Regarding Victorian stopped chamfer skirting boards

[GT40Swede]

Hi All - I'm a newbie so go easy on me!! A big first posting

I live in an old house - victorian gothic style, bought it to do it up. It has had many of the skirting boards changed for modern cheap ones but in some parts of the house there are the original 8 or 9" stopped chamfer skirtings which look just right for the house - the chamfer feature is replicated all over the house - newel posts, window casings, door panels - so I want to re-create the missing skirtings.

The skirtings are approx 1" deep - the chamfer is almost the whole depth of the board and is sharp at the ends, it doesn't go right to the end so I can't just take 45 deg off end to end with a table saw - the ends are not rounded like a router had done it

they look machine cut - the house is from the late 1850's

I am trying to figure out the best way of going about this - Triton with an angled rip fence? Plunged in so the ends are ok? Router table? Hand held router? Something else?

the boards will be long lengths - I don't have a triton but have seen one on ebay and am comparing that against a compound mitre saw and a clarke table saw because there is lots of woodwork to do here - architraves/picture rails and more as well as the skirtings.

Any suggestions, help or advice will be appreciated - I can email some pics to a well-meaning member if it helps.

Regards

Tony

 

[Argus]

.

Well, welcome to the forum, then to throw in some possibilities to get stopped chamfers.

Firstly obtain 8 or 9” deal (pine) boards which were easy to get in Victorian times but very hard to find nowadays, (otherwise edge-join narrower boards); here’s a few suggestions on cutting chamfers:

1 Use an electric router with a suitable cutter, make a simple jig to limit your stop ends and rout them. The cons are that it’s expensive kit, noisy, dusty and the stop ends terminate in a shallow curve, showing that they were machine-made.

2 As above, but finish the curved ends by hand with a chisel. This allows you to add stepped ends or even carve a Lamb’s Tongue for a high class finish.

3 Do the lot by hand. (which is what the original Victorian chippies probably did). I use that technique on furniture and described my own method (It's not Holy Writ - there are lots more ways to do it, depending on what tools you have) in a blog some while ago. Not as difficult as it sounds if you have a methodical approach and good exercise, but..... you do need some basic essential tools.


Hope that this helps you to decide.

 

[AndyT]

+1 to all that.

Provided that you have a reasonably good way to hold your board steady (a proper bench, or a pair of decent Workmates, weighted down) hand tools are the most satisfying and flexible way to go and are the only way to get the ends right.

You have a lot of choices though. You definitely need a chisel for the ends, and you could do the whole job with just a chisel. You could do the main length with an ordinary bench plane and just chisel the sharp corners at the ends.

Or you could buy a chamfer plane - there are lots of variant designs and they were often home made. This is one - used here on a very small through chamfer, but they can work right up to the stops.

 

[bugbear]

I've come across this helpful image:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

BugBear

 

[bugbear]

Full size:

BugBear

 

[GT40Swede]

Thanks Bugbear - that is in fact my skirting board…. had I known you were in my hallway earlier I'd have put the kettle on! :wink:

I will have to figure out how to upload one for myself of course…

I appreciate all the help and suggestions so far.. I really don't fancy doing it all by hand though - there is some meterage to do - some of the upstairs and almost all of the downstairs…. and I am not an experienced woodworker.. I'm on the leaning curve..

Any more suggestions regarding a mechanical way of doing it - perhaps with a bit of sawing or chiselling at the ends?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Just use a router and stop short of the ends, then finish with 1005 sharp chisels.

 

[MickCheese]

Looks ideal for a router cutter.

This one is from Trend

Mick

 

[RobinBHM]

1005 sharp chisels? -I think you might get away with using just one

 

[GT40Swede]

I like the router cutter idea... The boards might be a bit long to slide along a router table so maybe best using some sort of guide.. Though that cutter looks like it would guide itself!

 

[sometimewoodworker]

Thanks Bugbear - that is in fact my skirting board…. had I known you were in my hallway earlier I'd have put the kettle on! :wink:

I will have to figure out how to upload one for myself of course…

I appreciate all the help and suggestions so far.. I really don't fancy doing it all by hand though - there is some meterage to do - some of the upstairs and almost all of the downstairs…. and I am not an experienced woodworker.. I'm on the leaning curve..

Any more suggestions regarding a mechanical way of doing it - perhaps with a bit of sawing or chiselling at the ends?

The suggestions will vary depending on what tools you have, money you want to spend on tools and if you like hand or machine tools.

The router then chisel or track saw then chisel would be my choice though I would probably use a Japanese saw and guide for the stopped chamfer cleaned up with a chisel if needed.

