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What is a dado? And what is a rabbet? Dadoes, grooves and rabbets are the workhorses of cabinet and bookcase construction. They're used in woodworking projects to make stronger joints.
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Dadoes and grooves are flat-bottomed recesses that strengthen supporting shelves and connecting panels. A dado runs perpendicular to the grain of the wood while a groove runs parallel to the grain.
What is a Rabbet?
A rabbet is like a dado that’s missing a side. It’s essentially a notch cut into the edge of a board or piece of plywood.
You can cut dadoes, grooves and rabbets in many different ways. In this article, however, we’re going to show you a simple, foolproof cutting method that requires only a router, a pattern bit and two straight guides.
How a Pattern Bit Works
The bit we’re using is called a top-bearing pattern bit or top-bearing flush-trim bit. The bearing follows along the straight router guide as the cutters carve out the recess. Since the bearing and the cutters have the same diameter, you just line up the edge of the guide or pattern with the marks for the dado, groove or rabbet and run the router bit along the guide. Using two guides as we show here allows you to cut an exact size dado for any wood thickness that’s greater than the bit diameter. The router bit can’t go off track either, since it’s trapped between the guides.
Most home centers and hardware stores don’t stock top-bearing pattern bits, but they’re readily available online and at woodworking stores. The bits come in different diameters and lengths. Make sure to buy a bit that’s narrower than the thickness of the spacers. We’re using a 1/2-in.-diameter bit with 1-in.-long cutters (Freud No. 50-102).
