how do I cut this detail with a router?

[tobyriches]

Hi all,

Am new to this forum, but have been presented with I problem that I hope one of you can probably answer quickly. I am making a kitchen island for a client and they would like four posts 100 x 150 x 860 to support a 900 x 1500 x 30 oak worktop. They would like the posts to have the same edge detail as the newel posts in the picture attached.

The detail is 10mm at its deepest, 45 degrees in angle and tapers out in a smooth curve to the edge. I have a small detail router Bosch GFK600 pro which has an attachment which allows the router to be used at 45 degrees which might help make the cut.

Any help or advice is much appreciated.

Thanks,

Toby.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

To be honest, I'd cut that with a drawknife, maybe finishing with a spokeshave. It'd take about two minutes each, if that.

 

[flh801978]

I would do it with a 45 degree bearing guided cutter . make 2 tapered pieces that you clamp to where the router runs off and out of the cut..glue those tapered bits to a length of ply and you could quickly clamp that guide rail to each side and do it in nearly one cut

Ian

 

[Peter Gee]

non vale la pena...

 

[mickthetree]

if the angle of the taper at the end is also 45 degrees you could just use a stop on a fence (assuming you are using a router table) and work up to that using a 45 degree bearing guided router bit. I made all of our stair spindles this way and they look great.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

So, 16 of those bevels, in oak, would be quicker cut with spokeshave than with a router?
+1 for previous post.

 

[Graham Orm]

http://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_45_degree_Chamfer_83.html Simples

 

[Peter Gee]

non vale la pena...

 

[Graham Orm]

Don't ya just love forums :roll: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Roughcut]

I would use a 45 degree bearing guided cutter set to the correct depth and either use pencil marks to gauge the correct length or clamp a stop block on either end.

 

[RogerBoyle]

So, 16 of those bevels, in oak, would be quicker cut with spokeshave than with a router?

By the time you have worked out how to make a jig, made it and set it up to cut your oak leg; yes. Probably about a week quicker. The one thing that takes time for amateurs is to actually learn how to sharpen a blade properly. But if you can't do that, what are you learning to do? Make things out of wood? or collecting expensive tools you don't know how to use?

PMSL
It doesn't need a jig just a couple of pencil marks one at the start and one at the end of the cut
And if you really want to make a jig its as simple as using 2 stop blocks one clamped at the top and one at the bottom and running the router between them

More importantly I would doubt the ability of anyone that has had to ask how to do this simple cut to use a spoke shave and get consistent results with it

Roger

 

[mickthetree]

in fact, recalling making my stair spindles I used pencil marks and not stop blocks as the others have suggested.

Actually my spindles are square with a chamfer like the pic, there for not turned. Do non turned spindles still count as spindles as there is no spin in them? Or are they just dles?

 

[ColeyS1]

You might need a jig if you want to match the exact curve. Just using a 45 degree router cutter will probably end up with to sharp radius. When I say jig, all it is is a piece of square timber with s radius cut on it. All that's needed is to then clamp it on where it starts and stops.
Usually do all stop champfers on the spindle which as you can guess has a large radius (5 " or more) needing to match newel posts, some 3 + metres long its obviously easier to bring the router to the newel. I'll take a pic tomorrow as im crap at trying to explain things :lol:

 

[custard]

You could take the lion's share of the waste out with a bottom cutting or straight router bit (depending on the geometry of the router attachment you mentioned) and finish the ends with a chisel.

 

[rileytoolworks]

I'm with Coley on this one.
To match the curve you'd need a run in/run out jig and 45 degree cutter.
30 mins to make the jig, 5 mins to set the router, 10 mins for each leg. Done.

Although a drawknife is WAY more romantic :wink:

All the best.

Adam.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Nothing to do with romance. Having cut chamfers on things by drawknife, I know how quick it is. The only thing to watch out for is grain direction; take that into account (couple of shallow trial cuts will soon tell you), and you can whip the waste out very quickly. With a little practice and a sharp drawknife, you can get a pretty good finish, too. That end detail would be a doddle, too - invert the knife and use it bevel-down.

This is one instance when handtools quite genuinely are quicker than any machine method.

Two minutes each chamfer. Tops.

 

[RogerM]

if the angle of the taper at the end is also 45 degrees you could just use a stop on a fence (assuming you are using a router table) and work up to that using a 45 degree bearing guided router bit. I made all of our stair spindles this way and they look great.

+1

I'm doing stopped chamfers on a large set of shaker doors on the router table.

1. Set the size of the chamfer using a piece of scrap.
2. Once you are happy with the width/depth of chamfer, clamp a stop to the router table fence.
3. Run a new piece of scrap along the fence until it hits the stop.
4. mark on your piece of scrap the precise end of the chamfer.
5. Place the piece of scrap back on the router table with the end against the stop and transfer the end of chamfer mark on your scrap on to the router table fence.
6. remove the stop from the router table.
7. Mark where you want the chamfer to stop on your timber and then run it along the fence until the mark on the timber aligns with the mark on the fence. The chamfer will stop precisely on your marked line every time. Simples.

OR

If the pieces to be chamfered are shorter than the distance between the cutter and the end of the fence, just add a stop to the fence and run the workpiece along the fence to the stop.

OR

If the workpiece is longer than the router table fence, add a sacrificial long fence to the table with a stop in the required position.

I've used all 3 of these methods for various sized pieces. All are simple. All work, and all give repeatable and quick results.

HTH

 

[Phil Pascoe]

So, 16 of those bevels, in oak, would be quicker cut with spokeshave than with a router?

By the time you have worked out how to make a jig, made it and set it up to cut your oak leg; yes. Probably about a week quicker. The one thing that takes time for amateurs is to actually learn how to sharpen a blade properly. But if you can't do that, what are you learning to do? Make things out of wood? or collecting expensive tools you don't know how to use?

Even if there where a need for a jig (which I doubt, if the marking out was done properly) I wouldn't have thought the whole job would take more than a couple of hours.
So, it would take you a week and two hours with a spokeshave?

 

[ColeyS1]

This was only a quick effort- it was the bits of wood I used for some earlier newels. You can alter the angle of the curve to match existing

The bottom champfer is what might happen if you just use the bearing with no jig/bit of wood clamped on. For Speed and consistency this wins hands down

 

[ColeyS1]

I'm with Coley on this one.
To match the curve you'd need a run in/run out jig and 45 degree cutter.
30 mins to make the jig, 5 mins to set the router, 10 mins for each leg. Done.

Although a drawknife is WAY more romantic :wink:

All the best.

Adam.

Just spotted this, yeah....what he said :lol: