The Technique of FURNITURE MAKING

Veneer-trimmer

A smaller version of the router expressly designed for the rapid trimming of veneered tops, with provision for flush or bevel trimming of laminated plastics.

Dovetailing attachment

Without doubt the most useful of all accessories for use with the 1/4 in (6 mm) or greater capacity router. Accurate and tight-fitting machine lap dovetails can be cut at 3/4 in (19 mm) pitch in hardwood up to 9 in (228 mm) in width in any combination of thicknesses from 3/8 in (9.5 mm) to 1 in (25 mm). Multi-pitch attachments are also available providing for additional pitches which enable the spacing of the dovetails to fit

within any width of material without clipping off the end pin. No marking out is necessary and both drawer front and side are cut at one operation. The attachment is complete with the necessary guides and templates. A dovetail- housing joint accessory which will cut housings in timbers up to 9 in (228 mm) wide is also marketed, but takes rather long to set up accurately and is of more interest to those who lack experience in cutting this particular joint (see also Dovetailing, Chapter 19).

BISCUIT JOINTER AND GROOVER

Core-box bits (two flutes)

90 Portable router-cutters and operations. (By courtesy of Black and Decker Ltd)

right up to the stop line. But for all through grooving and wherever any quantity is con­cerned, they are slow and the cutters frequently become overheated and dulled. In the absence of a spindle moulder/shaper, therefore, grooving is best carried out by a biscuit jointer and groover, a tool which cuts grooves in the same effortless way as a spindle but with the added advantage that one can operate it on the workpiece itself. Its action is the same as a very small diameter grooving saw fitted to the spindle moulder or table saw and it can simply be plunged into the workpiece at will, making an arched recess. This lends itself to its other function of making the 'biscuit joints' from which it gets its name; in these joints, oval 'biscuits' of compressed wood, which can be purchased in a variety of thicknesses to match the thickness of the cutter, are inserted and glued into the recess. In some workshops this tool is replacing much conventional use of dowelling, tenoning and dovetailing.