Long Dado with Festool 1400 router

[Mike Holbrook]

I have a Festool MFT table but the cutting fence is way to short for the stopped dados I want to make for a handrail. Sliding the workpiece under the guide rail or repositioning the workpiece under the fence may not be wise? I have two large sections of fence I can join. I have the Festool micro adjusting router guide that clamps to either one or two of the fence guides. I am trying to come up with a better jig than simply clamping a long fence section to a 2x6 or 2x8 for making a straight dado cut in regular 1 1/2" SYP. The router lacks the stability of the Festool saws when riding on the fence. Maybe I need to make a more accurate jig for this?

The other option is to invest in Festool's or some other edge guide. I thought I would post here first to see if others have come up with a better solution using the fence system?

[Mike Henderson]

I make a jig and use a router bit with a bearing. See here for a description.

Mike

[Jim German]

Are you using the little foot that attaches to the side of the router to make up for the height of the guide rail? With that I've always found it to be very stable. The edge guide works very well too, and is alot faster to setup.

[Mike Holbrook]

Thanks to Mike and Jim for the suggestions. Jim I am using the adjustable foot, unfortunately the foot does not reach far enough to span a 1 1/2" span + the thickness of the fence. My issue has been finding a way to set up with the fence and guide rail that supports the work and fence at the same time, long pieces of construction lumber vary a good deal. Mike's rig made from plywood might work on 1 1/2" lumber, still thinking on that. I have also been thinking about adding a wood fence to the guide rail rig that could follow whatever contours there might be in the workpiece.