Drawer lock bit gap issue

[Justin Daniel]

Can anyone help me with this inside gap issue? This is the best out of 20 test cuts and its still not correct. I have an inside gap that refused to close up.

[Lee Schierer]

You nee to raise the bit up slightly when cutting the left hand piece in your photo. Cut a piece of hardwood for both settings to use as a set up block for future joints.

[Justin Daniel]

According to lee valley and a bunch of other manufactures... you are suppose to be able to set the height and set the fence to be able to cut the fronts / backs and sides without readjusting the tool or fence once dialed in.

[Lee Schierer]

I agree, but that is what you need to do to fix your problem. What brand bit do you have?

[Justin Daniel]

The bit is a whiteside. 1" dia 1/2" shank

[Robin Frierson]

I haven't use one of those bits in a long time but doesn't the lumber have to be an exact thickness for it to work without having to adjust the bit?. If it's a three-quarter inch bit and then the plywood is probably slightly thinner???

[Justin Daniel]

The wood needs to be exact for you to set it up and run all the pieces. The bit does not need to match the wood

[glenn bradley]

I do a fair amount of drawer lock joints with the bit you have. As you have stated the bit height does not need to be changed. The bit high does need to be correct so that both pieces match. I have a tall fence for the router table when I am doing this in ply. I cut a new ZCI for each session which gives me pretty clean and consistent results.

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The parts you've already cut are spoil at this point. Judging by the joint you show you need to raise the bit half the distance of the gap and try again. Use scrap to get your height for a perfect joint. Then run hardwood blocks as recommended to use as set up blocks in the future.

The set up blocks will not always be perfect to due the variations in thickness of ply material. But they will get you very close right off the bat.

[John Spitters]

I've made hundreds of drawers using this bit. From the picture I can see that you need to tweek the offset of the fence as well as the height of the bit.

[Hoang N Nguyen]

I have the same bit by whiteside and had this issue when I first used it. You need to rise or lower your bit little at a time until they match up. Are you running a router lift? If so, which one are you running?

[Justin Daniel]

No lift its a hitachi router so its all adjust carefully by unlocking the router twisting it up or sown a small bit and retrying.

[Justin Daniel]

I have gotten the gap to close up a little but there is still one present.

Can anyone chime in with their height and fence dimensions used for 3/4 ply? Maybe that will help me...

[Bob Grier]

Thickness of material does not matter. You need to adjust height of bit and fence location until joint fits tight. In your first photo, both need to be adjusted. For me, it takes about 4 tries to get it just right and that is using setup blocks that I made after first time I got it right. Once bit is set, you don't need to readjust it for front or side cut. It is always hard for my brain to sort out what to adjust and by how much. Maybe you can find complete and clear instructions on internet but hopefully you can sort it out without instructions.

Glenn, John, and Hoang have it right.

[Andy Giddings]

Justin, see link to the Whiteside instructions which might help. Lee is correct. I suspect adjusting the router without a lift is part of the issue you are facing with getting a tight joint http://whitesiderouterbits.com/lockingdrawergluejoint.pdf

[Hoang N Nguyen]

I agree with Bob that thickness doesn't matter. I saved my test cut piece and use it to get my height adjustment and log the position of my fence on the same test piece. I have an incra fence so it's completely different and my measurements won't help you. The instructions Andy linked you to was very helpful to me when I first set mine up. If you haven't already, check it out and give it a few more shots. Hope things work out for you.

[Ole Anderson]

Don't feel bad, I have the same issues with my lock joint miter bit. Takes forever to set up, even with blocks saved from the last project, using the same stock thickness.

[Justin Daniel]

The only instructions i can find on whiteside are for flush drawer locks in which you have to adjust the fence for each cut

[Hoang N Nguyen]

On post #14, Andy linked you to the instructions for the drawer lock bit from whiteside.

The only instructions i can find on whiteside are for flush drawer locks in which you have to adjust the fence for each cut

[Lee Schierer]

Justin, see link to the Whiteside instructions which might help. Lee is correct. I suspect adjusting the router without a lift is part of the issue you are facing with getting a tight joint http://whitesiderouterbits.com/lockingdrawergluejoint.pdf

Based on the photo he has his fence adjusted correctly, and he just needs to raise the cutter slightly to get a perfect fit. This may be easier said than done since we don't know his exact router setup.

[Stan Calow]

check to see if your router table insert is level. Sometimes mine gets out of perpendicular to the bit.

[Justin Daniel]

Insert is level, i adjusted that last night... about to head into the garage and try my luck again... more to come soon

[Justin Daniel]

After much much more adjusting i was able to close that gap from in the first picture to about 1/64. I think that is much more acceptable especially not having a router lift or micro adjust fence.

I went ahead and made a gauge block using hardwood. Now for 1/2" haha...

[Anthony Whitesell]

Because the tongue of the horizontal piece is a bit loose, I would raise the bit a little. That will widen the tongue while also cutting more material from the vertical piece. I don't think that is enough to close the gap. I also suspect the vertical board is not being kept flat on the table and is lifting. That is giving the small thinner tongue while also increasing the thickness of the top (right side in photo).

Personally I prefer the large diameter drawer lock bits when doing the offset drawer locks like this (Bosch makes one). The set up is easy. Height = 1/2" +/- 0.00x. The bottom of the bit (narrower diameter) is set even with the front of the fence, then cut the part standing (in photo, the top horizontal piece). Then set the fence so the wide diameter of the bit is the thickness of the material from the fence, then cut the part laying down (right, vertical piece). Done!

[Justin Daniel]

So late last night after many more attempts i finally got it pretty close with a gap that is inly about 1/64. I will be checking alignment of everything tonight and then hopefully perfecting it. I already went ahead and got a couple pieces of hardwood to make gage blocks....

thank you everyone for your help and advice