Rout parallel slots to perfection
Whether you're routing dovetail slots, as shown above, or T-slotted wall-storage system panels, here's a timesaving jig for you. It indexes from the previously routed slot to ensure evenly spaced dadoes, dovetails, and grooves. From scrap ½" plywood, cut a subbase to fit your router and project. Then, running your router along a straightedge, rout a dado on the subbase bottom where the distance between the dado and the bit equals the spacing between the slots. Make the dado as wide as the bit profile at the workpiece surface. Insert a matching hardwood guide in the dado.
For grooves deeper than 1⁄4 ", make progressively deeper cuts. For dovetails, rout first with a straight bit, and then finish with a dovetail bit for efficient chip removal.
—From the WOOD® magazine shop