Router cutter out there

[Craig D Peltier]

Do you know of a router bit system that will cut tongue and groove for door frame assembly.
CMT makes something called Tenon Cutter. It would make a nice tenon but the slot that would need to be cut in the stiles an rails requires you to take apart the bit which then you have a chance of error plus you have to fish it out of table an machine.
I understand you can use the saw and dado stack for the groove and the tenon, this is what i use now.
Im looking for a quicker way than all these adjustments when making tongue thickness match groove width and lengths of tongue and depths of grooves yadda yadda yadda. Theres to many adjustments for error.

Thanks

[Steve Leverich]

http://www.sommerfeldtools.com/prodinfo.asp?number=03004

http://www.sommerfeldtools.com/prodinfo.asp?number=DVD4

If you're not sure, get the DVD first and watch it - I did, then immediately bought the bit set (but I got the higher priced one with large picture molding bit included) - HTH... Steve

[Steve Flavin001]

mean cabinet door or passage door but it does not matter. You just didn't look far enough - a few pages further in the catalog. The problem is you bought a single stacked set, and like your experience I learned the hard way too. Instead of a stacked set you want a matched set of two cutters for the rail and stile frame if that's what you mean by "door frame," and also available are the optional 3rd and 4th for making and undercutting a raised panel to go in the frame you just made with the pair.

See Woodline for more reasonably priced but decent quality; Amana, lrh (lrhent.com), and particularly Whiteside (whitesiderouterbits.com), and also Rockler is expanding their selection.

[Cary Swoveland]

Craig, you might want to take a look at the Freud 99-036 matched set. It includes spacers that let you use it for stock between 3/8" and 1-1/4" thick, and for grooves between 7/32" and 3/8". Amazon sells the set for about $70.

Cary

[Craig D Peltier]

mean cabinet door or passage door but it does not matter. You just didn't look far enough - a few pages further in the catalog. The problem is you bought a single stacked set, and like your experience I learned the hard way too. Instead of a stacked set you want a matched set of two cutters for the rail and stile frame if that's what you mean by "door frame," and also available are the optional 3rd and 4th for making and undercutting a raised panel to go in the frame you just made with the pair.

See Woodline for more reasonably priced but decent quality; Amana, lrh (lrhent.com), and particularly Whiteside (whitesiderouterbits.com), and also Rockler is expanding their selection.

Thanks, Im not looking at a catalog. I have an page torn out of a magazine thats advertising it. I didnt buy it either. Im also looking for only the basic groove (dado).I agree with you on the matched set, Thanks

[Craig D Peltier]

http://www.sommerfeldtools.com/prodinfo.asp?number=03004

http://www.sommerfeldtools.com/prodinfo.asp?number=DVD4

If you're not sure, get the DVD first and watch it - I did, then immediately bought the bit set (but I got the higher priced one with large picture molding bit included) - HTH... Steve

That will work. I wish there site had larger images though. I will see if I have there catalog here.
Thanks

[Craig D Peltier]

Craig, you might want to take a look at the Freud 99-036 matched set. It includes spacers that let you use it for stock between 3/8" and 1-1/4" thick, and for grooves between 7/32" and 3/8". Amazon sells the set for about $70.

Cary

Sounds like it would work. Did you read any of the reviews. Tons of people have had probalems with amazon shipping this set. I guess amazon doesnt pack it and lets it cling around in box. Freud doesnt use wax on there bits either. Theres been alot of chipped carbide issues. I guess if I bought this set it wouldnt be from amazon.

[Cary Swoveland]

Just had a quick look at the Amazon reviews. Yes, lots of pans for poor packaging, but most of those seem to be at least a couple years old. Didn't notice any negative comments about the product itself (among lots of raves), provided it hadn't been damaged in shipment.

I bought the set, but haven't used it yet. It's beefy and looks very well made. (Mine is black, not red.)

Cary

[Bill Hylton]

Lordy lordy. Folks is always shopping for that Magic Bullet!

Get yourself a 1/4" slot cutter. This one bit in a table-mounted router will cut the groove and then the tongue in 3/4" stock.

1. Install the cutter in the router and adjust the cutter height as close as you can to the centerline of the stock.

Tip: Rip a slip of hard stock a tad fatter than 1/4"; hand plane it to exactly 1/4" thickness. Use it as a gauge to set the slotter. Lay it on the tabletop beside the cutting tip and slowly raise the cutter. You want to raise the cutter just high enough that your gauge slips beneath the cutting tip.

2. Adjust the fence so you cut 1/2" into the edge of the work. Prove your setup with a test cut on a scrap of the working stock. Maintain this fence setting for both the grooving and the tongue-forming cuts.

3. Groove all the rails and stiles. Center the groove--even if it means widening the groove beyond 1/4"--by making a cut with the stock face down, then a second pass with the back down.

3A. Cut an extra piece of the working stock to set aside for future use as a setup block.

4. Lower the cutter so the top edge of the cutting tip is flush with the wall of a groove. Use a piece of the grooved stock beside the cutter to set this. Make a test cut--one pass with the face down, one pass with the back down. Check the fit of the tongue in the groove.

5. Assuming the tongue fits perfectly, cut tongues on the rails. Use a flat, square block as a pusher and backup.

5A. Cut at least a partial tongue on your grooved setup block.

Simple, low-cost cutter. Simple setup. That's the bullet that's magic to me. Good luck.

Bill

[Will Blick]

Bill, what do you have cookin? New books?