Need To Make Dados For Book/Music Cases - Router Choice

[KevinW]

I am making a number of bookcases out of plywood.  I will need to cut dados.  Does Festool have any router system or Jig for establishing the width of the cut so I can have the width  equal the thickness of the plywood I am using?  In the past I have used the undersized bits that are supposed to match the width of plywood with mixed success.
I already have guiderails for the 55 plunge saw if that helps.

Other than that, I need a recommendation between the 1010 and the 1400.  I have a router table with a large router.  I also have a small Bosh router.  I am leaning towards the 1400. My one hesitation is that it appears that the dust collection attachment obscures the bit.
Any recommendations would be appreciated.

KW

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Hey Kevin,
Either the 1010 or the 1400 will do the job.  Main advantage of the 1400 here is that it can take 1/2 shank bits, so you can put in wider bits.  I have both routers and almost always reach for the 1400.  You will need a guide rail and the guide stop that attaches the router to the rail.  If you have enough room, gang the two bookcase sides together and cut the dadoes at the same time, so you can be sure they come out even on both sides.

Best tool I know for getting dead accurate dado width is the Bridge City Kerfmaker.  Its a little pricey, but it will work with darn near any tool, and you can get dead on fits with it.

 

[tiralie]

Does Festool have any router system or Jig for establishing the width of the cut so I can have the width  equal the thickness of the plywood I am using?

KevinW:

In addition to Jesse's excellent advice, I suspect just getting the 1010 or 1400 will improve your odds of matching the thickness of the plywood with your dadoes.

In the past I have used the undersized bits that are supposed to match the width of plywood with mixed success.
I already have guiderails for the 55 plunge saw if that helps.

 

To my mind cutting accurate dadoes is a bit of a chicken and egg problem, the substrate (plywood) needs to be uniform and the router or tooling needs to cut a dado that is predictable. Obviously you need a correctly sized bit, but you have that covered.
Any run out on your router while not large will create a fairly large discrepancy in the width of the dado because the error (run out) is multiplied.
In my experience, I have not had any run out with the Festool routers. If I cut a 20mm dado with a 20mm bit it's a 20mm dado.
While I don't know what type of plywood you are using, I would suggest that not all plywood is created equal and due to voids etc. in the manufacturing of some plywood you will encounter uneven thicknesses in edges you cut.
If you are not using Baltic birch or similar quality plywood I doubt you will get a consistent thickness throughout.

Other than that, I need a recommendation between the 1010 and the 1400.  My one hesitation is that it appears that the dust collection attachment obscures the bit.

If you are only planning on doing dado etc. the 1400 is probably a better choice, if you absolutely need to see the bit, the 1010 is better.
There are several threads on this topic.
Here's a link to a recent one http://festoolownersgroup.com/festool-tools-accessories/questions-about-of-1010/msg186510/#msg186510

Tim

 

[semenza]

Hi,

Yes, the 1400 dust shroud does obscure the bit , but you can still see it. This bothered me when I first had the router, but I just got used to the fact that for most things you don't really need to see it  100% clearly.  Going around corners and such  pretty much do by feel anyway. You can see it well enough to know you are getting close.  Shouldn't be a problem for dadoes unless they are stopped dadoes, in which case I like to set a stop  on the rail anyway.   The 1400 is a great general purpose router.

You can use the guide rails with the router and micro adjust the dado width. Use a 1/2" diameter  bit for 3/4" ish dadoes and make two or three passes to get the width right on.

Seth

 

[KevinW]

Hey Kevin,
Either the 1010 or the 1400 will do the job.  Main advantage of the 1400 here is that it can take 1/2 shank bits, so you can put in wider bits.  I have both routers and almost always reach for the 1400.  You will need a guide rail and the guide stop that attaches the router to the rail.  If you have enough room, gang the two bookcase sides together and cut the dadoes at the same time, so you can be sure they come out even on both sides.

Best tool I know for getting dead accurate dado width is the Bridge City Kerfmaker.  Its a little pricey, but it will work with darn near any tool, and you can get dead on fits with it.

Is the guide rail the actual rail that I have for the plung saw or a related part;  Does the kerfmaker work with the router setup?

 

[KevinW]

You can use the guide rails with the router and micro adjust the dado width. Use a 1/2" diameter  bit for 3/4" ish dadoes and make two or three passes to get the width right on.

So you keep moving the router with the micro adjustment until you hit the width?  Is that a reliable method?

 

[ccarrolladams]

So you keep moving the router with the micro adjustment until you hit the width?  Is that a reliable method?

Yes, Kevin and Everyone, this is one of the best approaches to making dadoes using a router.

The major problem to using a router to make dadoes is that if the bit is full-width, one side of the dado will be a climb-cut. To prevent this you make one pass with a smaller bit going in the same direction as if making a rabbet. Then you move the router away from that edge using the micro-adjuster so that when you make the final pass you are using the router in the opposite direction. To that side of the dado this will be the appropriate direction.

By the way, this second pass in the opposite direction is the approach most of us take using a CNC router. We measure the actual thickness of the material going into the dado with a digital caliper, then program that into the CNC machine.

Using a router effectively takes practice and experience. Trust me, once you are confident setting your router, be it an OF1010 or OF1400, on a guide rail, you will no longer need to be looking at the bit in action.

 

[waho6o9]

Practice on some scrap plywood and you will gain experience and confidence to work on your expensive plywood. You can do it.

 

[dltflt]

I just did this with my PC Router.  I used three pieces of scrap plywood.  I took two of them and sandwiched an actual piece of plywood and used the third piece as the cross bar.  Attach the cross bar with Dominos.  Now use a 1/2" template bit and you will have perfect dados, they will actually be a bit tight.

Don

 

[pugilato]

Check the video out on how to use the kerfmaster on the 1400...
How to use the Kerfmaster

 

[ccarrolladams]

As always, Paul M made a marvelous video.

My nit pick is that he used his router as if it were a dado blade on a table saw. With a slot cutter, dado head or even a single saw blade there is no climb-cut.

However, when making a dado using a spinning router blade, one side will be making a climb cut. To avoid that all Paul needed to have done was push the router away from him (assuming that was the appropriate direction) and then pull the router toward him to make a climb-cut free pass on the other side of the dado.

 

[semenza]

Here are links to some router dado jigs. Mostly  all use the same basic  concept with variations.

http://www.woodmagazine.com/woodworking-plans/routing/exact-width-dado-jig/

Exact-Width Dado Jig

http://www.newwoodworker.com/rtrdadojig.html

http://www.shopnotes.com/issues/76/

Seth

 

[davee]

My one hesitation is that it appears that the dust collection attachment obscures the bit.
Any recommendations would be appreciated.
KW

You really don't need to see the bit during a dado cut using the guide rail.  If you look at the edge of the router you will see a reference mark on the base.  This mark is the center line of the router bit.  You can set up your initial cut using these reference marks. If you are making a stopped dado, you can use the mark to accurately stop your cut (minus the bit radius).

 

[KevinW]

Check the video out on how to use the kerfmaster on the 1400...
How to use the Kerfmaster

In the video and as necessitated by the technique, he is using a 1/4 bit.  In that case would the 1010 make more sense or does the extra power of the 1400 make it a better choice.

Thanks

 

[pugilato]

Anything less than the full width of the dado will suffice... to use the Kerfmaster, you need to first register the width of the tool you are using to carve out the dado, then the width of the dado itself. So you can use a 1/4" bit, or a 1/2" bit.  I would go with the latter for a 3/4" dado, because it requires only two adjustments. The router is entirely your choice. My preference would be the 1400, but that's just me...