Captured cut on the router table?

[Jared Cuneo]

I need to trim small amounts (1/32-1/16) or so at a time to sneak up on a good fit for a mitered handle which will go on a candlebox lid.

I thought about doing this on the bandsaw, but its rough cut will not be sufficient or as perfect as a cut between the fence and bit on the router table.

Doug Stowe shows a captured cut in his book (fed left to right of course) and I was just wondering if this was a safe practice?

I was going to use a 1/2 straight bit and feed the piece in with a push block with some safety blocking covering the top of the bit.....

It seems like the only way to get a perfectly parallel and smooth cut on a piece this small (4" L x 3/8" sq).

Thanks.

JC

[Roy Hatch]

Jared,

My first thought would be to use a hand plane.

Roy

[pat warner]

A spooky cut, even for the experienced.
There are other safer ways of jointing and sizing.
This sled (http://patwarner.com/images/sled.jpg), for example, was made for just that function.

[Jared Cuneo]

That sled looks great, but could I even get a 3/8 piece in there between it and the fence? Even so, I could not justify building that (costwise) for this cut.

I thought about the handplane method, and while it would probably work, I fear it would not come out perfect.....I guess if this is not a safe cut, then I will fall back to the handplane...

JC

[William OConnell]

A spooky cut, even for the experienced.
There are other safer ways of jointing and sizing.
This sled (http://patwarner.com/images/sled.jpg), for example, was made for just that function.
Hi Pat
I've read some of your stuff and I have to say you make some of the most beautiful jigs I've seen. Certainly capable of creating heirloom quality joints and pieces. I thank you for your time.
If your ever on Long Island we would love to have you speak at our woodworking club. We even pay albeit not much

[John Gornall]

You can do this captured cut on a 4 inch piece if you start with a 12 inch piece. Use the other 8 inches as a handle to feed the first 4 inches into the cut under control. You can even screw or glue a block to the handle part to make is easier and safer to handle. When the 4 inch part of the piece is cut shut the router down and remove. When you get the thickness just right cut the 4 inch piece off.

[pat warner]

To JC.
Sled slides along a contiuous fence, cutter behind that. Work, then reaches over to the cutter.
No, this sled is never used between the cutter and a fence.
There is an adjustable fence on the aluminum sled that can be set to the nearest .001" parallel to edge of jig.
As such, the the edge of the work against the adjustable fence edge is parallel to the work edge of the jig.
Any cut produced x said fence/sled is going to be a parallel cut to that tolerance.
Do not rout with the work trapped between a cutter and a fence. The work can snap, break, blow up in your face or drag your fingers into the cutter, all independent of work piece width.
Incidentally, this is a common default situation whilst routing RT dados and inside edge-guided cuttings with a hand router!
Routers (http://www.patwarner.com)

[glenn bradley]

I'm with Pat. I would only use a trapped cut if absolutely necessary and this does not sound like one of those. A sled or quick jig to hold your piece securely against the fence should yield the result you are after. I don't have anything that needs to be done so soon as to skip safety ;-)

[Jared Cuneo]

Point taken.

I see people advising jointing on a router table, is it possible to use this approach for my need?

Is this not basically the same thing, just on the other side of the bit?

JC

[Mike Marcade]

I think that would work. Because then you are not creating a fence trap. Just make sure you use some featherboards because that is such a small piece of stock.