I am about to cut an inch cut on the bottom edge of a rail so that it can fit into a base. The instructions say to avoid chipout, first cut the shoulders with a crosscut blade. Does that mean to use the rip blade and make the cut one inch from the bottom and then use the dado blades for the inch cut.
I am working on the panels (1/4" plywood and solid stile and rails ) for the oak desk.
Lorraine, I must confess, I am not following either. When they say use a cross cut blade to cut the shoulders, they are talking about cutting tenons on the end of a rail (or other piece) across the grain. You can do the same as Norm does with a dado blade. It will also cut some of the tenon cheek- if it is a long tenon you need to slide the piece and make a second pass to cut all of the cheek.
But, I am thinking that is not your question. After re-reading, are you trying to put a tenon on the bottom of a rail and stile end panel assembly (desk end panel?) so it will drop into a dado cut in the desk base?
If so, you may get chip out on the trailing stile as you push it through the tablesaw since it is a cross cut situation. As they suggest you can make a shoulder cut with a cross-cut blade or, depending on the sharpness and tooth geometry of the outer blades, you can just use the dado set like Norm does to cut the shoulder and the cheek at the same time. Then you won't need to cut the shoulder line first and need to swap to the dado blade to trim the remainder of the cheek. Try a cross cut test with a piece of stile stock and your dado. Another way to prevent tearout is to clamp a backer board to the trailing stile and use your dado- the backer will prevent chipout also. You can do the same with the dados for the drawer runners. If the dados for the drawer runners are not stopped dados and are exposed at the face of the pedestal, you will want to make sure your dado cuts a nice flat bottom.
Unless I am cutting stop dados, I like to cut them on the tablesaw for a number of reasons- first, cleaner- less dust and MUCH quieter than using a router, and two, you don't need to worry about setting a clamping guide perpendicular or worry about holding your router's base plate tightly to it, or need special dado jigs, guided base plates, etc.
