Hi all....new guy here.

[Calv]

Just joined and have a question already if thats ok.

I'm looking at a small tool for cutting grooves in small doors. At present i do this by hand with a stanley knife, cutting down at an angle to get a V shaped groove down the length of the door, but this is very time cosuming not to mention a bit dodgy when my stanley knife blade hits a knot or a harder but of grain. I guess i'm looking at a router type thing are'nt i? Thing is, i do all this in my kitchen and can't have machines clogging up the worktops.....well i don't think i can......now theres a thought if i can find a mini one? Any ideas? I've tried an engraving tool before anyone mentions this and that just slips all over the place with the grain.

Any help much appreciated.

Calv.

 

[Midnight]

Hi Calv... welcome aboard..

small V groves huh..??? Well.... I figure your best power tool option would be something along the lines of a Trend T3 router and suitable bit... but that might make a mess of the kitchen...

handraulic options... perhaps a moulding plane or even a scratch stock..??
They'll still make a mess, but it'll go straight down in the form of shavings, as opposed to all over the place in the form of fine dust; easier clean-up. Another possibly more important advantage is that the hand tools will never burn the work piece; an ever present danger with a router...

 

[DaveL]

Hi Calv,

Welcome to the forum.

As Midnight says a scratch stock would be the quietest and cleanest if you going to use it in the kitchen.

A router is just a grown up engraving tool, but you should get a fence with it. Using the fence to guide the tool should stop it following the grain or jumping about. You can fit a dust port on most routers and connect this to a vacuum cleaner, but you rarely get all of the dust and its more noise.

 

[Calv]

Many thanks for that, sounds like i may try a scratch hook then. Thing is i have 2 lil daughters who are often around too so the less dangerous stuff about the better yanno?

Where would i get a scratch hook from then and what do they look like?

Just tried a search and it didnt come up with much.

Thanks again....

Calv.

 

[DaveL]

Hi Calv,

Have a look at thisthread, has links to other sites and a picture of what you looking for (you will almost certainly end up making your own ).

Chris and Alf will probably turn up in a bit, watch for the greased slope. :wink: :roll:

 

[Anonymous]

Welcome Calv, I'm sure that our plane expert, Alf, will be along soon with a hand plane recommendation to solve your problem

 

[Calv]

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

I think i know what i'm doing now lol......can you just confirm what sort of blade to use or is it just any old broken one?

Calv.

 

[Midnight]

broken...????? :shock:

sheeshhhh...

something carefully crafted... nae... sculpted to suit your specific needs can never be called broken....

c'mon Calv... get with the program already....

:wink:

 

[DaveL]

c'mon Calv... get with the program already....

:wink:

Calv,

You been skipping your tables again? :wink: You know what happens. :roll:

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Calv

Welcome to the forum.

It will obviously be much better to use a hand tool if that is practical, if not you might want to look at a Dremel tool.

Have a look here: -

http://www.dremeleurope.com/uk/en/start/index.htm

Cheers
Neil

 

[Chris Knight]

Calv,

I use a scratch stock for this sort of thing - the blade is simply an old jigsaw blade that is ground or filed to the required shape. The entire thing (stock and blade) can be made in 10 minutes flat. To cut about a metre of nicely finished vee groove takes about 10 minutes too. You will need to periodically sharpen the blade (just rub the flat sides on a suitable oil stone)

Routers are disappointing for vee grooves, especially deep ones. The rotational speed at the point of the bit is so low that they just don't cut very well

 

[Alf]

Welcome to the forum, Calv.

I can't tell you all the warm glow I got from reading these scratchstock suggestions without me having to say a word. I haven't applied grease to The Slope in vain it seems.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Alf

I can't tell you all the warm glow I got from reading these scratchstock suggestions

Damn and I tried to spoil the party. :evil:

Cheers
Neil

 

[Charley]

Welcome to UKW Calv

 

[Waka]

Welcome to te forum Calv

 

[Anonymous]

hi calv,
a quick and easy and cheap way to create a groove in timber is to
mount a screw in a scrap piece of timber , hopefully 'L' shaped,the bottom
portion of the "L" being used has the fence for the workpiece,you can lower the screw every so often to set depth ,or even upgrade to a bigger screw.
cool.