Blind Dado 1

Blind Dado

Materials: Makita Trim Router, 1/2" bit, 2 sacrificial pieces, 1 stop block  2 x 12" F clamps, 2 types of engineers square, marking gauge, trim router jig, Measuring tape, 6" ruler, chisel and mallet.

Lay out

The width of our dado was approx 14/16", with no straight bit that size, we had to improvise using a 1/2" straight bit and do more passes with our router and jig to create our dado. We split our dado in 2, 1/2" from the first line (because our bit was 1/2" we wanted to remove more with our first passes rather than our second passes), leaving 6/16"or 3/8" to the back line. We also left 3/8" in the length from the edge, to create the "blind" in our dado.

We brought our jig up to the half inch line to start, using two sacrificial pieces to brace out stock and stabilize the jig, clamping into place with two 12" F-Clamps. We also added a stop block, lowering the bit while the router sat on the jig, unplugged, to make sure the bit did not pass over our stop line. leaving about 1/4" between the line and the bit so we would be able to square off the end with a chisel when finished with the router

Carlos, squaring off the rounded marks left by the router in order to fit our stock perfectly

The finished product.

  

Blind Dado #2

 

Our second dado was created the same way, with the same layout and clamping strategy, just without the stop block and the 3/8" gap from the edge. This type of blind dado passes through the entire piece of wood, making the joint visible on both sides.   

 

Using White Glue and 1" nails with an air compressed nail gun we tacked a thin piece to one edge to hide the dado. 

Finished