Hi,
I am building a guitar amplifier cabinet and have some questions about
making the joints.
I am not doing finger/dovetail joints yet.. just using kind of a butt
joint.

Looks like this
_ _____________________
A |_______ _
- - B - |
| C
|___________

The top is .. well the top.
There is a notch in the top that is 3/4 in deep (B) to take the side
of the cabinet
There is a lip that covers the top of the side (A) that is 1/4 inch
wide.
Since the plank is 3/4 wide (C=1/2 inch.. therefor A+B=3/4

Anyway.. Ideally this would be done with a dado.. but I dont have one.
I do have a router and table and that is where the question comes in.

I have to do the cut in mulitple passes. I can only take off about 1/8
of an inch at a time.
When I am cutting I am noticing that in addition to sawdust there are
curls of wood (as if I was using a plane)
I can only cut about an inch every 4-5 seconds.
When I cut across the grain there is a considerable amount of buring.

Is this normal? I am assuming I am doing something wrong.. just dont
know what.
Burning when crosscutting? Curling when cutting? Cutting 1/8 deep by
1/2 inch at a time?

I really would appreciate any help. I have looked through several
woodworking books and havent found anything
pertinent to this situation.

Thanks

Drew
I had cleaned any gunk from the bit before I started routing.

On Jul 13, 8:54*pm, DH82C wrote:
Hi,
I am building a guitar amplifier cabinet and have some questions about
making the joints.
I am not doing finger/dovetail joints yet.. just using kind of a butt
joint.

Looks like this
_ * * _____________________
A *|_______ *_
*- * * *- B - * |
* * * * * * * * *| C
* * * * * * * * *|___________

The top is .. well the top.
There is a notch in the top that is 3/4 in deep (B) to take the side
of the cabinet
There is a lip that covers the top of the side (A) that is 1/4 inch
wide.
Since the plank is 3/4 wide (C=1/2 inch.. therefor A+B=3/4

Anyway.. Ideally this would be done with a dado.. but I dont have one.
I do have a router and table and that is where the question comes in.

I have to do the cut in mulitple passes. I can only take off about 1/8
of an inch at a time.
When I am cutting I am noticing that in addition to sawdust there are
curls of wood (as if I was using a plane)
I can only cut about an inch every 4-5 seconds.
When I cut across the grain there is a considerable amount of buring.

Is this normal? I am assuming I am doing something wrong.. just dont
know what.
Burning when crosscutting? Curling when cutting? Cutting 1/8 deep by
1/2 inch at a time?

I really would appreciate any help. I have looked through several
woodworking books and havent found anything
pertinent to this situation.

Thanks

Drew
I had cleaned any gunk from the bit before I started routing.

Off the top of my head... is the bit sharp? Carbide?

DH82C wrote:

Looks like this
_ _____________________
A |_______ _
- - B - |
| C
|___________

I have to do the cut in mulitple passes. I can only take off about 1/8
of an inch at a time.

With a sharp bit, you should be able to cut at least the diameter of the
bit deep with each pass, and you should be able to feed at least 1-1/4"
per second.

When I am cutting I am noticing that in addition to sawdust there are
curls of wood (as if I was using a plane)

This sounds like you're cutting with non-overlapped passes. Try
overlapping adjacent cuts by 50%.

I can only cut about an inch every 4-5 seconds.
When I cut across the grain there is a considerable amount of buring.

Burning is the result of cutting with a dull bit or feeding too slowly.
It is the wood chips that carry heat away from the bit - not the air as
might seem reasonable - and if you feed too slowly the heat will build
up in the bit until it's hot enough to burn the wood (and soften the
cutting edges).

Is this normal? I am assuming I am doing something wrong.. just dont
know what.

It's not abnormal, but neither is it desirable. I'd be inclined to
retire that bit and find a really sharp carbide bit - they cost more but
last enough longer to be worth the expense. (FWIW, I use carbide end mills).

Burning when crosscutting? Curling when cutting? Cutting 1/8 deep by
1/2 inch at a time?

Try turning that around - cut 1/2" deep by 1/8" at a time and keep that
bit moving.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

Buy a new high quality carbide bit. You'll be amazed at the difference.


"DH82C" wrote in message
...
Hi,
I am building a guitar amplifier cabinet and have some questions about
making the joints.
I am not doing finger/dovetail joints yet.. just using kind of a butt
joint.

Looks like this
_ _____________________
A |_______ _
- - B - |
| C
|___________

The top is .. well the top.
There is a notch in the top that is 3/4 in deep (B) to take the side
of the cabinet
There is a lip that covers the top of the side (A) that is 1/4 inch
wide.
Since the plank is 3/4 wide (C=1/2 inch.. therefor A+B=3/4

Anyway.. Ideally this would be done with a dado.. but I dont have one.
I do have a router and table and that is where the question comes in.

I have to do the cut in mulitple passes. I can only take off about 1/8
of an inch at a time.
When I am cutting I am noticing that in addition to sawdust there are
curls of wood (as if I was using a plane)
I can only cut about an inch every 4-5 seconds.
When I cut across the grain there is a considerable amount of buring.

Is this normal? I am assuming I am doing something wrong.. just dont
know what.
Burning when crosscutting? Curling when cutting? Cutting 1/8 deep by
1/2 inch at a time?

I really would appreciate any help. I have looked through several
woodworking books and havent found anything
pertinent to this situation.

Thanks

Drew
I had cleaned any gunk from the bit before I started routing.

