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First, I changed the
1/2" bit to a 3/8" bit. I will make my grooves and the tongue and groove joints
with this bit. [Note: this bit worked fine, but I should have used a 1/4" bit —
it would have been a better size groove and a more typical mortise and tenon for this
thickness stock.]
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One of the
things I have liked about the tilting router table is the crossfeed positioning of the
bit. Each turn of the crossfeed crank equals 1/16". I use this quite often when
making joints. It means that I do not need to measure how thick the wood is or where the
bit is.
I start by cranking the bit down until it just "kisses" the top of
the board. That is my "zero reference point."
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I then crank the bit down until it kisses the board from the underside. The
number of turns was 18. That is a combination of the thickness of the board (12 turns or
12/16") and the diameter of the bit (6 turns or 6/16 = 3/8").
If I wanted to place the groove exactly in the center of the board, I would
crank the bit up 6 turns plus 3 turns for a total of 9 turns. The 6 turns is for 1/2 of
the board thickness (centering) and the 3 turns is 1/2 the diameter of the bit.
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Both panels I made
have deep raised sections, so I arbitrarily created the groove off center by 1/8" (or
two turns less.)
Using the crossfeed and counting the cranks really helps — and is deadly
accurate (unless you lose count.)
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I use my scrap block to set
fingerboard hold-downs before and after the cutter and a Grip-Tite to keep the workpiece
against the fence. [This is when you start to appreciate an all-steel table top.]
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With the hold-downs
all set, I push one board through after another until they are all cut. With the spiral
bit, I can make the whole 1/2" depth cut in a single pass.
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It took only a few minutes
to groove all the pieces.
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I removed the hold-downs
and installed the miter gauge. This gives me a good, smooth grasp for cutting the tenons.
To cut the shallow side (bottom of groove), all I need to do is lower the
crank by 6 turns (the width of the bit.)
To cut the other side of the tenon, I will add 2 turns (1/8"
difference.)
I know this turn counting doesn't make sense right off, but it does become
useful. You can always return to your standard ways of measuring, marking and gauges.
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This is where it shows. The
bottom line is that I have tight and aligned tongue and groove corners.
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I will let these two doors
set overnight and have a look at them in the morning.
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Here are the two doors. The
one on the left is the one I used the straight bit and tilted the table. The one on the
right is with the vertical raised panel bit with the table set at 90o.
In my estimation, both doors turned out well.
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