| We now need to route and dado some slots for the bottom of the waterwheel. The bottom will be made out of 1" cedar also so the slots will need to be a little bigger than 3/4". The waterwheel bottom is put together like awine barrel so you need to cut slots for the boards to go into. Here is what I'm talking about.  You want to set up the router with a fence sothat you can follow the curve of the segment. Set the router to 1/4" depthusing a straight cutter. Set the fence so that the notch will come close to the bottom of the segment on the end. I had to reset the fence and make a second pass because my router blade was only a half inch. The slot needs to be a little bigger than the thickness of the boards so they will fit on a curve.  Once you've cut the slot you need to dado thenotches where the 2x4 spokes and the 3/4" paddles will go. The spokes willfit half on one segment and half on the other so you will dado a 1 3/4"slot, 1/4" deep, completely across the segment.  Next you will dado the paddle slots. These needto be 3/4" wide, 1/4" deep and cut only through the routed slot, notall the way through the segment. These paddle slots should be spaced evenly with one paddle butted up against a spoke and the other halfway in between. I kept the same angle for the paddles all the way around so they matched the spokes. Here is a side view of the finished part. I realize they are a little complicated but they are the key to the whole project.   |