|
|
Cutting Out Toe-Kick Notches
Question
Forum Responses
From contributor K: I use a 1/4" thick MDF jig and a router with a spiral bit and a guide collar. From contributor J: Years ago I worked in a shop that produced production vanity cabinets. They had a router mounted in a piece of melamine (basically a router table) with 2 strips of ply, forming a 90* corner set back from the bit the depth/height of the toes. The strips were probably 24'' long. You would slide the panel against first one strip, cutting the first side of the kick, then when you deadened into the other strip you changed directions. It was done in 2 fluid moves. The peice was never lifted until the toe was done and it took about 5 seconds to do. I dont recall what kind of bit it was, but we were using 1/2'' veneer ply and mdf for the cabinets. One guy could notch out countless sides in no time.
From contributor S: You mean, you guys actually still cut notches in the bottoms of your cabinet for toe-kicks? That sounds painful. Why not make European style cabinets and have a separate base for the toe-kick? It seems to me that you can't be getting a very good panel yield the way you are making the cabinets, plus cutting the notches adds an extra (time consuming) step. From the original questioner: I appreciate the responses. The GC's that we do business with do not want a separate base (we do not install most of what we build), although I agree that it is the best way. I think I'll experiment with the router table idea and see what I can come up with. From contributor M: Pre-CNC days we used the bandsaw, the fence and a stop block. Pretty simple if you use the same depth, height, no layout, and marking as needed. Set the fence to 4" and a stop block at 4".Cut flip 90 and cut again.
Would you like to add information to this article? Interested in writing or submitting an article? Have a question about this article? Have you reviewed the related Knowledge Base areas below? 
|
