I may have done something stupid here...

Roger Tulk

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St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
I set out to make a fence for my new bandsaw table (q.v.). I decided that as I might want to slant the fence, I would cut slots in the base instead of holes. Now how to do that? I decided the easiest way would be to put my ¼" upcut spiral bit on the drill press, and slide the piece along the fence with the bit turning, right? Well, I set it up, put the drill press on its highest speed (3500 rpm) and set to. The bit cut the wood nicely but with some unusual noises, and cut a slot about 3/4" long, just as I wanted. Then the chuck fell off the drill press.

I'd already ruined a bandsaw blade today, and I wasn't about to have two tools go to hell on me in one day. The chuck appeared to be press fit, with no evidence of a thread on the post, or a screw in the chuck, so I put it back on, raised the platen to the chuck and reefed on the handle with all my inconsiderable might, and then drilled a ¼" hole with a drill bit where I wanted the other slot. I am wondering if I should heat the chuck and do it again, although this would probably burn my shed down.

Then I put the spiral bit in the router table, slipped the hole in the fence base over the bit, snugged the router table fence up against the piece, and turned on the router. It cut a sort of kidney-shaped hole in the piece as I tried to slide it along. (I have cut slots on the router table this way in the past.) So, I stood there looking at it for a bit, then put everything away, and went inside to watch the Jays lose to the Twins.

So how would you cut a slot like this in ½" white oak? :huh:

Oh, it's OK to laugh at my predicaments, but don't bother to tell me I'm stupid. I know that. :saythat:
 
Are you trying to cut the slot in one pass? I always cut slots on my router table but I only cut maybe < 1/8 " each pass especially hard stuff like oak . It's a pain because I don't have a router lift. It's cut lift the table, adjust the router depth, put the table down, cut, lift.... Well you know.
 
Did you spit on that drill press chuck before you put it back on? If you did it will never fall off again if not well ya know.:thumb::thumb:
As for the slot I do them in the router with a jig no router table just secure the piece make a jig that wont let you go left or right and has a start stop and a stop stop. Sucre it to the work and away ya go make a pass than drop and make another repeat until you have gone through.
 
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If it has to look good, I do like Chuck says. If it doesn't matter how it looks, I usually just drill a hole on each end and cut the slot out with a jig saw.
 
That type of side pressure is a good way to remove a stubborn chuck from the spindle. Of course, that wasn't your intention ;-) Hand router with a guide or the router table would be my choice for that task.
 
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