stopped dado

[Scott Bailey]

another noob question...

I am working on a box (gift for my mom) that is inspired a bit by the Rogowlski box on Marc's site. I'm using walnut for the box sides, and I want to use a piece of figured maple framed by walnut for the lid.  probably a piece of ply for the bottom.  I want to do the base like he did with dadoes (and stopped dadoes) but I have a small issue... my router table/fence isn't straight.  I originally made the table out of MDF and cut a piece off for the fence. it was straight when I made it in the summer it but I'm pretty sure the humidity increase over the last couple months has affected that and it's no longer square. I don't want to run anything through that and end up with a curved dado or flying wood.  I can cut a through dado no problem on my table saw, THAT fence is straight, and I'm comfortable making that cut, but for the stopped dadoes I'm stumped.

 

i have a plunge base for the router, and a 1/4" bit too, but I flat out don't trust myself to hand cut the dado. I have to cut two stopped dadoes into the flat sides (for the bottom) plus two stopped dadoes in the edges (for the lid).  the pieces I'm cutting the dado into will be 2 1/4" wide, about 8" long, and 7/8" thick (with the dado about 1/4 or 3/8" deep), and the dado will be about 1/4" in from the edge on the flat pieces, and right down the middle on the edge pieces.

 

I do know that I should be making some sort of jig to stabilize my router and of course have a stop at each end.  fortunately the length of all of the stopped dadoes will be the same so I can use one jig for all of the cuts, but I frankly don't know where to start making this jig.  I've seen a few mortising jigs that I think could be modified but...

 

right now money is tight so just buying a new fence for the router table isn't an option right now (though I know it will be someday), though I may be able to rig something as a temporary fence (fortunately I attached the fence with bolts, not glue lol). I worry about doing that safely with a piece of scrap that, although straight, might not be secure enough. I do have some scrap ply that I can use to make a jig out of too.   Bearing in mind that I have never made a cut like this and am a little intimidated, the last thing I want is flying wood. Any suggestions?

[Dave H]

Clamp a straight board onto your router table for a fence, that's all I ever use for my fence works great. I've thought about making a fence for years but, a straight board works every time.

[Scott Bailey]

maybe I should take a pic of my "router table" which is in quotes because it's literally just 3/4" MDF with a hole in it and the router base screwed into the bottom.  lol.  the difficulty with clamping a straight board is where to attach the clamps, though I suppose I could drill a couple holes for F-Clamps. 

[Dave H]

me too this my set up

 

[chefmagnus@grics.net]

Git er DONE!

[wdwerker]

A sharp determined mind can accomplish much with the proper application of a few key pieces of equipment. I often rig up bizzare jigs, test on scrap, and move forward after making do with what I have on hand. These are the experiences that add up to being a master craftsman. You are headed in the right direction. I have screwed a makeshift fence in place, made a special cut, sanded out the marks and moved on.

Made at least 4 modifications to a part today untill it fit. If I had checked the bandsaw table for squareness on the first cut it would have only been 3 modifications.

[Gilgaron]

Drill press and a forstner bit, or chisels and router plane would work if you have any of those.

[Scott Bailey]

I am new enough that I do not have a lot of tools and really can only invest a little bit at a time, I just recently bought a used table saw so my "tool budget" is blown for the moment, besides I'd rather buy wood... I have a router with plunge and fixed base, table saw, miter saw, and a few assorted hand tools (2 chisels, a smooth plane, a 1/4 sheet sander, drill, and so on); and frankly if I'm going to invest in anything soon it'll likely be more hand tools  I have no jointer, planer, drill press, band saw.  I have to get somewhat clever for some things, for example I used a method someone on here suggested for using my table saw to resaw stock that wasn't too wide (only 2.25 inches, I did the 'saw less than halfway on each side and cut out that thin strip in the middle with a handsaw method and it worked!).  when I buy wood I make sure it's as straight as I can possibly get it so I do not have to work overhard to mill it by hand, and frankly I can only effectively mill small stock as it is with the tools I have.  I have also asked the lumber yard to joint one end so I have a reference side that's flat.  

 

for this, I will give the "clamp a straight board to the table" method a shot.  I'm not actually going to make these cuts yet because it's really damp and I won't have all the pieces I need for another week or so, and I want to cut and then glue in the same day so I can at least account properly for very likely wood movement...  thanks for all the replies as always!