Thread: How do I cut some stopped dadoes

Gidday Arron

I'm a Dark side student myself but for me I'd be going with a router & straight edge/guide for this one.

BArry_White posted a great thread on An Adjustable Router Dadoe Jig Here:

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ad.php?t=14281

I've used this Jig heaps & is one of the Handiest I've got. Just screw an offcut into the Jig or use double stick tape to make a reference edge where you want your Dadoe to stop!!

............there's ya apples!!!

REgards lou

Drill a hole where you want the dado to stop. Use your backsaw to cut up to the hole and then clean up with a chisel. Clamp a straight board to the workpiece as a fence to rest the saw against.

Step #1: Mark off the sides of the dado with a sharp knife. Go as deep as you can.

Step#2: Drill out each end to the depth you desire. Square off the outside ends with a chisel.

Step #3: Use a wide chisel to pare out the waste, working towards the knifed line.

Step #4: Use either a router plane (as in the picture below) or a plough plane (such as a Stanley #50 or a Record #044) to remove the waste (which is left as a triangle).

Keep in mind that the illustration below is one I made of a non-stopped dado (where it is possible to use a back saw to deepen the knife cut - another story):

<div><img src="http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Dados%20the%20Neanderthal%20way/Chisellingoutthewaste-WC.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br />

If using a plough plane, the you must begin the cut at the end of the dado groove.

Here is a link to a WoodNet discussion on cutting dados the Neanderthal way:
http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthr...lapsed&sb=5&o=

Regards from Perth

Derek

Thanks Derek. First a clarification - I am trying to cut dadoes which are stopped at one end, but not at the other, such as one might use for sliding shelves into a carcase from behind. Would you use a saw for this scenario (ie, run the saw up the groove created with the marking knife and chisel). Am I right in assuming that you specified using the saw in the Woodnet post because it was a through dado, but not in this thread because you thought I was meaning a dado stopped on both ends?

Either way, I like this method when combined with the saw because when the saw starts cutting it is already below the level of the topmost fibres, so a very clean edge is gauranteed.

Also, I am curious about the Stanley 79 as shown in the WoodNet post. I have heard that they are a bit of a gimmick. Is that so, or are they are good tool ?

thanks
Arron

Hi Arron

It is too hard to use a backsaw for stopped dados. As you saw in the WoodNet link, I use one for through dados. In which case, again as you noted in my example, chiselling a "fence" enables one to saw a straight and clean line.

The chiselling out of the waste is a remarkably quick and easy process. I would not consider any other method else if I only had one or two to do.

The router- or plough plane will remove the last bit of waste and smooth the bottom of the dado.

The Stanley #79 side rabbet plane is one of the most useful tools imaginable. It will not be used all the time - only when you want to widen a dado - but it is the only way to safely and accurately to do the fine trimming. A must-have plane.

Regards from Perth

Derek

OK, thanks
Arron

If you clamp an offcut to the board lined up with the side of the dado so that the waste side of the dado is exposed, then you can hold your backsaw against the board and start the cut without worrying about the saw slipping. If you drill a hole where you want the dado to stop and square it up with the chisel first then you have clearance for the end of the saw and you don't need to cut all the way to the end.