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Thread: Widening a groove

  1. #16
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    Hell, I'd just remake the part and do it right. This is way more cost-effective in time and $ than waiting around bidding and receiving a vintage side rabbet plane. I don't know what you've built your bench out of, but assuming it's not Claro walnut or something of the same ilk, just knock out a new part and be done with it.

    There's a time for fixing a mistake. This isn't one of them.

    If you do decide to fix it, then the post right above has it right -- fill the groove and re-run it is the way to go. Use an electric router.

    If the tongue is honked up too, ended up off a number that would correspond to the correct cutter for the groove, remake it as well.

    Good learning experience.

    Always groove first and then cut the tongue to fit. If whatever you're using to cut the groove is somehow wobbling on you and making the groove wider than the cutter then work on technique. If the edge the fence is registered to isn't straight and square to the surface you're grooving, your groove is going to be screwed up. Back to basics and properly four-squaring stock. Same admonitions apply to the board getting the tongue -- needs to be processed accurately.

    Groovy? Yep.
    Last edited by Charles Guest; 11-18-2021 at 6:44 AM.

  2. #17
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    On a long grove like that a side rabbet would be good to have. I think your best bet is a cutting gauge. For next time I would make sure I could trim the tongue a bit. I do own a side rabbet but every time I get it out I whisper to myself “You screwed that one up buddy”.
    Jim

  3. #18
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    Hell, I'd just remake the part and do it right. This is way more cost-effective in time and $ than waiting around bidding and receiving a vintage side rabbet plane.
    In my early days of wood working there was a lot more time in my bank than there was money. Fixing mistakes is often how one learns to avoid mistakes. Much of my learning, that wasn't from reading, comes from making mistakes. My learning is still ongoing.

    Quote Originally Posted by James Pallas View Post
    On a long grove like that a side rabbet would be good to have. I think your best bet is a cutting gauge. For next time I would make sure I could trim the tongue a bit. I do own a side rabbet but every time I get it out I whisper to myself “You screwed that one up buddy”.
    Jim
    A side rabbet has been a useful tool on many projects. The width of my plow blades do not always match the thickness of my lumber. Sometimes they are nice to knock the fuzzies off of a groove's or dado's walls when working with swirling grain.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  4. #19
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    I’m not sure where i picked it up a long time ago. I almost always make tongue and groove, even on drawer bottoms and backs, with the tongue being inside the edges. I find it usually makes a cleaner joint. Just for the fact that it is far more difficult to trim a groove than taking a little bit with a rabbet or shoulder plane on the tongue. Qualify that by saying, at least for me.
    Jim

  5. #20
    I appreciate that starting over is often better, but in this case I can't start over as yellow pine can't be easily sourced in California. It's also a large panel so the cost of a new piece is a consideration. Any modifications I use to make it work won't be seen as they will appear on the underside of the tool tray.

  6. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Rathhaus View Post
    I appreciate that starting over is often better, but in this case I can't start over as yellow pine can't be easily sourced in California. It's also a large panel so the cost of a new piece is a consideration. Any modifications I use to make it work won't be seen as they will appear on the underside of the tool tray.
    I mentioned earlier a method using a marking gauge and chisel. Some have cautioned that this is difficult or time consuming.

    About 35 years ago a woman I know had some bookshelves made with grooves to accept some tracks for adjustable shelves. The grooves were just a little too narrow for the metal tracks. There were about 30 feet of grooves altogether. I scored a line with a marking gauge, handed her a chisel, and we both went at it. She was about 50 years old and had never used a chisel before. She could not get over how easy it was to widen the grooves. What had seemed hopeless was not that difficult. The hard part is using a marking gauge.

  7. #22
    Warren, of course she had the advantage of having you there . So you judge it as easy to use the marking gauge and chisel method as a side-rabbet plane?

  8. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Rathhaus View Post
    I appreciate that starting over is often better, but in this case I can't start over as yellow pine can't be easily sourced in California. It's also a large panel so the cost of a new piece is a consideration. Any modifications I use to make it work won't be seen as they will appear on the underside of the tool tray.
    Fill it and then route it. Check tongue fit in a groove routed on some scrap first. I still suspect the tongue is off the number, but I hope I'm wrong.

    When you make your filler piece, it needs to obviously be a snug fit from side to side but also proud of the surface as well -- plane it down flush and then route it.

    You could also use a marking knife, utility knife, etc. to widen the groove. You don't even need a chisel. Just run the knife against a straightedge set so that bare tissue is removed and keep making passes with the knife until you get all the way to the bottom of the groove. If only a smidgen needs to be removed, you can take it off one wall. If more than a smidgen-- take it off both walls as equally as you can. You can also use an iron from your No. 4 as a knife to run against the straightedge. The iron from your 78 is also a handy size and can well as a *temporary* marking knife, a chisel too - but used as a knife. You really just want to knife the tissue away by running it against a straightedge. This is your second best chance to leave a really clean wall. Best chance if fill and route.
    Last edited by Charles Guest; 11-18-2021 at 6:42 PM.

  9. #24
    Hi Charles - I can't fill it in and cut a new groove as it's already glued up as the long side of the three that will receive the panel. So I have to fix it in situ. I think you're right that the tongue is off or that the piece with the tongue is slightly twisted.I'm hesitant to take something off of the tongue as it's already fairly thin (1/4") and will need to hold the long side.

  10. #25
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    You could also use a marking knife, utility knife, etc. to widen the groove.
    One could possibly also glue a piece of sand paper to a thin piece of wood or metal and run that back and forth inside the groove.

    There is likely an overabundance of ways this can be done. Some are easier, less work and less stressful than others.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

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