Cutting lots of small dadoes

[Kenneth Walton]

Hi,

I’m planning to revamp my tool storage in the near future. Ideally I’d like to make individual “cubbies” for my joinery and miscellaneous planes. I can definitely make the dadoes for the main structure using saws and saw guide, chisel, and router plane. For the dividers though I was thinking of just using 1/8 wood in dadoes 1/8 deep. Is there a quicker or easier way to cut a whole bunch of those? It seems like overkill to saw and router such a small thing…

Thanks!

[Mike Allen1010]

I agree can be overkill/lots of work to make a ton of shallow dividers using hand tools. When I have a bunch of these to do I usually rely on an electric trim router and a simple guide board with 90° fence. The first pass through the fence tells you exactly where the bit will enter the wood, so I usually get pretty good alignment. If your guide fence isn't perfectly square, helps to ensure you consistently reference off the same face edge for both corresponding dadoes, that way least any error is consistent. Let us know how it goes.

Thanks, Mike

[Tom M King]

Radial arm saw. Oops. Sorry, wrong forum.

[Joe Bailey]

Hi,

I’m planning to revamp my tool storage in the near future. Ideally I’d like to make individual “cubbies” for my joinery and miscellaneous planes. I can definitely make the dadoes for the main structure using saws and saw guide, chisel, and router plane. For the dividers though I was thinking of just using 1/8 wood in dadoes 1/8 deep. Is there a quicker or easier way to cut a whole bunch of those? It seems like overkill to saw and router such a small thing…

Thanks!

Since you posted in the hand tools forum, I will conclude that you were seeking a hand tool solution.
The answer is a dado plane.

[Jim Koepke]

A 1/8" dado is pretty small. Not sure if there is a dado plane of that size. The smallest #39 is 3/16" and is rather rare. Rare enough that there are some counterfeits.

Here is a post on one of my projects with narrow dados > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?208154

Notice these were stopped dados. There is also a post at the end with a link about making a separator for files.

My preference is for stopped dados, to me they look better:

463328

If a stopped dado is to be cut with a saw, clear out a small area at the end of the dado for the saw dust. Once sawn to depth the waste pops right out. Be careful to not let the chisel break out the top surface of the wood where the dado is being cut. If you have a smaller chisel than the dado, it will be helpful.

jtk

[Michael Dean]

It might be easier to just make some 1/4 x 1/8 runners for the dividers to slide into. Install them with brads but no glue. If you every need to change the size of your "cubbies", simply reposition the runners.

[Joe A Faulkner]

This is where I lean more towards a hybrid approach, but I got into the the hand tool lane by merging from decades of power tool work, and still have an assortment of power tools. What material are you using for your dividers? For my cubbie dividers in my tool cabinet, I used 1/4 solid cherry scraps from a book shelf build that featured 1/4” solid panels. These were made by resawing 3/4” stock. So my dados were sized closer to a 1/4 inch. In my case, I was happy to have the dividers easily removed, so I just cut thru dados on the table saw using the standard 40 tooth blade and the cleaned up with a crank-necked chisel. For stopped dados, The trim router with a guide on both sides is being used. I hate the noise and dust, but this project has 30 stopped 1/4 dados. I’ve also gone the route of scoring the sides with a knife, then sawing the sides with a gent saw or Japanese saw and then cleaning up with a hand router. This latest project is a mid-century modern bookshelf with four adjacent compartments and a variety of cubbies of different sizes.

[Joe Bailey]

A 1/8" dado is pretty small. Not sure if there is a dado plane of that size.

jtk

Of course there are -- There's the Stanley 239, more than a few antique wood-bodied models (somewhere around here I have an 1/8" Gardner & Murdock), HNT Gordon makes a new version, and that's not an exhaustive list.

More importantly, a dado plane and blade are among the simplest of planes to cobble together.

When a job requires it, this last option is the option of choice for many woodworkers.

[Kenneth Walton]

Thank you all for the suggestions! I’ve ruined several parts and even a whole case project with power tools, so I’m really interested in doing everything (maybe except milling stock to S4S…) with hand tools. Call it a philosophical choice?

Michael, could you tell me a little more about the runner idea? Having the ability to shift things around as my needs change does sound nice, maybe nicer than making lots of extra cubbies as I had originally planned.

[steven c newman]

Fairly easy to do with a stanley 45....Knife both sides of the dado, as to do 1/8" x 1/8" deep dados you will be using just the main body....and a batten to guide the plane along....should only take ..3-4 passes, move to the next dado..The reason for the knife wall ( as Sellers calls it) is you are going across the grain...and can't very well use the 45's spurs. Yes, Stanley did make a cutter that narrow, BTW...



I seem to remember that cubby/pigeon holes that used thin dividers...simply slid the dividers in "V" shaped grooves....the dividers had their ends beveled to match...might be a bit easier to do than a regular square walled dado?

[Joe A Faulkner]

He doesn’t seem to post here as often as he used to, but Brian Holcombe did a you tube on one technique that I found very helpful. I believe Derek Cohen also has documented his technique. Brian’s video is at https://youtu.be/9RGHpf6t8dc

[Jim Koepke]

Thank you all for the suggestions! I’ve ruined several parts and even a whole case project with power tools, so I’m really interested in doing everything (maybe except milling stock to S4S…) with hand tools. Call it a philosophical choice?

Michael, could you tell me a little more about the runner idea? Having the ability to shift things around as my needs change does sound nice, maybe nicer than making lots of extra cubbies as I had originally planned.

Hand tools make mistakes slower. Often there is time to catch and correct a mistake.

My understanding of using a runner is it is a small piece of wood, maybe 1/4" X 1/4" with a groove on one side. Derek Cohen has used them in drawers and calls them slips for holding the bottom of a drawer with sides too thin to cut a slot.

A dado plane, if you can find one, is great for making through dados but a bit of work for making stopped dados.

Here is a post of mine on making a stopped dado with a Stanley #39 > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?278928

jtk

[James Pallas]

If you don’t have a special tool for the job. Cut a notch in the side of a piece of scrap at 45* to fit your 1/8” chisel. Clamp the chisel in the notch, knife both sides of the cut, clamp a fence on the side where your chisel in the notch rides against the fence and plane away.