# Dovetail dado instead of t-track



## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Hi everyone.
For the life of me I can't find a source of t-track here in Croatia and importing it is out of the question considering postage and import taxes. The price becomes simply too high. I think Croatia is currently the highest taxed Country in all of Europe. 
Anyway, has anyone here ever tried using a dovetail dado(think that's what you'd call it) instead of t-track ? 
I figure if it was in hardwood it might work ok for stop blocks and such.
My other idea is to get aluminium box section and mill out a slot down the middle to make basic t-track. I guess it might be possible with a carbide bit.

Open to all suggestions.


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## Cassandra (Mar 15, 2006)

Hi gav:

One suggestion that I would put forth: Route dados in a plywood sheet. Then glue hardboard on the plywood. Finally cut slots in the hardboard, centered on the dados in the plywood. This technique creates t-tracks in the jig.

Cassandra


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Thanks for that idea. I might just give that a go. I guess just a normal straight sided dado would work with that method also.
Come to think of it, maybe I could just recess some strips of aluminium on either side of the dado, leaving a gap in the middle.
Lot's to experiment with.


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## istracpsboss (Sep 14, 2008)

gav said:


> Hi everyone.
> For the life of me I can't find a source of t-track here in Croatia and importing it is out of the question considering postage and import taxes. The price becomes simply too high. I think Croatia is currently the highest taxed Country in all of Europe.
> Anyway, has anyone here ever tried using a dovetail dado(think that's what you'd call it) instead of t-track ?
> I figure if it was in hardwood it might work ok for stop blocks and such.
> ...


Hi Gavin

Doesn't the aluminium stockholder on the old Samobor road do it?

Otherwise,I'd try getting a visitor to bring some in. I got some lengths from Canada recently. Failing that,the suggestion of fabricating it using a dado in wood, but using two thin aluminium strips screwed down either side, to give you fairly strong lips, would work. 

Cheers

Peter


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## istracpsboss (Sep 14, 2008)

LOL !

Looks like you were typing that at the same time I was!

Cheers

Peter


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## sometimewoodworker (Feb 13, 2009)

gav said:


> Anyway, has anyone here ever tried using a dovetail dado(think that's what you'd call it) instead of t-track ?
> I figure if it was in hardwood it might work ok for stop blocks and such.
> My other idea is to get aluminium box section and mill out a slot down the middle to make basic t-track. I guess it might be possible with a carbide bit.
> 
> Open to all suggestions.


The Elu table I bought 35 years ago uses dovetail slots and they are good.


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Thanks everyone. Looks like I've got a lot of ways to try it.
Peter, I guess you mean INOX,Crna Metalurgija,Obojeni Metali-Strojopromet-Zagreb, although it's not on the old Samabor road but near by. Was there just the other day and they say they don't have it. Perhaps there is a place on the Samabor road i don't know about.


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## istracpsboss (Sep 14, 2008)

That looks like the one. BTW, if you can make patterns, there is an aluminium foundry down at Jastrebarsko.

Cheers

Peter


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Today I spent some time making t-track for my jig.
I used a new piece of 1cm2 Alu. and a rectangluar piece I picked up at the scrap yard.
I clamped the alu in the middle of my 'workmate' knock off and then used the routers edge guide to position the cutter in almost the right place
I didn't have a carbide bit the size I needed so I used a regular bit that I picked up at the flee market recently. 'What the heck' I thought.
The new piece worked fairly nicely, but the old piece kept melting and sticking to the bit :fie: Tried different router and feed speeds but to no avail. Not sure if it was different quality alu or due to oxidization of the old piece.
Managed to make what I needed in the end though, and it only required a little cleaning up with a small file.
Pics attached.


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## diggerop (Oct 18, 2009)

gav said:


> Today I spent some time making t-track for my jig.
> I used a new piece of 1cm2 Alu. and a rectangluar piece I picked up at the scrap yard.
> I clamped the alu in the middle of my 'workmate' knock off and then used the routers edge guide to position the cutter in almost the right place
> I didn't have a carbide bit the size I needed so I used a regular bit that I picked up at the flee market recently. 'What the heck' I thought.
> ...


Very neat, Gav. Perfect example of "necessity being the mother of invention."
I believe I might try the same thing.


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## TomH (Oct 18, 2009)

I've also had problems getting t-track, but I've had no problems getting other extrusions. By joining a few together you can make a pretty good imitation of t-track.

On my table I've used two "U" shaped extrusions and a strip of flat aluminium about 25mm wide and 1mm depth. Place each U on its side facing each other, then slide in the strip and screw it down. This holds both the U shaped extrusions in place inside the groove. Then all you need to do is grind and polish the heads of the screws and find some suitably sized bolts to slide in the track (will need some grinding also).

Its more fiddly than t track because it is 3 pieces rather than 2, but once you've got it in place it works just as well.

Unfortunately after building a router table with these tracks, I was finally able to locate some of the real thing - so now I'm starting router table mk2.


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## eccentrictinkerer (Dec 24, 2007)

You've all shown incredible ingenuity! One of thing I like about woodworking is the problem-solving aspect.

