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Making narrow grooves or slots? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Is a router the right tool to make long 1/8”-3/16” wide grooves or slots in wood? It seems like I could do it with a circular saw, but only if the desired width matches my blade kerf. I don’t have a table saw. If it is the right tool, does anyone have bits or bit sets they recommend for such small cuts?

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[–] Death_Equity 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

They do make 1/8th router bit and table saw blades, buy quality or you may regret it and you will have to take as much time as the cutter will go.

For 3/16, either get that size router bit or use the 1/8 kerf saw blade and run it back to get it to the 3/16.

There are 1/8 routing hand planes to cut that size channel if you are about that life.

Personally, I would use a router table with the right sized bit because a 1/8 table saw blade makes me feel irrationally uncomfortable and using a routing hand plane for anything deeper than 1/8 would be entirely too tiresome.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Thank you. On the 1/8 table saw blade, your concern is that you prefer narrower, lighter blades?

Do you have any particular recommendations for identifying quality router bits?

[–] Death_Equity 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I would feel safer using a thicker table saw blade, a 1/8 blade feels sketchy to me. 1/4 is a pretty standard size kerf for good reason. It could be entirely safe with caution and safe in terms of physics, but even an 800rpm blade at 1/8 thick feels like a pinch could be a disaster when you cut too deep.

I don't have a specific brand of features to look for, but this is a case where you get what you pay for. Spending $60 on that bit can be worth more than spending $20 on that size bit in frustration and medical bills alone.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

Are you sure you're not getting your measurements wrong? In my experience most table saw blades are 1/8". 1/4" is pretty thick for a blade that isn't a dado stack. They make blades even thinner than 1/8" that are perfectly safe as long as they're used within their rated rpms.

I've routed grooves before on a handful of projects. A router with a template will make things easier if you have many grooves. If its only a few, a table saw is fine. The problem with the table saw is the time it will take to adjust the fence for each new cut.

[–] Death_Equity 3 points 4 weeks ago

You are totally right, I was doubling the blade thickness. Don't Lemmy while drunk. Going thinner than 1/8 just feels sketchier than I like, despite knowing it is reasonably safe.

[–] TropicalDingdong 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

A table saw is the right tool for this, and you don't need a dado blade, although its pretty much what they are for. A standard table saw blade will cut at right at 1/8th inch. Proper dado blades are for rich people. You might also use a router in a router table, but router tables are pretty single use tools and if you arent' getting a ton of use, its not at all worth it. I would make this cut on a table saw, depending on the size of the piece.

And if you need to go larger than 1/8th.. You set your fence to the far or exterior edge of the dado you want to make. Then you set your blade height to whatever you want. Then advancing about 1/16th of an inch at a time, you just move your fence towards the direction of the dado (which would towards the blade), 1/16th or so at a time, doing a series of rip cuts. As long as you've got the blade height nice and locked in and you have patience, should get a consistent depth, which you can clean up afterwards with a chisel. Doing it this way you can make a dado of any size, and you have very fine control over the dados. This is pretty much exactly what I've done in the past to mount 3/16th inch plywood into box bottoms. I took the entire board I was going to be cutting down into box walls and made one dado that went all the way down at 3/16ths. Like 2-4 adjustments to the fence and I had a perfect 3/6th dado, and when I cross cut the board to the right sizes for the box, my dado's were all in perfect alignment.

Alternatively, you could use either a circ saw or a router. It really depends on the size of your piece and how many of these dados you have to make. But you can mount another piece of wood (spare 2x4 or plywood) using clamps, and run either a router or a circ saw. If the piece you are trying to do this on is like, very large, you may have to do it this way. In this case, I would prefer the router. Circ saws just don't cut that straight. A circ saw would be my last choice.

So order of preference for me to make this kind of cut:

table saw > router table > router with clamps and another piece of wood as guide > circ saw with clamps and another piece of wood as guide.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Thanks!