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What router bits are used to achieve these cuts? The long slots on the inner, and the rounded cuts at the bottom and top of this piece? I'm considering making some router covers and I was going to use a lot of slots, but the idea of a smooth solid panel with these slits routered in is interesting.

What are common bits to achieve this, and is it worth it, or am I better off just using wooden slots instead?

Cover

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    Nice project! I don't understand the distinction between the routered "slits" in the picture, and the alternative "slots" you want to compare. Can you add a picture of "slots"? Do you mean constructing it from slats, IE building it up from lots of strips, rather than cutting out slots?
    – jay613
    Commented Apr 18 at 19:25
  • Thanks @crip659. I assume I would use wood and clamps as a guide of sorts to get a handheld router to smoothly and strategically get my spacing? Or is there some other method?
    – CodeVar
    Commented Apr 18 at 19:46
  • @jay613, I was assuming the bottom/top slots were possibly done differently but now that I look it may just be more passes, or a larger bit was used for a slightly bigger end radius.
    – CodeVar
    Commented Apr 18 at 19:47
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    A jig/wood and clamps will help a lot. If by eye, I know the last slot would be going at 90 degrees to the first one. Measure twice, cut once is something to live/cut by.
    – crip659
    Commented Apr 18 at 19:51

2 Answers 2

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It probably was done with a straight spiral bit in a CNC router. The bit would be relatively small (1/2" 12.5mm or less) and the curves would be made by machine motion. Why? Looks rather mass-produced, which leads there in the current era.

You can do the same thing without a CNC router by making a template, clamping it or sticking it to the blank sheet, and following the template, either with a router collar or a template-follower bit. Your template for the many slots would be one slot, and a way to index the next slot on the slot you just cut, not replicating all the slots (unless you are trying for "not big enough to buy a CNC" factory production.)

Likewise you can make one big curve template for the upper cut, then use it to make a template with two big curves at the correct spacing, and just measure to put that template the correct distance from the one you cut first. It's worth indexing to cut lots of parallel slots. For two cutouts on the top, measuring will be faster than creating a way to index the template.

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  • Thanks for the tips. This makes a lot of sense since it seems like it would be a good amount of work if it weren't somewhat automated. Now that I've looked at the design more, and the investment of tools/bits/time to get this look, I think I've decided I"m going to go with the old traditional look and build something more custom out of MDF and hardwoods. I appreciate the info.
    – CodeVar
    Commented Apr 19 at 20:45
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Grab some MDF off cuts from the trash pile at the saw station of your nearest hardware superstore. Hopefully you can develop a jig and technique to cut the slots and the rounded ends with a single pass of an appropriately sized router bit. Practice practice practice. YouTube is your friend.

For the larger hole use a hole saw for the ends. You can do the same for the bottom, or round those by hand.

Imo this will give you a better result than building it up from bits.

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