I’m hoping someone can help me out with a woodworking question. I’ve been working on this project at home, just because it’s more convenient to spend a few minutes here or there.
Looking to know what I’m doing wrong or if I’m just not using the right tool(s) that Makerspace might have. Also wanting to stay safe because some of what I’ve done doesn’t feel that way.
I’m trying to put rabbets into cabinet drawer sides. They’re small (2" wide) because it’s for pantry shelf/drawers, and I just need a lip. I need to get 1/2" slots into them at 1/4" depth for the bottom to slide into.
My trim router’s edge guide sucks, and the knobs keep coming loose and causing it to drift. (Bad #1) 1. I have no idea how, but I did manage to get 4 good pieces with the edge guide before, albeit with a little wobble at the far ends.
I tried buying a benchtop router table but that was catching in a really weird way and moving the fence when it did so. (Bad #2). Found out the fixed base for my full-size router is broken and that’s affecting its ability to hold the router in the table properly. I put that aside as too dangerous until Bosch sends me a new fixed base. (First time using the fixed base, so warranty covering it.)
Finally, I tried getting a rabbeting bit for my trim router. It caught on it and tried to throw it, but I had it clamped down. Still managed to pull it a bit. Regardless, it pulled out of alignment and up out of the wood. (Bad #4)
Literally, any advice or help here would be appreciated.
I completely understand and appreciate the desire to handle some projects at home so you can make progress at your own speed as time and energy and inclination allows. But…you do have a membership here at DMS after all, with all of the professional grade tools and side-by-side advice you could want, especially for this task. The router table in our woodshop would be the obvious choice for the dados, grooves and rabbets you are wanting to do, and would allow you to do so quickly with repeatable precision.
You’ve taken wood shop basics and apparently understand routers and router table basics so I suggest you come on in and try what you are doing here. As an additional suggestion, maybe sign up for this class:
While not specifically covering the table router, the instruction and experience will be helpful to you in general, and you can then also talk to someone at that time who might have very helpful suggestions and pointers for you regarding your drawer project.
Appreciate the input, both of you. Looks like I should put aside some time to use the router table.
I’d sign up for the router class, but it’s full.
And yeah, it’s just much easier to make it out to my garage than DMS when I’ve got 30m-1h to put into it every couple days. I usually try to make it out to DMS when I’ve got a chunk of work to be done and have a larger block of time.
If anyone is available to give me a refresher on the router table sometime, I’d definitely appreciate it. I think it was down for maintenance when I did my woodshop basics class, so we did a “theoretical” learning without any moving parts.
