Woodworking Magazine, Spring 2004 - Popular Woodworking ...

Routers Aren’t for Everything
The router table was my first choice for a couple
of reasons: Router cuts are exceptionally clean
and maintaining the squareness of the joint’s
shoulders is no problem.
But after cutting a lot of rabbets on my router
table, I concluded that routers are not the best
choice for all-around casework rabbeting. It sounds
like blasphemy, but here’s what I concluded: Most
routers actually are quite underpowered for the
job, so you end up cutting your projects’ joints
in small, time-consuming nibbles.
A1 1 ⁄ 2-horsepower router does not deliver the
same sustainable torque that a 1 1 ⁄ 2-hp contractor
saw does (no matter what the tool’s label or packaging
says). Part of the problem is marketing hype
among the router manufacturers, and part of
the problem is in the way a universal router motor
is built compared to a traditional induction motor
on a contractor saw. The bottom line is this: Ask
a typical router to hog out a 3 ⁄ 4"-wide x 3 ⁄ 8"-
deep rabbet in one pass and it will bog down or
even stall in the cut.
A router also is noisier than a table saw, and
large cabinet pieces become unwieldy when you
try to maneuver them on the router table. You
could cut smaller rabbets on small pieces on
the router table (drawers are about the right scale
for most router tables). But here’s how I feel about
that: Learn the rabbeting process on one machine
and then do it over and over the same way so you
become an expert at that process. Jumping around
from technique to technique will only slow your
progress as you learn the subtleties of each.
Some people use their jointer and its rabbeting
ledge to cut this joint. The jointer is a powerful
machine, and this technique actually works
pretty well for narrow stock such as face frames
and door parts. But try to rabbet the end of a
30" x 20" cabinet side and you’ll see why this
isn’t the way most people prefer to cut rabbets.
So I went back to the table saw, which has guts
galore and a big table, to see if I could find a different
way to skin this wily animal.
Single Setup with Stack Dado Set
One nice thing about making a rabbet on the router
table is that you can (within reason) do it with a
single tool setup. You can control the width and
depth of the joint simultaneously, tweaking the
height of the bit and the fence (which exposes the
tooling) until the joint is just right.
To do this same thing on the table saw you
need two things: a stack dado set and a long length
of plywood you can clamp over the working surface
of your rip fence. The wood allows you to
“bury” the dado stack in the fence so it will work
like the fence on a router table.
This accessory fence should be straight, at
least 1 ⁄ 2" thick and as long as the table saw’s rip
fence. Plywood is a logical choice of material because
it doesn’t tend to warp.
Depth
Width
Rabbets can be cut with the grain or across it.
The first time you use this accessory fence,
lower the dado stack below the surface of your
saw’s table. Next, clamp the accessory fence to
your rip fence and then position it so that about
1 ⁄ 8" of it covers the blades below. Then, turn on
the saw and slowly raise the blades into the fence
until you’ve cut away about 1 ⁄ 4".
Another necessity to ensure an accurate and
safe cut is to use a featherboard that presses the
work against the table. There are lots of commercial
featherboards available, or you can
certainly make your own. As you can see from
the photo at right, I also added an aluminum T-
track (in a rabbet, no less) that allows me to quickly
adjust the featherboard’s position. That’s mighty
handy when dealing with project parts that are of
different thicknesses.
Now you’re ready to make rabbets. Using a
6" rule (see “Almost-perfect 6" Rulers” on page
25), set the height of the dado stack to equal the
depth of the rabbet you want to cut. (Tip: Spend
some time finding the point where your blade’s
teeth are at their highest. When you’ve found that
The height of the dado stack determines the depth
of the finished rabbet. This is 1 ⁄ 2".
Accessory
fence
Aluminum
T-track
An accessory fence on your table saw’s rip fence
allows you to make perfect rabbets with one
machine setup and almost always in one pass. Put
enough chippers on the arbor to make your cut
and add one more. So if you’re making 5 ⁄ 8"-wide
rabbets, install enough chippers to make a 3 ⁄ 4"-
wide cut. Bury the last 1 ⁄ 8" in the accessory fence.
sweet spot, mark it on your table saw’s throat insert;
I use a scratch awl. In the future, you can
just set your ruler on that mark and measure.
You’ll be amazed how much time this saves you.)
Next, set the saw’s rip fence to expose enough
of the dado stack to make the width of your
rabbet. With practice, you can almost always hit
that measurement exactly on the first try.
Lock the height of the arbor on your saw. This
is especially important if you own a benchtop or
contractor saw. In smaller saws, the mere force
of the cut can cause the arbor to creep downward.
The distance from the top of the left tooth to the
fence determines the width. This is 3 ⁄ 4".
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