stop chamfers - how to?

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Hello,

I have no idea how to go about creating a stop chamfer on two edges of a piece of pine timber 3.6 m long 75 mm wide and 175 mm deep.

I would like the chamfered edge to be 15 mm wide and to stop 300 mm away from each end.

Firstly, can a novice do this with a router? If so what cutter would one use?

I have 21 joists to shape like this before they are put up.

Any help would be much appreciated.
 
Rackend..... welcome aboard...

A router with a bearing guided champhering bit would be the perfect tool for this.. I figure there's at least two ways to tackle it.

If you have a router table, practice on some scrap stock until the bit height matches the amount of champher you want to cut. For the stopped cuts, scribe a pair of start / stop marks onto the infeed / outfeed fences; align the stock with the mark on the outfeed fence, start the router, carefully advance the stock onto the bit and commence feeding the stock past the cutter until the end of the joist meets the mark on the infeed fence.

Working hand held may be a little fiddlier as you'd need to clamp the joist to the bench to prevent it running away from you, but it's still fairly straight forward. Again, practice on scrap stock to guage how much of the cutter you want to expose. Even with the guide bearing, I'd want to use the parallel fence while doing this. Rather than use start / stop marks, I'd opt for start / stop blocks By setting the blocks to make a test cut in the centre of the board, you can measure how far from the ends of the joist you need to position them; the distance between the block and the start / finish of the cut giving the offset required at each end.
 
15mm is a lot better than the 20mm chamfer some were racking their brains trying to find a cutter to produce. :roll: :lol: :D
 
Dewy":11xfzliv said:
15mm is a lot better than the 20mm chamfer some were racking their brains trying to find a cutter to produce. :roll: :lol: :D
The versatile router shackling everyone's thinking again. :roll: A drawknife and/or spokeshave wouldn't have any trouble regardless of size...

Edit: Sorry, rackend, I neglected to say Welcome to the forum. :roll:
 
Hello Rackend and welcome,

Seeing as they're fairly hefty joists, I'd recommend the best way to chamfer them is a hand held router with a chamfering bit such as http://www.trendmachinery.co.uk/profinder/display.asp?PartNo=46/38X1/2TC

If they're rough sawn, I'd recommend you use the router fence to guide the cutter rather than the bearing guide on the cutter itsself. This'll give a smoother chamfer. Definitely a case of bringing the tool to the job and not the job to the tool as with a router table unless you've got the roller stands and the whole caboosh.

Just mark both ends where the chamfer stops. To start the chamfer, put the front edge of the fence against the joist and swing the router bit into the timber just ahead of your mark. Afterward, just pare the stopped ends back to 45 deg with a chisel to give a nice finish.

The larger chamfering bits are pricier but if you are in the trade, I've found its a very handy cutter to have and is worth having in the long run.

Ike
 
Oh, and another tip is to mark the work piece where you want the router base to stop, rather than where you want the cutter to stop, as this is far more visible.

I definitely agree with Ike, use the fence rather than the bearing since you have the space at the ends of the work and the edge is straight. Bearings are easily upset by tiny lumps on the guide face transfering those lumps into the chamfer like a template, whereas the fence smoothes it all out nicely.

Enjoy

Martyn
 
Rackend,

I mean't to add:- there are some cheaper cutters available e.g. http://www.axminster.co.uk/default.asp?part=P306021. The P306441 might well be big enough.

These sizes of cutter don't need a big power router. A smaller 1'4" shank router will be easier to use and quite up to the job. Unfortunately a bearing-guided cutter large enough for a 15mm chamfer will probably have a 1/2" shank meaning you'll have no choice but to use a bigger router. The 1/4" shank chamfer bits normally cut a max. 12mm chamfer.

I recommend you get a bearing-guided cutter from the start. Then you also have the means to chamfer curved edges. Don't get a pin-guided bit (they have a solid pin on the end instead of the ball bearing). Pin-guided bits will very easily burn a line along the timber due to the high speed friction involved. Pin-guided cutters are more useful when following a template for shaping the edge.

Ike
 
Pin-guided cutters are more useful when following a template for shaping the edge.
Err, don't know why I said that (they can burn though).....taxi!
:oops:
Ike
 
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