Making arches/curved railings...

[Austin Franklin]

I am interested in cutting arches, like arches over a doorway, curved railing on a deck (top rail is simply 5/4 x 6 cedar, no fancy detail), and other similar projects using straight flat stock (or multiple pieces as needed) turning into curved flat stock. I looked around the web a bit, and can't find much in the way of here's what you need to make/cut/shape an arch, and here's how to do it.

I'd like to know what tools are best/recommended for this, and one of the projects involves 2" thick mahogany, so I have to be able to accommodate that. Also, any suggestions/tips on how to get the smoothest/most accurate arches would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[George M. Kazaka]

Each project brings on a totally differant set of circumstance and differant methods of procedure. Do you have some plans, or sketchs that you can e-mail to me and I could then give you some guidence

[Austin Franklin]

Hi George,

All I want to start with is making a flat board, say 5/4 cedar x whatever, into an arch, say, 3' wide with a cord of 4". For tools, cutting the arch, I am guessing a bandsaw would be best, and for smoothing the arch, I am guessing a shaper (or a router table with a straight bit). Any other suggestions are welcome.

Thanks.

[Wilson Lamb]

Routing against a pattern gives the best cut and the pattern is reusable. There are router bits up to 2" long, so you can cut something quite thick by going from both sides.

[Austin Franklin]

Dawn breaks over marble head! I couldn't figure out how the pattern would help...but...if my router bit has a bearing on it, I can ride the bearing on the pattern! Duh! That would work great! I'm not sure a shaper would be able to do the inside arc...so my router table (which I do have a 2 1/4 hp router) without the fence etc. would work perfectly!

Would I be best using the largest straight bearing bit I can get?

I still believe I need a bandsaw, instead of trying to cut 30 pieces of mahogany on two sides with my jig saw...that would get tiring... Any suggestions on bandsaws would be appreciated!

Regards,

Austin

[Mark Jerde]

Tom Plamann has done a LOT of really nice curved work. I recommend you browse his site if you haven't. There are quite a few tips & tricks all over the site.

-- Mark

[Bay Area Dave]

on BS's: the new Powermatic 14" is GREAT! It's got a work light, high table like the Delta's, compressed air for blowing the cut line clean (runs when the motor is running), and great workmanship. Runs smoothly like a sewing machine. Just got mine last week after given up the shaking Delta 28-299A. To be fair, the newer Delta, the X-5 seems much smoother than the 299-A, but not quite as nice as the the new Powermatic. Carter guides, quick tension release lever. It ended up being a bit cheaper than the Delta also, as it comes with a nice fence. Miter gauge is included too. Just used mine a few minutes ago to make some precise cuts (notches). The don't look rough like a typical BS cut because the thing runs so darn smoothly. and that's with the included blade!

dave

Aust>>Routing against a pattern gives the best cut and the pattern is reusable.

[solarman]

He his the master of twist! Awesome work!

[Bay Area Dave]

I forgot 2 other details: there is a brush riding against the lower wheel to help remove sawdust, and there is a 4" port in the cast iron lower housing, just below the table. The port actually captures most of the sawdust; it's much more efficient than the pre X-5 Delta's. I've seen the X-5 run, but it wasn't hooked up to a DC so I don't know if their newer port design is any better than previous models.

dave

Bay Area Dave wrote: snip