Hi, i am relatively new to woodworking, i just bought the plans for the tool cabinet (got to start somewhere i guess) and there is a requirement for box joints to the drawers. Ok, i did some research and made a router table jig and set off having a trial run………..the problem i keep encountering is tear out and delamination of the plywood as it hit the router. I am doing 1/4″ fingers so the material will be extra weak between fingers but i could do with the advice of you guys and gals, is it:-
I bought birch faced ply and in the UK this considered good quality, but have i got a bad piece.
Does my router bit need sharpening
Is it just bad technique?
Has anyone evey come across this before and managed to overcome it?
Cheers
Rick
Replies
Technique
Definitely a new bit will help. Possibly a climb cut can be getting away from you. Maybe the bit is taking too much at one time ?
Slow is better then fast - keep base of unit flat -
Consider a speed control if your router doesn't have one -
SA
A Veritable Plethora. A True Cornucopia
If you search this Knots forum you will have so many threads on box joint tear out it will make your head swim ! ! !
Here is one (take out the space between the "p" and the colon " : " then copy and paste it into your browser. The bleeding spam filter decided in mid stream to not let me post it here as a clickable link after it let me do it twice. Sheeeees !
http ://forums.finewoodworking.com/fine-woodworking-knots/joinery/tear-out-using-porter-cable-4212-jig
I still say router bits and plywood don't mix dulls bit burns plywood.
Use a table saw.
Much faster as well. Can stack the parts and cut through more than one at a pass etc.
You might consider cutting dovetails for your tool box (s). Would be very difficult and time consuming in the beginning
BUT
when you were done you would have a very valuable skill . . . cutting truly fine joinery by hand and after all those drawers you would be able to cut them quickly. Think of your tool boxes as a chance to practice, practice, practice, still have something useful to show for all your hard work but by the same token you keep the not so good work close to your vest until you are great at it rather than have the not so good practice show up on that chest of drawers for your Grandma etc.
Box joints on the table saw with a jig is . . . well . . . not very enlightening. Not trying to talk you out of it but just encouraging you to do great things. This is, after all, the FINE woodworking forum.
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Plywood, even good-quality material, doesn't lend itself easily to cross-ply joinery. Try using backer boards, clamped tightly to the face of the ply, perhaps both faces, to minimize tearout. That applies whether you use a router and jig, or do the joints on a table saw with a jig. And, in both cases, the bit or the blade, as mentioned, needs to be clean and sharp.
I agree with Roc - consider using the cabinet as a learning experience, where you learn new skills. I like to do prototypes of joints, or sometimes the entire piece, using Poplar as an experimental material. That way, I can figure out where the potential problems will be without wasting more expensive stock.
Thanks guys, unless i am mistaken, in the uk, we cannot use dado blades on our table saws, the new table saws have a short arbor (i thinks that is what its called) to prevent stacking blades. So i am left with the router option until i get good enough to produce work with my own hands!. I have got some sacrifical hardboard, some double sided tape and some much improved birch ply. I am going to make a better jig and concentrate on 1/2 fingers for the case rather than the intricate 1/4" joints. Its payday next week so i may treat myself to some decent router bits!
Nice pics by the way, one day i hope to be as good!
No long arbor allowed on a saw. Yah but
To be a "real" woodworker you gotta be a metal worker and out fit yourself with a metal shop as well. You will be doing all sorts of metal work , or paying someone else to do it for you. Why let the other guy have all the fun I say.
With the metal lathe, a little known ( by the layman ) mandatory wood working tool, you can make your own arbor.
No long arbor on a saw ? No dado blades ? That means no ganging blades for cutting tenons with two rip blades and a spacer !
Ohhhh Noooo . . . this is just not right !
No matter. Get the metal lathe. Chuck 'er up and in no time you will have your own arbor .
Compared to woodworking metal working is a walk in the park. I mean for one thing the raw material isn't a different size and shape one day to the next. Cut it too short ? Weld it back on and have another go.
If you see what I mean. No. . . woodworking is seriously complex in comparison.
I seem to be having an unexpected attack of
" 'murican" coming over me. . . . . AARRRRRAAAAHHHHH !
NO BODY IS GOING TO TELL ME WHAT KIND OF ARBOR TO HAVE ON MY GALLLLLDURN TABLE SAW !
NO SIR !
Ok I'm better now. Would be interesting to hear the arguments against. I need to go look up in my FURNITURE & CABINETMAKING magazines, a UK mag, I seem to recall something about that. I thought they were getting and using dado capable saws a few years ago. Hmmmmm
Haha, if you only saw my workshop! At the moment i am using my loft space! I strenghened the floor on a budget, seems to be holding up ok, but if i start adding metalwork machines the wife might get an unexpected featue in the bedroom ceiling.
When the housing market picks up i will get a proper workshop/garage but until then i will suffer in silence!
Well keep enjoying your wood working that is the main thing !
Don't take my posts too seriously. I do own and use a metal lathe just like I posted but I don't really expect you to run out and buy one. Quite yet.
: )
Let us know what you come up with and how it turns out.
Some fine work has come out of the simplest of shops with some good and basic tools. Just takes a while longer some times.
On You Tube there is a video posted by David O Wade. It is a router based jig for finger joints that wil give you clean cuts every time. !!!! No tear out !!
Just watched that video, haha, just wished i had seen tise post before i started buying bits for a nice adjustable jig from Shop Note Magazine! Why does it always look easier when someone else does it!
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