Popular Woodworking 2004-12 № 145, страница 33

to a cabinet and its parts. Add the dovetail angle and you reap the mechanical blessings it confers. Plus that cut depth is easy for any router to cut in a single pass.

The dovetail groove in a breadboard end, on the other hand, should be as deep as you can make it without compromising the groove-wall thickness or the thickness at the base of the tail.

Slotting a Face

Both portable and table-mounted routers can cut the slots. For casework, I use a portable router, guiding it along a clamped-on straightedge. A shopmade T-square is perfect.

If you're cutting a ^"-deep slot, as I suggested, and using an 8° bit, then cut away. If your cut is deeper, say ³/8", and your bit is a 14° taper with a very narrow waist, it's a good idea to "stage" the cut. The way to do this is to first rout a groove with a straight bit that matches the dovetail's waist diameter, cutting about V16" shy of the final depth.

In the example situation, you'd use a straight bit, cutting - perhaps in two passes - about V16" deep. This is most convenient to do if you have two routers of the same base diameter, so you can set one up with the straight bit, the other with the dovetail bit. The fence position for both cuts then ends up being the same.

Stopped slots: Because of the dovetail profile, a stopped slot requires you to back the bit out of the cut. There's a slight risk of it grabbing as you back it out of the cut, because that is a climb cut. That could pull the router off the fence, and it could ruin the cut.

For a stopped slot, I prefer to trap the router, either between a pair of fences or with a template. If the router's trapped, it can't wander, regardless of the feed direction.

Cobbling together a twin-fence guide takes 10 minutes, 20 at most. You need four strips of plywood or MDF, and a few drywall screws. Attach a stop to one or both fences to limit the length of the cut. Position the jig, cut with the straight bit and then cut with the dovetail bit. Bang! Your slot is done.

If you want to use a template instead, it can be made from a piece of ¹/4" hardboard. Simply rout a slot in from one edge. Make the slot the width of the template guide you'll use. Extend it no longer than necessary to get the length of slot you want.

Because of the dovetail profile, you can't simply lift the bit out of a stopped cut; you have to back it out. To avoid having the router drift away from your fence as you do this, use a twin-fence jig for such cuts. The jig traps the router, and with a stop attached, the router can produce only the dovetail slot you want.

If you have two routers with the same base diameter, you can use one for the "wasting" cut with a straight bit (as shown at top), and the other with the dovetail bit (above left and right).

The template approach has several advantages. You can use any two routers because the template guide, not the router base, is the registration device, but you do need two identical template guides.

When you set up any of these jigs, be sure you clamp a strip of scrap tight to the edge of the work. This will prevent splintering on the edge, which is almost guaranteed to occur.

To aid you in sizing the tails that will fit into the slots you cut, use your setup to cut a slot in a scrap of the working stock. You avoid having to fit the test-cut tails to a slot in a case side itself, if you have this piece available.

Grooving an Edge

Doing an edge groove with a portable router is precarious. If you must do the cut this way, try using a laminate trimmer; it's smaller and easier to perch on an edge. Or equip your router with two edge guides - if that's possible - to trap the workpiece. Failing that, try the operation with one edge guide that has a wide facing attached to the tips of the guide.

In contrast, the setup and cuts are simple

Make the template with some overhang along the front edge, so the template guide is caught in the guide slot while the bit is still clear of the work. A waste strip clamped to the front edge of the work prevents tear-out or chipping. The fuzzies on the work's surface are common, but are easily removed with sandpaper.

on the router table. There are two operations. First, you plow a groove with a straight bit. Then you finish the groove with a dovetail bit. The work is guided along the router table's fence during both cuts.

The setup is straightforward. The fence is positioned to center the cut on the edge. It's

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