On Jul 13, 11:01*pm, Morris Dovey wrote:
DH82C wrote:
Looks like this
_ * * _____________________
A *|_______ *_
*- * * *- B - * |
* * * * * * * * *| C
* * * * * * * * *|___________
I have to do the cut in mulitple passes. I can only take off about 1/8
of an inch at a time.

With a sharp bit, you should be able to cut at least the diameter of the
bit deep with each pass, and you should be able to feed at least 1-1/4"
per second.

When I am cutting I am noticing that in addition to sawdust there are
curls of wood (as if I was using a plane)

This sounds like you're cutting with non-overlapped passes. Try
overlapping adjacent cuts by 50%.

I can only cut about an inch every 4-5 seconds.
When I cut across the grain there is a considerable amount of buring.

Burning is the result of cutting with a dull bit or feeding too slowly.
It is the wood chips that carry heat away from the bit - not the air as
might seem reasonable - and if you feed too slowly the heat will build
up in the bit until it's hot enough to burn the wood (and soften the
cutting edges).

Is this normal? I am assuming I am doing something wrong.. just dont
know what.

It's not abnormal, but neither is it desirable. I'd be inclined to
retire that bit and find a really sharp carbide bit - they cost more but
last enough longer to be worth the expense. (FWIW, I use carbide end mills).

Burning when crosscutting? Curling when cutting? Cutting 1/8 deep by
1/2 inch at a time?

Try turning that around - cut 1/2" deep by 1/8" at a time and keep that
bit moving.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USAhttp://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

Thanks. I am pretty certain they are carbide tiped bits
The router and bit set was a gift (a 50 piece set and I dont think
they payed THAT much for it)
I will pick up a decent bit tomorrow and try it.
I figured a) I was being unreasonable in how much I could cut in one
pass and/or b) I had ruined the bit some how.
( I know I have set off the smoke detectors in the house a couple of
times with the router so maybe I toasted the bit.

Will let you know how it goes Thanks for the help.

On Jul 13, 8:54*pm, DH82C wrote:
Hi,
I am building a guitar amplifier cabinet and have some questions about
making the joints.
I am not doing finger/dovetail joints yet.. just using kind of a butt
joint.

Looks like this
_ * * _____________________
A *|_______ *_
*- * * *- B - * |
* * * * * * * * *| C
* * * * * * * * *|___________

The top is .. well the top.
There is a notch in the top that is 3/4 in deep (B) to take the side
of the cabinet
There is a lip that covers the top of the side (A) that is 1/4 inch
wide.
Since the plank is 3/4 wide (C=1/2 inch.. therefor A+B=3/4

Anyway.. Ideally this would be done with a dado.. but I dont have one.
I do have a router and table and that is where the question comes in.

I have to do the cut in mulitple passes. I can only take off about 1/8
of an inch at a time.
When I am cutting I am noticing that in addition to sawdust there are
curls of wood (as if I was using a plane)
I can only cut about an inch every 4-5 seconds.
When I cut across the grain there is a considerable amount of buring.

Is this normal? I am assuming I am doing something wrong.. just dont
know what.
Burning when crosscutting? Curling when cutting? Cutting 1/8 deep by
1/2 inch at a time?

I really would appreciate any help. I have looked through several
woodworking books and havent found anything
pertinent to this situation.

Thanks

Drew
I had cleaned any gunk from the bit before I started routing.

You already got good advice about the cutting problem but you may want
to rethink your material. I'm pretty sure speakers and amps are
usually made out of something else like MDF. Methinks the Pine would
rattle. I think there is a group that focuses on building speakers
and such I just can't remember what it is...

As an option,
I have lots of dull bits,
to minimize burning on the last pass I will only take about .020 of a
inch off.
Just a light skim to clean it up and it will get rid of most of your
burning.
A new bit would be ideal but I'm cheep.

On Jul 14, 3:23*pm, k wrote:
As an option,
I have lots of dull bits,
to minimize burning on the last pass I will only take about .020 of a
inch off.
Just a light skim to clean it up and it will get rid of most of your
burning.
A new bit would be ideal but I'm cheep.

I am building 50s Fender style amps. and these are usually (almost
always actually) 3/4in pine with 1/2 plywood baffles.
The difference is that they dont rattle but they do resonate and that
colours the tone.. this is a good thing for some guitar amps.
This is a bad thing for most stereo speakers. There are many many
companies that use MDF now for their cabinets. Nothing wrong with it..
just doesnt sound quite the same.

Working with 5/8 birch plywood for the baffle I used the same router
bit.. same problem.. burning and not much progress.
Just for a larf I slowed the router down from 21000 RPM to 13000
(approx based on the owners manual)
Worked MUCH better on the plywood baffle. Too tired to try pine
tonight but I will try tomorrow along with Morris' recommendation to
cut deeper with each pass
instead of wider.
Will post the results tom or wed night.
Thanks again all.

Drew

shavings is right - it means the bit is sharp. If all you get is
sawdust, the bit is dull. 1/8 an inch is ok too. Speed up a little to
avoid burning, maybe use a blade lubricant.

shelly

Just had another thought - is the bit 1/4 o1/2 in? what is the hp of
the router?

On Jul 13, 5:54*pm, DH82C wrote:

(about rabbeting a corner joint)
I have to do the cut in mulitple passes. I can only take off about 1/8
of an inch at a time.
When I am cutting I am noticing that in addition to sawdust there are
curls of wood (as if I was using a plane)
I can only cut about an inch every 4-5 seconds.

Your router is being asked to turn a lot of cubic inches
of wood into sawdust. If you could use a table saw
with a narrow kerf blade to do this in two cuts, the
work would go faster.