Cutting Hardwood Joinery on the Wolfpawn

Cutting Hardwood Joinery on the Wolfpawn The Wolfpawn can cut repeatable, accurate joinery that's tedious or impossible by hand. Dadoes, rabbets, and simple mortise-and-tenon joints are all achievable. Dado (Cross-Grain Slot) A dado is a slot cut across the grain to house a shelf or panel. Setup in Aspire: Draw a rectangle the width and depth of your dado Pocket toolpath, flat end mill, full depth in multiple passes Settings (hardwood): 1/8" 2-flute, 9000 RPM, 700 mm/min, 1.5 mm DOC Fit: Target 0.1–0.2 mm clearance — snug but slides in. Test with offcuts first. Rabbet (Shoulder Cut) A rabbet is an L-shaped cut along the edge, typically for panel insets or back panels. Setup: Pocket toolpath cutting from the edge inward. Same settings as dado. Run the cut from the edge — climb cut on the inner wall for cleanest results. Simple Mortise A rectangular pocket for a tenon. Setup: Pocket toolpath, size to your tenon + 0.1–0.2 mm clearance. Critical: CNC mortises have radiused corners — either: Round your tenon corners to match the bit radius Chisel the mortise corners square by hand Design tenon with rounded ends (preferred) Box Joints (Finger Joints) Repeatable finger joints are where CNC excels over hand tools. 1. Design the finger pattern in Aspire (or use a dedicated plugin) 2. Profile cut each finger with a 1/8" bit 3. Multiple pieces with identical cuts = tight fitting joints Fit: Add 0.1 mm clearance — joints should tap together with a mallet. Tolerance Testing Workflow Before cutting your real pieces: 1. Cut a test joint in scrap of the same species 2. Adjust clearance if too tight or too loose (typically 0.05–0.1 mm steps) 3. Save the working file for future use

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