Reading of your exploits also reminds me that I'm very lucky. When I need a piece of T-track, I just walk ten blocks to the Rockler store on Lyndale Avenue!


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## Mike Wingate (Apr 26, 2009)

I routed a shallow 4mm deep, but wide groove. Then a narrower and deeper groove on the same axis. Glued a strips of 4mm ply across the shallow groove. Passed an 8mm groove through the plywood and cleaned up and polished. Plywood T-grooves.


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## RLFX (Nov 20, 2009)

Thats really cool gav !!


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## Duane867 (Oct 25, 2008)

Necessity is the mother of all invention. 
Great job Gav !


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## Mike Gager (Jan 14, 2009)

try using a key hole slot router bit or a t slot router bit

Hanging Slot Router Bits - Rockler Woodworking Tools

Rockler T-Slotwall Cutter Bit - Rockler Woodworking Tools


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## Duane867 (Oct 25, 2008)

Duane867 said:


> Necessity is the mother of all invention.
> Great job Gav !


Ha ! Used the same statement twice. 
Once here and once to Harrysin. 
I think I may be developing alzheimer's at 35 years old guys.
LOL !


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## dutchman 46 (May 23, 2007)

I had an idea not unlike : Tom, How about routing a groove as deep as necessary, and as wide as the guide. run a dado on each side of the track slot that is as deep as a 1/2 metal strip is which, and put that on each side of the dado and leave enough open as the slot in the track would be. Did any one follow, i am having trouble putting ideas into words


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## duncsuss (Nov 10, 2009)

*another source for t-slot router bits*

Lee Valley also sell router bits to cut t-slots: sorry, it won't let me post a link because I don't have enough points, just go to Leevalley (dot) com and click through Woodworking into Router Bits and then into Rabbeting and Grooving bits ...


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Look how many different ideas people have. That's great !!
Unfortunately for me, all the t and key slot cutting bits are out of the question because I just can't get them here.
I have found in the last week a place that sells a type of t track, either singular or double with a space between.
It's actually for hanging curtains. Pretty cheap too.
Have gotten no where with my jig though.:fie:


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Gavin

Think ,MLCS you can get all you want/need in your mail box or your front door.

MLCS router bit and Katana index
Katana-State Of The Art Premium Router Bits


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gav said:


> Look how many different ideas people have. That's great !!
> Unfortunately for me, all the t and key slot cutting bits are out of the question because I just can't get them here.
> I have found in the last week a place that sells a type of t track, either singular or double with a space between.
> It's actually for hanging curtains. Pretty cheap too.
> Have gotten no where with my jig though.:fie:


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Bob, the problem is that my router as with most european routers. uses bits with an 8mm shank. Not many of them on those sites. Also the postage and import costs basically double the price of anything I would order from there.
I live in constant jealousy of all the things available cheaply to Americans.


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## istracpsboss (Sep 14, 2008)

Hi Gav

I know it is additional expense, but I'd try to get a router that will do 1/2" and 1/4" bits. The range of bits for them, in my experience, is vastly wider than are available in 8mm and I don't just mean in Croatia. Manufacturers don't seem to do that much of a range in 8mm. I think some of it is that the markets that take 8mm are not much into hobby woodworking and focus more on commercial work with wood shapers.
A second router is always useful. Bosch and Makita stuff are around and even if they don't come with the other collets, people like El-Al can get them. Check the second hand mags.
A day out in Graz or Trieste (for CMT stuff)could be useful and fun.

Cheers

Peter


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## istracpsboss (Sep 14, 2008)

Hi Gav

I've just been doing some checking. CMT seem to do a decent range of 8mm stuff. I don't know their Croatian agents but they are

HUDEK DOO ZA TRGOVINU,PROIZVODNJU I SERVIS ALATNIH STROJEVA
SUNEKOVA 145, ZAGREB - 10040 (Croatia)
Phone: 00385 1 2983130 Fax: 00385 1 2984494

You could see if they stock much.

HTH

Peter


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Hi Peter, 
I have considered that if I get into woodworking more I may get a router that takes 1/2 and 1/4 inch bits. The amount and costs of bits available is certainly advantagous. Untill then, I'm stuck with my 8mm green Bosch pof1400(i think that's what it is) It's actually pretty decent with elctronic speed control, soft start, light, and micro adjust depth.
I've discovered an Austrian company here called Schachermaeyer, who have the curtain t track and I can order festool router bits through them (all 8mm). Little pricey for the bits though. When I first saw their site, I had hopes of getting all soughts of specialized woodworking stuff as there was a picture of a 'hold down clamp' on their homepage. Alas when I got there I realised that they are geared towards tradesmen that make cabinets from particle board and mdf in the quickest cheapest way possible. Still good to know they have some things I may want.


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## istracpsboss (Sep 14, 2008)

I know them. I've been to their place. They do their catalogue as a DVD if you twist their arm. They also seem to wholesale to other outlets because my local place can get anything in the Schlachenmeyer catalogue but, as you've seen, they are not geared to our sort of market and aim at a particular industrial one.
Whilst it is surprising that in a country of 4.5M people, much of it covered in forest, there aren't more hobby woodworkers, I think we've exhausted most of the possibilities.
Shame about Pevec going, who had a better selection than most.

