# Recommendations for corner lock router bits?



## kidwellj (31 Jan 2021)

I'm in the process of pulling together kit to build kitchen cabinets for an old home we're renovating (to live in). I'll be building cabinets using 18mm birch ply and edge banding and am just starting to think about how I want to do doors and drawers. I've accepted that domino joinery is out of my budget for the foreseeable future and I just won't be doing the kind of quantity that would justify it and dovetails are way out of my league at this point. So I'd been thinking I'd use my router (a Hitachi m12v2) to rabbet joints for my drawers. They I noticed the whole corner lock bit thing. This seems like a pretty clever thing at first glance but wondered if folks on the forum might comment as to whether they'd enjoyed using them, and which bits you've settled on in particular. It's a bit hard to sort out the significance of the difference among the different configurations - Wealden has three!


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## Doug B (31 Jan 2021)

If it were me & I’m presuming this is for drawer construction as you mention dovetails, I’d opt for a cheap dovetail jig, they come up fairly regularly second hand, it doesn’t need to be an all sing all dancing one to get good results, you just need a fairly powerful router but then you’d need that for the corner lock bit plus a table of some sort.
I've nothing against the corner lock bit but don’t think I’d try using it on the end of long thin stock such as drawer fronts & sides if this is what you intended it for.

These are off my very old fixed spaced jig Bosch dovetail jig & give perfectly adequate joints on drawer sides quickly & easily.


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## doctor Bob (31 Jan 2021)

Corner lock router cutters are a pain in the arris.
If you want to do a tidy cheap joint I'd run full drawer sides and screw and plug them. Use a lip and spur drill and a good plug cutter.


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