Cutting stopped groove with router table

[marcros]

Have you got a bottom cutting router bit or just a normal straight bit? Is it fighting against you plunging because the bit only cuts on the sides?

 

[sunnybob]

Marcros, I believe he is using a side cutter, horizontal to the table.

 

[maznaz]

Marcros, I believe he is using a side cutter, horizontal to the table.

This is correct.

 

[sunnybob]

I have a very useful set of slot cutters from Blue Tornado. A common 1/2" shaft with interchangeable cutters from 3 to 10 mm in 1 mm increments.
If I have a big groove to cut I can even put a couple on the shaft at the same time. But the wider the slot, the smaller the cut needs to be.

 

[Myfordman]

Make sure your cutter has an end cutting blade when you start with a plunge cut

 

[Sgian Dubh]

I don't really understand all this dancing around trying to do the job on a router table, what with stops and dropping on, lifting off, and all the rest of it, when the job is simplicity itself with a hand held router, a side fence, and a choice of either winged cutter (to run the router base on the adjoining perpendicular face) or straight router bit to run the router base on the face being grooved, plus fixing the target part firmly in place, e.g., bench dogs. Personally, I prefer the straight router bit method and a plunge cut to start and lifting out to finish the stopped groove, and if extra support is required to help balance the router on a bigger base during the cut I put matching parts next to the part being worked to increase length and width.

Of course, if the groove can be run through the full length, that makes doing the job on a router table the ideal solution and, as has already been mentioned, running the groove through requires using appropriate joinery or construction to suit, which may, or may not be what's desired. Slainte.

 

[sunnybob]

All you hand tool people havent grasped the beauty of a slot cutter in a router table.. No plunging involved. Slide the wood into the cutter, slide the wood along till you reach the stop, slide the wood away from the cutter. move the fence back a couple mm and repeat.

 

[MikeG.]

I don't really understand all this dancing around trying to do the job on a router table, what with stops and dropping on, lifting off, and all the rest of it, when the job is simplicity itself with a hand held router, a side fence, and a choice of either winged cutter (to run the router base on the adjoining perpendicular face) or straight router bit to run the router base on the face being grooved, plus fixing the target part firmly in place, e.g., bench dogs. Personally, I prefer the straight router bit method and a plunge cut to start and lifting out to finish the stopped groove, and if extra support is required to help balance the router on a bigger base during the cut I put matching parts next to the part being worked to increase length and width.

Of course, if the groove can be run through the full length, that makes doing the job on a router table the ideal solution and, as has already been mentioned, running the groove through requires using appropriate joinery or construction to suit, which may, or may not be what's desired. Slainte.

I don't think I've ever disagreed with you, Richard, but a plunge cut with a straight cutter almost never cuts straight (edit.....and seldom cuts cleanly). This is a job I'd always do on the table with a winged cutter, or with a plough plane.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

All you hand tool people havent grasped the beauty of a slot cutter in a router table.. No plunging involved. Slide the wood into the cutter, slide the wood along till you reach the stop, slide the wood away from the cutter. move the fence back a couple mm and repeat.

That's lateral thinking, that is. Never tried a slot cutter (although I do have one), but will add it to my armoury. Thank you.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

... but a plunge cut with a straight cutter almost never cuts straight.

The method works for me, Mike, swiftly and accurately time after time. I can't imagine what's causing your wobbly cuts if that's the norm for you - actually, I can think of two or three possible causes, but with your experience I wouldn't expect such causes with you. I seldom have a problem; if I do have one it's usually because I've done something monumentally stupid or careless, e.g., forgotten to lock the side fence properly. Slainte.

 

[billw]

Dragging this up because I am doing a box that needs stopped grooves, and reading this thread isn't helping much because I need to watch it being done. Its all quite confusing - straight bits, winged bits etc.

 

[mikej460]

I found the Trend videos useful Bill
Trend Videos Trend CraftPro Router Cutter Range Video (trend-uk.com)

 

[Sideways]

I'm with Richard.
There appears to be enough material to securely clamp the work on edge in the vice so I would use the plunge router handheld for this job.
What I would do though, is put a second fence on the rods so that the router position is locked between the two sides and can't wander off line. A second fence and a pair of long rods are two of the most useful accessories
Your router fence(s) need to be accurate and rigid. Castings not pressed steel.

 

[billw]

I found the Trend videos useful Bill
Trend Videos Trend CraftPro Router Cutter Range Video (trend-uk.com)

Thanks Mike, that's made things a lot clearer now I can actually see them doing the job!

I figured out what a winged cutter is too. That seems a better way too, pushing the wood on the table towards the cutter rather than lowering the piece onto a straight cutter.