I’m making some door jambs and I need to cut 1/8″ slots in my rabbet jambs for weatherstrip. I don’t have a slot cutter for my router, but I do have a carbide stack dado head for a tablesaw. Can I use one of the 1/8″ “wings” (two tips) as a slot cutter, or will it be too dangerous?
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Replies
Probably I'm missing something here but a standard width saw blade cuts about 18 wide kerf. I have successfully grooved a lot of applied stop for weatherstrip this way.
Check the tips on a carbide blade. IIRC, mine are exactly 1/8".
Can I use one of the 1/8" "wings" (two tips) as a slot cutter, or will it be too dangerous?
I dont think I would chance it.
Due to the recent state of the economy, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off
If you do do it, make sure you take a video!
Who is going to upload the video?
Blades are used in shapers, so if your router is mounted to a table, has enough hp, and you can dial your router down to under 6000rpm, it may be feasible. What are you using to mount the 5/8" arbor blade to the router? Make darn sure your router is rigid as that is a quite a bit more rotating mass than normal for a router. Please add a gaurd and stand away when you first turn it on. You might want to work up to the rpm you need to make the slots. It may be just as easy to go drop the $100+ on a proper set, but if you do try it out let us know how it works.
Good luck and be safe.
I think he is talking about using the dado blade on his table saw to cut the slots, not using the blade on his router.
ahh, now dont I feel like the village idiot. I suspect the only problem will be depth. an 8" cutter may get close to the rebate depth, but I dont know if it will go deep enough for the groove he needs. I suppose if the frame was built in two pieces it would be a piece of cake, but then you get to put it back together. I have a shaper cutter that makes the groove at the same time as the rebate.
Brad
Standard (not thin-kerf) table saw blades are typically 1/8". So are the two outer blades of the dado set.
I have made lots of door jambs and have always just used a standard 1/8" kerf blade. In fact, I just incorporate the slot in the cut that I make for the rabbet. There are really only two cuts to profile a door jamb; I can usually have a door ready to install in about 1-1/2 hours.
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If you save the rabbet off cuts, they end up being the perfect width to space the door away from the stops during assembly.
I also made a jig for the router that is essentially a reverse profile of the jamb that allows me to rout out the hinge mortises. You'll find out why when you get to that point.
DC
the right tool for the right job ring a bell? use a standard blade or buy a router bit....just think of the emergency room bill & time wasted recouperating....
I'm not flippin' you off.........just counting cubits
Well, I guess there was some confusion. I think the kerf on my table saw is 5/32, and maybe that's not enough to matter. I never intended to use the dado wing on the router, I mean to arbor it up on the table saw. I haven't been out to check my dado stack, but I wouldn't be surprised if the outer blades are 1/8" kerf. I'll just see if the kerf on my regular blade will work first.
Thanks for the advice, fellas.
1/8"........5/32".......9/64"........ et al.You will run into variances here and there both in the blades in your saw and the fit of the different weatherstrips on the market. On top of that wood moves, shrinks, swells. What's my point? I think you are over thinking this all. Make a test piece; you will want one handy if you ever decide to make another door jamb anyway. Make it long enough to incorporate the head dado, the upper hinge mortise, and still have room for the threshold dado. Make it out of the same wood you are using or something more stable. Make sure it is perfect and square. Then use it as a gauge for setting up your saw. I have interior and exterior test pieces that I made or chopped out of old jambs that I use as set-up blocks. I put notes and dimensions right on them and I can test fit weather strips and thresholds on them.remember: carpentry ≠ rocket scienceDC
Even a good slot cutter generally has 3 wings and a much small diameter. So a two bladed dado chipper has the cutter edges way too far apart for anything other than being used between side-cutting blades of the dado head....plus, if it did cut at a table saw speed, chances are it would really chip out the slot it attempted... Not good any way you look at it.
If you are cutting a 1/8" slot, seems like using a same-size piece of scrap to do your test cuts, a good rip blade offset just a shade over center would cut your center slot, then going back over the blade with the other face against the fence would widen it a hair over 1/8".... Your cut would be centered and you would have a flat bottom on the slot using the rip blade.
Bill
I think a lot of guys missed the point. Dreamcatcher seemed to know what you were talking about, though.
I use the RCT router system, which kerfs at a 45º angle, and works for retrofits, too.
But that's for another thread. Go for it!
AitchKay
I splurged for that router too, the newer one. what a sweet tool.
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