Hey Jigmeisters

[joe milana]

Need an idea for a plunge router jig for cutting slots in drawer bottoms. No dado blade for these, I don't want to blow through the dovetails.

Thanks!

[glenn bradley]

I use this for routed dados.

[joe milana]

Nice jig. I'd love it for cabinet cases. Maybe I can make a miniature version for drawer sides.

[mike holden]

J.
You could also get this Lee Valley drawer bottom bit, and then there is nothing showing outside the drawer. Works like a champ and comes in 1/8 and 1/4 inch sizes.

LV drawer bottom bit.JPG

Mike

[glenn bradley]

I should have read more carefully; "I don't want to blow through the dovetails." Mike's method will solve that issue. I have used it myself and it works well.

[joe milana]

Mike, that's it! I was thinking I could use a slot cutter somehow, but wasn't sure how to stabilize the router on the narrow edge of the drawer box (duh).

Thanks!

[Michael Wildt]

Only caveat with Mike's method is that you have to watch the thickness of the stock used. The bearing in these cutters determines the depth of the cut so unless your material is 3/4" you may end up cutting all the way through. I tried to look for a set of bearings that would work, but was unsuccessful since the inside diameter is 8mm for this one.

Rockler appears to have the same bit as well, but again no bearings to control the depth of the cut.

[Joe Scharle]

MLCS sells a bearing pkg or individual bearings for their slot cutters. You might look here for some ideas.

[Jamie Buxton]

You're cutting dados in the drawer sides for the bottom to fit into, right? A plunge router, a straight bit, and an edge guide. No jig needed.

(Of course, with 20/20 hindsight, you can see that if you arrange the joinery just right, you can cut through-dados on the table saw. The blow-out is visible only at the back of the drawer.)

[joe milana]

You're cutting dados in the drawer sides for the bottom to fit into, right? A plunge router, a straight bit, and an edge guide. No jig needed.

(Of course, with 20/20 hindsight, you can see that if you arrange the joinery just right, you can cut through-dados on the table saw. The blow-out is visible only at the back of the drawer.)

Correct Jamie, slots (dados with the grain) in sides for bottoms, OP was unclear. I figured after 20 or so drawers, with a edge guide, I am bound to slip at least once.
I thought about using a dado and living with the blowout, but nah...just too anal I guess. And what would my peers say?!?!

[Michael Wildt]

Thanks Joe. I'll check that out.

[David Keller NC]

Correct Jamie, slots (dados with the grain) in sides for bottoms, OP was unclear. I figured after 20 or so drawers, with a edge guide, I am bound to slip at least once.
I thought about using a dado and living with the blowout, but nah...just too anal I guess. And what would my peers say?!?!

Maybe I'm missing something, but what blowout? On a traditional, dovetailed drawer, the front dovetails are half-blinds, and you arrange the groove for the drawer bottom so that it fits within the space for the bottom half-pin.

The drawer back is arranged so that it's shorter than the drawer sides by the width of the groove and the drawer runners, with the bottom of the back having another half-pin.

Under this arrangement, it's not necessary to cut stopped grooves in the sides. There's a good reason for this - when using hand tools, it's far easier and quicker to cut through grooves with a plow plane than it is to cut stopped grooves. The same could be said of using power tools - no requirement to exactly stop the router, and no chiseling of a rounded end into a square.

[joe milana]

[QUOTE=David Keller NC;1163040]Maybe I'm missing something, but what blowout? On a traditional, dovetailed drawer, the front dovetails are half-blinds, and you arrange the groove for the drawer bottom so that it fits within the space for the bottom half-pin.



David, I am doing through dovetail boxes with false fronts. These are fairly large drawers and I figured this method would be strongest and easier for me to get the dimensions correct. I left clearance between the lower pin/half pin for a 1/2" bottom, but I need to cut a stopped groove in the sides to avoid the "blowout". After reading your post, maybe I should consider a more traditional approach in the future, but it's too late for this project.

[David Keller NC]

Hmm - I may be dense here, but I still don't get it. A through-dovetail in the front of the drawer that's then covered over by a false front wouldn't even need the consideration of covering the drawer bottom groove, and on the back, the same analysis that I wrote above would apply regardless of the construction of the front.

Is it that you intend to put the drawer bottom in a groove along the back of the drawer, rather than leaving the back short and nailing/screwing the bottom to the bottom edge of the drawer back?