Hot take: I spent 2 years cutting dados the hard way until a customer called me out

So I've been building kitchen cabinets out of my garage in Nashville for about 3 years now. Every single time I needed a dado for a shelf or a drawer bottom, I'd run the piece through my table saw with a stacked dado blade, flip it, and pray the alignment was close. Took forever and I'd always end up sanding or shimming to fix the gaps. Last Tuesday, a customer picked up a set of upper cabinets and just casually pointed at a shelf and goes 'uh, your groove looks a little wobbly there man.' That was it. I asked around and a crew at the local lumber yard told me I should have been using a router with a straight bit and a template guide this whole time. Tried it on a scrap piece that night and the fit was perfect on the first shot. Has anyone else had that moment where you realize you invented your own dumb method for years?

2 comments

2 Comments

claire_fisher4116d ago

Learned that exact lesson with dovetails. Two years of struggling with a jig I made from scrap before a guy at the shop showed me the proper setup. Felt like a real genius for a while there.

sage5216d ago

@claire_fisher41 What was the main thing you were doing wrong with your jig all that time... was it just a measurement thing or the way you were clamping it?