But of course!! Wouldn't be right if I didn't.:wink_smil
I haven't ever tried what you did, but I have read about it. No more pictures, but more questions. Did you use the end mill as a drill bit, or did you use it like an overarm router and plunge the bit in and then push your board through?
Actually, a little of both.
I cut the deep mortises first so that I wouldn't lose my layout lines. They were deeper than the cutter portion length of the bit, so I plunged them first, centering the bit over solid wood, then dropped the cutter in about 1/2" at a time and slid it side-to side to clean up the edges and nibs between holes.
I first tried the side to side on the shallow mortises:
As you can see, I got a lot of tear-out due to the upward spiral pulling up the wood on the edges. (sorry for the lousy focus, but I had installed the end before I reviewed the pics!!) The fact that I could only get about 3000 rpm on the drill press may have been a factor, also. I went back to the plunge-first method, and it came out much cleaner.
I am not sure my drill press would have stayed accurate with a lot of side pressure on the quill, also, so that was also a consideration.
It gave me clean enough mortises that I did not have to dress them up with a chisel, but not quite as clean as I think a router would have given me. The pros were that the upward spiral cleaned the chips out of the plunge cuts much better than forstner bits, I was able to keep my layout lines in clear view during the whole process, and it was an easy and quick set-up. The only con was that the sides of the deep mortises may not have been quite as smooth as a router.
Scott, This was my first attempt at bread board ends. I got my info for doing them from Andy Rae's "The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture & Cabinet Construction". IMHO it is a good "How to" reference for designing and building most furniture.
Lorraine: I thought about full tenons, but with this air-dried lumber, i have already had some fun with the wood changing shape after milling. I wanted a strong joint, but was really worried that a long deep mortise would end up with the wood really warping after removing that much from the center. With the humidity bouncing between 60% and 100%, I decided to go as safe as possible. Besides, I also wanted to see if I could do it.:mrgreen:
Thank everyone for their comments.
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