I am building a cabinet with paneled doors. The wood is curly maple. I purchased some thin (< 1/4″) pieces with a lovely grain/pattern, from a source that provides wood for musical instruments. When I received the pieces they were slightly warped. On reflection I concluded that the warp would add to the character of the cabinet and I would like to use the wood as I had planned.
I now face the challeng of making the groove/dadu on the top and bottom pieces of the frame. The arc of the panel will nicely fit within the 1/2″ thickness of the frame.
How would you advise I make the groove? Do you have any ideas about how I might use my router table to make the groove, which would provide greater control?
Steve
Replies
The quick answer is to make a template with the curve you are looking for and then use it to guide your hand-held router as you cut the dado. Most template routing is done with a bearing guided bit, but because you have to plung into the work, the bearing won't initially make contact with the template, which can result in a miscut. For this reason, you need to use a collar guide.
I can't initially think of a way to do this at the router table. Maybe someone else can jump in with an idea?
Matt Berger
Fine Woodworking
Mike,
Thank you for your feed back. You have confimred that there is no magic bullet. Do you know of any pictures or descriptions of a jig that I could check that would help me visualize the jig?
Steve
Hi Steve. Here are two articles that should help you visualize a router template in use. These don't illustrate cutting a dado, nor do they use collar guides, but it should give you the general idea.Routing with a Template
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/SkillsAndTechniques/SkillsAndTechniquesArticle.aspx?id=26755Templates Guide the Way
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/SkillsAndTechniques/SkillsAndTechniquesPDF.aspx?id=2918
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