for my new router that adjusts to any size, scored accross the
grain with a box cutter, then routed away with a straight bit. Much
better but still some tearout. Any other ideas here? Only happens at
the end of the cut.

That's called "blow out" and it happens because that spinning blade or bit
is pushing wood toward the edge and there is nothing to support the wood
when the blade/bit exits. Someone already gave you the solution - back up
the edge with scrap. And cut as slowly as possible when the cut is exiting.

Someone knocked your wobble dado blade. True, they may not be as good as a
dado set but they'll do the job. Because they are wobbling in an arc the
bottom of the dado won't be quite flat...no problem, usually.

A suggestion for your dados...I would imagine you intend to use them for
shelves, probably in the case too? No matter, let me suggest 1/2" dados
rather than 3/4. You will then have to form a tongue on the mating piece
but that tongue will have a shoulder (two shoulders are better, 1/8 each
side) and the shoulder will help to align/square things as well as tell you
when the tongue is totally into the dado. Just make the dados a smidge
deeper than the tongue is wide. The shoulders hide any bummed up edge on
the dado too.

--

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

Using a scrap piece on the end worked like a charm. Thanks guys.

I know the wobble blade isn't the best choice, but it is what I had to
work with. When the funds become available, (after dust collection,
router table, etc) I'll probably get a freud.

Hehe, I think that is why she was so upset.

wrote:

First attempt was on our
Craftsman TS using a dado blade (I think it called a wobble??)
Terrible, tons of tear out.

First things first.

Toss that piece of junk.

If you want to cut dadoes, get a quality dado set.

It will make cutting dadoes a joy.


Lew

My next attempt, I made a jig for my new
router that adjusts to any size, scored accross the grain with a box
cutter, then routed away with a straight bit. Much better but still
some tearout. Any other ideas here? Only happens at the end of the cut.


I still haven't got around to buying a dado stack, so here's what I do-

Make two cuts with a good regular blade- one on either side of the
finished dado, then route the center out. No tearout, and it allows
you to use the router without the jig, if you're so inclined.

Put hearing protection on your shopping list also.

On 17 May 2006 17:58:56 -0700, "
wrote:

Using a scrap piece on the end worked like a charm. Thanks guys.

I know the wobble blade isn't the best choice, but it is what I had to
work with. When the funds become available, (after dust collection,
router table, etc) I'll probably get a freud.

Teamcasa said:
Wobble dado - toss it. Like anything else in woodworking, sharpness and
quality are your friend. Quality dado kits are available from Ridge
Carbide and Forrest.
Snip

Steve W said:
Freud dado sets are also very nice. They got the highest rating in a
recent Fine Woodworking test.

Agreed, I too have a Freud set - older but it still cuts great.

Dave



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