large diameter slot cutting router bit

[Mark Bolton]

Yup! I'm on it.

I run these on the CNC occasionally. Will get you 1.125" @ about 3/32. Not sure I'd want to hold onto it in a router on a ladder overhead but I'd surely give it a whirl in a big router on a bench as long as the cord was was wrapped around my leg or the router had a trigger. 20211218_170807.jpg

Amana 48200

[William Hodge]

I had to run a 3/4" wide by 1" deep groove in both edges of (24) 1 3/4" x 14" x 16' boards. At the time, I had a shoulder injury. I couldn't move the wood to get it on a shaper.

I used a Freud slot cutter set up like a dado blade to rough out the grooves. I would finish with a 3/4" diameter router bit, in two depth passes. I used a big Porter Cable router for the straight bit, and a Makita D handle router for the slotting dado.

Roughing out the groove worked, because it lessened the cutting face. Running a 3/4" x 1" cut into essentially end grain killed a Milwaukee router in 10'. I don't normally kill routers. The slotting cutters set up as a dado blade have a different cutting action, and work better. I just couldn't find any that went 1" deep. The second router bit was key.

[Andrew Hughes]

Ya, a viable solution, but will likely require me to work while standing on a ladder.

That makes it more exciting esp if the ladder is long and wobbly. Good times

[Warren Lake]

I can ask to borrow my neighbours wooden ladder. its very old and like a swing only with steps. I caught her cleaning her eves troughs on the garage. Told her if she did that again id kill her she is over 90 and still cuts her lawn and takes care of the whole property. Her lot is 300 feet wide. Its like a park.

[Warren Lake]

cant see my last post to ad this but looked and found these were the router bits. I must have changed up from the 285 at some point forgot that. Have tons of both of them more of the 285 which I think was made for them.

P1630275.jpg

[Kris Cook]

That makes it more exciting esp if the ladder is long and wobbly. Good times

'

That's funny right there.

[Mark Kanof]

I did a slot like this on a few pocket doors with my track saw. Sat the door on my workbench with the end sticking off the end just a little bit. I made a “jig” out of two pieces of plywood about eight inches wide and as long as the doors. Those were screwed together to make a 90 degree corner. Clamp that to the face of the door with one surface aligned with the end of the door. Now the bottom end of your door is essentially nine or ten inches wide. Clamp your track to that jig so that the blade will run down the middle of the door end. Take two to three passes making slight adjustments each time and you will end up with a 1/4” slot that is 1” deep.

[Mark Bolton]

cant see my last post to ad this but looked and found these were the router bits. I must have changed up from the 285 at some point forgot that. Have tons of both of them more of the 285 which I think was made for them.

P1630275.jpg

How do either of those tools get the OP to a 1" deep by 1/8" wide slot in a door? Do you have some sort of tool morphing option on your router than converts those two tools to 1/8" diameter?

[Warren Lake]

Post six 1/4 slot. You are persistant

[stevo wis]

My friend needed to make a semi circular slot in a wooden bearing for a farm combine. Machinists use a tool that works like a slot cutter and they come in all diameters. He borrowed one and made about a 1 1/2 diameter slot with a Bridgeport milling machine (similar to a drill press). It worked great.
Stevo

[stevo wis]

Sorry it was called a key way cutter.

[Mark Bolton]

Sorry it was called a key way cutter.

Interesting.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I did a slot like this on a few pocket doors with my track saw. Sat the door on my workbench with the end sticking off the end just a little bit. I made a “jig” out of two pieces of plywood about eight inches wide and as long as the doors. Those were screwed together to make a 90 degree corner. Clamp that to the face of the door with one surface aligned with the end of the door. Now the bottom end of your door is essentially nine or ten inches wide. Clamp your track to that jig so that the blade will run down the middle of the door end. Take two to three passes making slight adjustments each time and you will end up with a 1/4” slot that is 1” deep.

That's more or less how I did the sliding barn door I put in to separate the family room from the living room so we could stick one dog in the family room and the other in the living room when we aren't around to watch them. They(two males) try to kill each other every once in a while.
Instead of my track saw though, I made a guide for my 12V Makita trim saw.

[Mark Wooden]

It can be done with a router with a fence as suggested or even a skillsaw with a fence. Mark Kanof's jig would offer the most support for the tool

[Jim Becker]

If you have not already actually built the doors...laminate the bottom rail from three pieces of stock and create the slot without having to actually cut it. This is a handy way when building doors, etc., to avoid dealing with cutting deep mortises and sometimes laminations can be stronger, too, if they are done well.