Author Topic: T Molding Troubles (Read 9145 times)

MartyKong · « **on:** August 04, 2015, 10:11:12 pm »

Set up my T molding Slot cutter. Made several trial passes to get the depth perfect. Made sure the bit was well tightened. Routed out the side's bottom first and rechecked with T molding - all is well. Slowly routed out the sides keeping the router level. Afterwards, I noticed in certain areas, above the gap seemed a little bit higher than the lower part. I pulled the original test piece - where I knew it was perfectly centered (Thinking the bit was loose) and rechecked. It was perfectly centered. Hoping I was wrong, I ran the slot cutter over the area and of course it removed more wood, making the gap a bit too large for the T molding splines

My best guess is

The slot cutter added sawdust to the top and the router bed rode up on this screwing up my carefully centered slot? I really don't know.

Anyone refill T molding slots with bondo and reroute? Does the slot need to be completely filled for this to work. Happy to listen to any ideas you guys might have. I think I need a beer

vwalbridge · « **Reply #1 on:** August 05, 2015, 01:25:03 pm »

That sucks. Jacking up the slot cut for t-molding is always my biggest fear when building a cab.

Apparently some high quality hot glue squirted down the gap does the trick. (I've never personally done this but I read about it everywhere) Guess you should be sure if you want to do this because getting the glue back out could be a beyotch.

MartyKong · « **Reply #2 on:** August 05, 2015, 06:53:19 pm »

Thanks for the hot glue tip. I'm guessing that's to secure the loose areas when installing the T molding. I think I'm going to trim the barbs off a piece of T molding, use to find the bad area's, fill and reroute. If it works - I'll let you know. Thanks Vwalbridge.

behrmr · « **Reply #3 on:** August 05, 2015, 11:15:27 pm »

Quote from: MartyKong on August 05, 2015, 06:53:19 pm

Thanks for the hot glue tip. I'm guessing that's to secure the loose areas when installing the T molding. I think I'm going to trim the barbs off a piece of T molding, use to find the bad area's, fill and reroute. If it works - I'll let you know. Thanks Vwalbridge.

Refill the entire slot with bondo (usually takes 2 passes due to shrinkage). Sand smooth. Re-route. Not that big of a deal really, just a time killer.

Wired203 · « **Reply #4 on:** August 06, 2015, 01:29:47 am »

You know I see a different aspect for hot melt glue, same with bondo just fill the slot with hot melt glue and you could re-route it. You would need to be quick to not melt it bad but it should work and be a super fast fix. Fill, 5 mins to cool, route and tada.

big10p · « **Reply #5 on:** August 06, 2015, 06:23:18 am »

For areas where the slot is too wide, I just put electrical insulation tap along the t-molding until I get snug fit, then tap into place as usual. I don't like the idea of using glue in case I ever want to remove the t-molding again in the future, for whatever reason.

behrmr · « **Reply #6 on:** August 06, 2015, 09:37:33 am »

I use hot glue in small patches but if it's bad I am leaning towards redoing it with bondo. The big drawback to hot glue is that it doesn't always come out easy and can pull a lot of cabinet material out with it. I had to redo a section of a cabinet that I had hot glued the t-molding down and it made a mess of the slot.

Wired203 · « **Reply #7 on:** August 06, 2015, 10:18:25 am »

that's why I'm thinking just fill the slot with hot melt glue, let it cool, re-route like you bondo'd it which should work just dandy.

MartyKong · « **Reply #8 on:** August 06, 2015, 10:33:49 am »

Wired203. Wouldn't the speed of the router bit create heat and mess up the joint? I figured bondo might be stronger for rerouting. Thanks

HaRuMaN · « **Reply #9 on:** August 06, 2015, 05:16:47 pm »

Yeah I'm guessing a spinning slot cut bit would remelt the hot glue and probably fling it everywhere.

Wired203 · « **Reply #10 on:** August 07, 2015, 12:30:44 am »

high temp go quick :-) I'll have to try it myself but the theory is semi sound

big10p · « **Reply #11 on:** August 07, 2015, 06:11:49 am »

I can't imagine routing any type of glue would work out well.

shponglefan · « **Reply #12 on:** August 07, 2015, 08:40:13 pm »

Personally I've never had a good experience trying to correct a mis-routed slot. Haven't tried bondo, but the other solutions I've tried (various putties and glues) haven't worked very well.

Nowadays, I just route the slot before doing any other drilling or hole-cutting so if I screw it up, I just do it over on a fresh piece.

MartyKong · « **Reply #13 on:** August 09, 2015, 09:34:28 am »

Hey guys, Got a chance to do some testing with the Hot glue and Bondo. The first picture shows it filled with hot glue.

Second picture shows it after routing.

As you can see there was some melting and you can see some glue buildup on the test piece. I had to go slower because of all the angles. This might work when routing a straighter side. The final picture is the side filled with general purpose Bondo.

Although I hate to admit to shrinkage, I went with Behrmr suggestion and used two passes.

A big benefit of bondo over the glue is sanding. After filling I like to sand the edge where the slot cutter bearing runs, glue doesn't sand well. Shponglefan, the fill turned out pretty well, although if you need to remove/install t molding multiple times you might run into problems. Hope this helps others.

MartyKong · « **Reply #14 on:** August 09, 2015, 09:38:19 am »

Oh well, I tried attaching pictures but they were too big. Started a post on the main forum on how to attach pictures. Tried the recommended Postimage.org but no luck

Hope the post helps anyway.

WakiMiko · « **Reply #15 on:** August 19, 2015, 06:58:15 am »

is pretty good. no signup required.

southpaw13 · « **Reply #16 on:** September 02, 2015, 01:14:20 pm »

I might have a bigger problem, the t mold spine of the new stuff I bought is a lot smaller than the original slot. So besides filling and routing an entire cabinet, or hot gluing the whole thing, is there anything I can put on the spine to build it up? Did the electrical tape really work???

kiel0909 · « **Reply #17 on:** September 06, 2015, 12:29:29 am »

i did a test of using silicone to bond some glass to mdf and that worked well. would be fast to put a bead of silicone in the slot and then put molding in, stays pliable for a long time, just beware the fumes. no idea if it would really work though.

southpaw13 · « **Reply #18 on:** September 06, 2015, 01:16:43 pm »

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried another product I found at Menards next to the electrical tape. It's call friction tape, it's cheap, really sticky, and two layers worked like a charm!

Hope this helps others.

MartyKong · « **Reply #19 on:** September 07, 2015, 08:25:42 pm »

I'll have to check out the friction tape. Thanks for the tip. My T molding spline is 3/32" and the slot cutter is 1/16". How far off were you? I was able to repair my damaged areas with bondo but then again I didn't have to recut the whole thing. With the friction tape are you able to remove the T molding if needed?

southpaw13 · « **Reply #20 on:** September 08, 2015, 09:49:55 pm »

I don't know how off it is but let's just say it would fall out if tipped over. Yes you can remove it with the tape.


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