# Rabbets on end of plywood help needed



## PAWOODCHUCK (Apr 22, 2020)

Doing a project with oak plywood and need to make rabbits at ends. I have used dado on TS in the past but ply is long and difficult to hold with TS. Open to suggestion how to do with router? I'm a rookie so video links would be great?

thanks


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Hey, Pa; welcome! What have you in the way of routers and bits? How large a rabbet/dado/ or channel do you need?
3/8" deep x 3/4" wide x the full length of the gables sound right? 
For rabbets on the sides or ends i use an edge guide.
This video is for dadoes but the technique is exactly the same but at the panel edge instead of in the field.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

welcome N/A to the forums...
head *over to this here link* and take care of your rookie problem...

since we don't know what size rabbet you want...
a *rabbeting bit* may take care of it...

if you need a larger rabbet than those bits can give you go w/ a straight bit or *a mortising bit* instead... a spiral bit would be over kill...
*a clamp on straight guide* is just the ticket for those two bits...
unless you already have *an edge guide* for your router...


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

I don't know how you would do it with a router, but here's your rabbits.

Uh, that wasn't rabbets you meant, was it?

The Devil is in the details.


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

Welcome...

Lots of videos available on YTube...search "rabbets with router"...

Here's Jim Heavey from Wood Magazine showing rabbets using table saw and router...router section starts at 12:54...he uses different techniques and bits to cut a rabbet...


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## Ed3443 (Jul 7, 2013)

I have found this baseplate system is really great particularly for dados on large pieces.


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## Danman1957 (Mar 14, 2009)

Theo,

Those are Hares ! LOL
Dan


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## roxanne562001 (Feb 5, 2012)

Welcome to the forum


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Glad you decided to join the fun. An edge guide is good for a dado, but for a rabbet, I would use a straight edge clamped to the long end, spaced so when the router's base rides against the straight edge, the bit bites into the ply exactly the width of the desired Rabbet. You can use a straight bit for this, but a 3/4 inch long mortising bit cuts a beautiful flat bottom. I'd do this in several passes, with the last one only shaving a slight bit of material for the best possible glue up finish.

With ply, the end grain really sops up the glue, so put two coats of glue on the end grain so it really fills all the nooks and crannies.

When you do this, mark the edge of the router that will ride against your straightedge. Otherwise you could rotate the router and have an uneven cut and a nasty surprise at glue up.

Here's a diagram of a bit with bearings showing the difference between top and bottom bearings, something that occasionally confuses me.


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

Danman1957 said:


> Theo,
> 
> Those are Hares ! LOL
> Dan


The article I copied the picture from said rabbits. This is the US, we have rabbits, not hares. They look like Bugs Bunny. So rabbits they are.


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## PAWOODCHUCK (Apr 22, 2020)

I did this with dado blade on the TS. Can this be done with a router and how?


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## PAWOODCHUCK (Apr 22, 2020)

First I did these with the TS and Dado blade setup but took a lot of setup time only to find was too tight fit, so I used the bit sized for plywood. Any tips how center the bit when making the cut "X" inches from edge.

Still need to do face trim.


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## CharleyL (Feb 28, 2009)

An exact width dado jig and your router will get the results that you need. There are several versions available, but Stumpy's is well explained. You can search for the rest and choose the version that you like best.






Charley


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

PAWOODCHUCK said:


> I did this with dado blade on the TS. Can this be done with a router and how?



since we don't know what size rabbet you want...
a rabbeting bit may take care of it...

if you need a larger rabbet than those bits can give you go w/ a straight bit or a mortising bit instead... a spiral bit would be over kill...
a clamp on straight guide is just the ticket for those two bits...
unless you already have an edge guide for your router...

and read your thread for other methods...


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Welcome to the forum.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Here's a rabbeting bit and a mortising bit. Rabbets are rarely wider than the thickness of the piece you're glueing into it. The rabbiting bit has a bottom mounted bearing you let ride against the edge of the wood. You can get them with several diameter bearings and change them out. Using an edge guide and the mortising bit, you take a scrap of the material and lay it on edge where you want the rabbet. Use it to scribe a short line on each side of the piece you want to rabbet. Lay a straight edge (the factory edge on a half inch piece of MDF for example) from scribe mark to scribe mark. Your mortising bit's bearing will roll on that edge. 

Plywood is not 3/4 inch thick anymore, it is not 18mm, slightly thinner. So your bit should go no deeper than about half that thickness. You can see that a 3/4 diameter mortising bit will remove the entire rabbet area just fine.

Dados and grooves are another matter. You can buy an 23/32nds plywood bit just for that purpose, but there is no guarantee that any particular piece of plywood is exactly that thickness. So for a dado or groove, you are much better off using a half inch bit as suggested and an exact width dado jig as in the video. They are pretty easy to make. Here's a drawing. 