 

[sometimewoodworker]

I like the router cutter idea... The boards might be a bit long to slide along a router table so maybe best using some sort of guide.. Though that cutter looks like it would guide itself!

I wouldn't use a router table for the skirting boards.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I like the router cutter idea... The boards might be a bit long to slide along a router table so maybe best using some sort of guide.. Though that cutter looks like it would guide itself!

I wouldn't use a router table for the skirting boards.

Just get a bearing guided cutter - they're easy to find. Work out what size you wish the bevel to be , and go on line for "Wealden" cutters. By the time you've thought any more about it you'll have it in your hand. Well - that last bit was an exageration, but not much of one. You can buy sets of "Trend" ones for £35 - £40 that will have one in (if it's the correct size) in the sheds. These aren't bad cutters.

 

[andypa]

I did loads of these stopped chamfers on some exterior woodwork last summer.

I used a big 45 deg router bit and cut the stopped part with a chisel using a little guide as described in the following link

http://chestofbooks.com/home-improvement/woodworking/Cabinet-Making/Rabbeting-Continued.html

Gets easy when you've done your 37th one :lol: ....and make sure your chisel is always sharp.

 

[johnwc812]

Hi Tony
If money and time is short, it would be possible to plane the chamfers without the 'stops',
and add them later by gluing on the pre-shaped stops. (these could almost be mass produced)
I assume the skirting will be painted.
I shall be shot at dawn by the purists.
John

 

[Bod]

Thinking along the lines, of jig to hold a router at an angle to cut the stops at each end, then join the stops, with a normal bearing guided cutter.
Repeatable, custom lengths easy.
Bod

If these features are used a lot, there must have been a quick, easy way of creating them. The trick is finding it!

 

[AndyT]

Thinking along the lines, of jig to hold a router at an angle to cut the stops at each end, then join the stops, with a normal bearing guided cutter.
Repeatable, custom lengths easy.
Bod

If these features are used a lot, there must have been a quick, easy way of creating them. The trick is finding it!

Yes, but Victorian builders didn't have electric power tools on site! Stopped chamfers are a design detail that made more sense in a hand tool world than in a power tool one.

I expect the originals would have been made with a drawknife. In the right hands it is a tool which can remove quite thick chunks, or take a delicate, finishing shaving. Just as quick as a power router.

 

[thick_mike]

Thinking along the lines, of jig to hold a router at an angle to cut the stops at each end, then join the stops, with a normal bearing guided cutter.
Repeatable, custom lengths easy.
Bod

If these features are used a lot, there must have been a quick, easy way of creating them. The trick is finding it!

Yes, but Victorian builders didn't have electric power tools on site! Stopped chamfers are a design detail that made more sense in a hand tool world than in a power tool one.

I expect the originals would have been made with a drawknife. In the right hands it is a tool which can remove quite thick chunks, or take a delicate, finishing shaving. Just as quick as a power router.

I love to use a drawknife for rough shaping. Like you say, you can remove material very quickly. No messing about with jigs and cutters. You must be careful about the grain direction though, otherwise you will remove more than you expected!

 

[GT40Swede]

I did loads of these stopped chamfers on some exterior woodwork last summer.

I used a big 45 deg router bit and cut the stopped part with a chisel using a little guide as described in the following link

http://chestofbooks.com/home-improvement/woodworking/Cabinet-Making/Rabbeting-Continued.html

Gets easy when you've done your 37th one :lol: ....and make sure your chisel is always sharp.

There are some great suggestions here.., I'm going to likely go for the bearing guided cutter and the above suggestion from 'chestofbooks'.. Thanks andypa.. The description of the chisel guide is most helpful.. Our house is victorian gothic and the book n the link refers to the use of stopped chamfers in that style.. As well as V grooved panels which we also have...

 

[Bod]

Thinking along the lines, of jig to hold a router at an angle to cut the stops at each end, then join the stops, with a normal bearing guided cutter.
Repeatable, custom lengths easy.
Bod

If these features are used a lot, there must have been a quick, easy way of creating them. The trick is finding it!

Yes, but Victorian builders didn't have electric power tools on site! Stopped chamfers are a design detail that made more sense in a hand tool world than in a power tool one.

I expect the originals would have been made with a drawknife. In the right hands it is a tool which can remove quite thick chunks, or take a delicate, finishing shaving. Just as quick as a power router.

I love to use a drawknife for rough shaping. Like you say, you can remove material very quickly. No messing about with jigs and cutters. You must be careful about the grain direction though, otherwise you will remove more than you expected!

These are all too "perfect" saying to me, there must have been a mechanical method used.
Drawknife to remove bulk, but some form of jig/plane to tidy up, repeatedly.

Bod