Cheers

Peter


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

I suspect Peter that most hoby wood workers here are old and use more hand tools than we'd like to.
It is a shame about Pevec, they had a better range of wood machines than most, but surprisingly didn't have a big sale before they folded and closed their doors.


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## istracpsboss (Sep 14, 2008)

You could well be right. A friend mentioned that one of the guys I went mushroom hunting with was a hobby woodworker and I went round to see him. Whilst he had a lot of tools, he didn't have a router. Given the limited range of cutters available round here I suppose it is not so surprising. He does make some nice rakija though! He also had a nice compressor for spraying with, which I don't have, so all was not lost.

I was sorry Pevec closed so quickly. It will be interesting to see what happens to all their stock. They had been running it down for a couple of months. I'd gone there looking for a decent pillar drill but all they had were three phase ones. Einhell assured me they could order them from them, but I guess they were no longer ordering anything.

(For those not knowing Pevec, they were a national chain of Home Depot type big shed operators. They were the biggest of their type in the country. There are others like Bauhaus in Zagreb, but over here in Istria there was nothing really comparable as our year round population for the whole county is only 250,000, so there isn't enough of a market for other ones.)

Cheers

Peter


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## BigJimAK (Mar 13, 2009)

Peter, probably a lot like Alaska... 1,717,854 km2 for about 750,000 people. One edge is about half the people live in one city (Anchorage) and its vicinity. If you live in a remote part, there are villages without a bank or cash machine, and the only way in and out is by air (in the winter) as no roads there exist.


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## istracpsboss (Sep 14, 2008)

BigJimAK said:


> Peter, probably a lot like Alaska... 1,717,854 km2 for about 750,000 people. One edge is about half the people live in one city (Anchorage) and its vicinity. If you live in a remote part, there are villages without a bank or cash machine, and the only way in and out is by air (in the winter) as no roads there exist.


Back to barter then ! We are Ok for cash machines, although fuel stations are spaced out more than I was used to in the UK. Curiously, gas stations (gas not gasolene/diesel) seem more frequent. As my Santa Fe runs on dual fuels, this is handy. About half our population in Istria is in one city, Pula, which used to be the naval base for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Something that won't surprise you there, but surprised me this morning, was snow. We don't usually see any in Istria. It is only a dusting though and by the time I got to the office in Porec, which is about 200ft lower, it had already disappeared.

Cheers

Peter


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## phimiu (Feb 6, 2009)

gav said:


> I have considered that if I get into woodworking more I may get a router that takes 1/2 and 1/4 inch bits. The amount and costs of bits available is certainly advantagous.


Hi, Gav

When and if you get there, consider e.g. the DeWalt 625, which can take interchangeable collets for 6mm, 1/4 inch, 8mm, 12mm and 1/2 inch bits. Then you could use all the bits on your collection...


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## gav (Oct 12, 2009)

Thanks for the tip. There is actually a B&D Dewalt specialty shop here so that model may even be available to me. I've been using my green Bosch in the last few days and I can see that more power would be nice too.
If anyone is interested, I used the same method to create mortices as I used to make the alumium T track in this thread. Worked perfectly. These cheap workmate knock offs are pretty handy things.


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## Warwickn (Oct 20, 2007)

A long shot, but road signs in New Zealand have aluminium 'C' section bars on the back into which the support strapping is bolted to affix the signs to posts. We have trouble sourcing purpose built 'T' Track in New Zealand also, but I located the sign makers and purchased a few metres of the 'C' section - ideal for 'T' track. I hope Croatia makes its signs the same way!!
Cheers, Warwick.


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## BigJimAK (Mar 13, 2009)

"Wasn't there a 'BRIDGE OUT' sign around here someplace?" 




Warwickn said:


> A long shot, but road signs in New Zealand have aluminium 'C' section bars on the back into which the support strapping is bolted to affix the signs to posts. We have trouble sourcing purpose built 'T' Track in New Zealand also, but I located the sign makers and purchased a few metres of the 'C' section - ideal for 'T' track. I hope Croatia makes its signs the same way!!
> Cheers, Warwick.


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## Warwickn (Oct 20, 2007)

Gidday BigJimAK,

You got ESP? I first saw the T Track look alike on a broken bridge sign in a remote back country location! I left the sign where it lay - honest I did!!

Cheers,

Warwick


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## Lee W (May 11, 2020)

*Use a table saw*

I did something similar but I used my table saw instead of a router. Select a blade with zero rake on the teeth so it is less likely to grab the metal for less tear out. A regular blade will work OK though.

An up cut or down cut router blade would work better than a straight cut because it adds some shear to the cutting action. Helps to clear the aluminum from the bit. I still prefer the table saw.


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Welcome to the forum, Lee.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Hey, Lee; welcome! That original thread is from 2009, but you probably noticed that(?)...


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