You fit a piece of the material that will go into the dado or groove between the two horizontal boards and use the star knobs to cinch tem down. Clamp the jig securely in palce and begin to do the routing. A half inch straight bit will work but I'd go right back to a half inch mortising bit for this. The top mounted bearing will ride on the side of the rails as you slide the router first one way, then the other. One important feature of mortising bits is that they cut a really flat bottom groove, rabbet or dado.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Pa; they're done now, but those rabbets and dados are too deep (in my opinion). Normally I'd only go 1/4" deep.


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## Nickp (Dec 4, 2012)

PAWOODCHUCK said:


> First I did these with the TS and Dado blade setup but took a lot of setup time only to find was too tight fit, so I used the bit sized for plywood. *Any tips how center the bit when making the cut "X" inches from edge.*
> 
> Still need to do face trim.



This video shows how to make a straight edge for a router guide for cutting grooves/dados/rabbets...but you must dedicate a specific bit for a specific router...






Two straight pieces of wood, small one on top of the big one...then you take your router with the dedicated bit and run it with the edge of the router against the edge of the top piece. This will then cut the bottom piece referencing the top piece. When you use it just line up the edge of the guide where you want the dado/groove and it will cut the dado/groove on that line...check out the video on how to make...


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## Danman1957 (Mar 14, 2009)

Don't believe everything you read Theo !!!
Silly Wabbit LOL


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

OK; you made me look it up...
They _are_ different, in the same way that coyotes and wolves are different.
https://www.diffen.com/difference/Hare_vs_Rabbit


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

DaninVan said:


> OK; you made me look it up...
> They _are_ different, in the same way that coyotes and wolves are different.
> https://www.diffen.com/difference/Hare_vs_Rabbit


Fascinating. Out here in the desert, we have hares, not rabbits. Last time I shot anything live was a hare, and I decided I had to eat it. It was pretty awful, strong, gamey taste. We raised rabbits to eat when I was a kid, and fed them with the grass clippings my gardener dad brought home. That meat was tender and pleasant. Thanks for posting the link Dan.


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## gomolajoe (Apr 23, 2011)

JOAT said:


> The article I copied the picture from said rabbits. This is the US, we have rabbits, not hares. They look like Bugs Bunny. So rabbits they are.


We have snowshoe hares in the northern US. Also called the varying hare since it has a white coat for winter and a brown coat the rest of the year.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

gomolajoe said:


> We have snowshoe hares in the northern US. Also called the varying hare since it has a white coat for winter and a brown coat the rest of the year.


and the best part is that they're all edible...
harvest them in the mid to late spring and earliest summer..
take the younger ones.. (medium sized) as hares live longer than rabbits and so tend to be tougher...
many like to take them during the winter but I think that the weeds and scrub they eat during winter taints the meat..
Spring time gives the rabbits and hares a more succulent diet and the meat simply tastes better...

*There are so many ways to serve them up...*

but here lies the rub..
Rabbit/hare meat is so lean that if a person ate it exclusively they could develop something called “fat-hunger” also known as “rabbit starvation.”
Rabbit eaters, if they have no fat from another source- beaver, moose, fish (or chicken, pork, or beef)- will develop diarrhea in about a week, with headache, lassitude, a vague discomfort. If there are enough rabbits, the people eat till their stomachs are distended; but no matter how much they eat they feel unsatisfied....
so supplement the meat for a rounded out diet...
and everything in moderation...

*NOTE:*
a vast majority of wild rabbits carry a disease called Tularemia which can be passed onto humans...

*Tularemia*
Francisella tularensis (Tularemia or Rabbit Fever) is a naturally occurring disease carried by wild rabbits and the insects which feed on them such as deerflies and ticks. People are at risk of catching this illness by way of skinning and/or eating contaminated rabbits or by being bitten by infected insects. Symptoms of infection such as aches, fever and chills typically will present themselves two to ten days after exposure. Those most at risk for contracting this disease are those who handle wild rabbits, but the illness is easily treated with antibiotics.

*Precautions*
Care should be taken when venturing into a habitat of infected rabbits as well as handling and/or eating wild rabbits. If visiting a wild rabbit habitat make sure to wear clothes and insect repellent that will protect your skin from possible bites from infected deerflies and ticks. When hunting remember to wear protective gloves, goggles and make sure any laceration on the skin are covered to minimize contamination through contact with blood. If eating wild rabbit take care to wear protective gloves when preparing the meat for cooking and cook the meat thoroughly to kill any harmful bacteria.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Bloody Hell! Just give me a chicken burger and call it a day. *grossed out*


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

DaninVan said:


> Bloody Hell! Just give me a chicken burger and call it a day. *grossed out*


add some fat to the rabbit and pass on the chicken...
I've been to a processing plant... twice... ya'd thunk I would have learned the 1st time around to steer clear... 
haven't eaten store bought chicken since...
now range chicken is a different story...


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## PAWOODCHUCK (Apr 22, 2020)

Now that's quick and simple

Thanks

Also many other great ideas here too.


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