How To Chamfer Cabinet Door Frame?

[Leon]

Hey! You did good, Nice!

[DerbyDad03]

Thanks. Now I have to go read that thread about sharpening chisels. ;-)

Still, for 4 doors on the bookcase project, this was OK. The 25+ doors, drawers, panels, etc. for the rest of the kitchen is going to be pretty time consuming. I may rethink the chamfer/vertical profile design and buy the bit set that produces the full chamfer and the matching cope.

[DerbyDad03]

Thanks.

[bnwelch]

Looks good...did you consider using a router after the glue up and using a sharp chisel to finish the inside corner? With a simple chamfer it seems do-able. A more complicated profile might not be as simple... In any case, as have said others, ya dunn gud!

[Leon]

Well if you think doing 25 more doors might be tedious...Chisels are no better. ;~)

[-MIKE-]

His original post about this had a link pointing to how to do just that. I think it would be faster. Doing a perfect chisel cut on one is difficult. Doing it on 25 will be easy because by the 3rd one he will have developed a good technique and he'll fly through the rest with perfect results.

Reminds me of the experiment a ceramics professor did at the school where I used to work. He split the class into two groups. He told each class they had the entire quarter to finish the project. Group A's assignment was to produce one perfect ceramic pot. Group B's assignment was to produce 100 pots, irrespective of quality.

At the end of the quarter, Group A had produced a decent ceramic pot with some minor flaws, struggling to meet the deadline.

About 2 months into the quarter, Group B had produced a few ceramic pots of poor quality, a few more of decent quality, about a dozen of the quality of Groups A's single ceramic pot, and about 80 absolutely perfect ceramic pots.

[-MIKE-]

I'm digging mine!! You can get it for cheaper, here. jbtoolsales.com

[Leon]

LOL, Probably right. But for me, I would have it all figured on number

1. I would keep experimenting for the perfect way.

I responded above before reading the ceramics experiment. I wonder if the 80 perfect ones were the last to be produced or closer to he first. LOL

[DerbyDad03]

I'm the rookie here, so tell me what I am missing.

The link in my OP shows a guy squaring up a chamfer on an open frame. I'm working on a door with a panel. I'm not seeing how the profile I want can be created after the door is assembled. Neither of chamfer bits I have would work.

Perhaps building a pattern would work, but even with the four doors on this project, there are 2 different sizes. Once I start on the kitchen doors, there are at least 10 different sizes.

The thing is that with real wood if you screw it up, you're screwed. With filler, you can keep filling it until you get it right. Now, I'm not saying that I had to refill any of the 16 corners that I just did, I'm just saying that there's a fix available should one need one. ;-)

[-MIKE-]

There's a really cheap 45degree bearing bit out there that doesn't have a bearing at all. It just had a round shaft that protrudes up. The shaft acts as the bearing surface for the bit to ride on. The shaft might be short enough for your application. If it wasn't, you could probably grind it down so it would be.

[dadiOH]

Two ways that used to be accomplished:

1. Once upon a time, long, long ago there were very few carbide bits. There were also very few bits with bearings; however, there were LOTS of bits with pilots, the pilot being an extension at the bottom, maybe 1/8" in diameter and 1/4" long. In cases like yours, the pilot was shortened to as little as 1/16. In fact, I still have one.
2. People have been known to dry fit the rails and stiles - sans panel - then rout.

[DerbyDad03]

I doubt these are cheap, but I get the idea. Thanks.

[-MIKE-]

25 bucks for the chamfer version ain't bad, especially considering the quality of that company.

[DerbyDad03]

$30 with 10 day shipping, but you are right. I hadn't looked up the price before I posted. I was surprised it was that cheap. It might be worth giving it a try when I'm ready to do the rest of the kitchen, but that's going to be a while.

[-MIKE-]

Check your local big box stores. I've seen them for like 12 bucks. Maybe less.

[Leon]

Keep n mind that these fixed pilot bearing bits generate much more fiction and heat. Don't stop or move slow or you get burning. Probably not an issue if painting.

[Sonny]

As best I understand, your doors are already built, right? And you want t o chamfer the inside panel frame edges, right? You need, or looking for, a non-bearing bit whose profile is 45°, right?

Also, if so, I suppose you are using a hand held router, aligning auxiliary fence(s) for guidance.

I can mail you this one. You'd need to SLOW grind the profile, a little, to make it 45°. When grinding, make sure its ground equally, so that the bit is balanced. When done, mail it back to me. Is my initial assu mptions (as to presently assembled doors) correct... if so, is this bit an option for you? The bit is 1/2" shaft.

Couple of pics, scroll right:

I might have another bit that I could give you, though it'd require more gr inding, than the pictured one. I'll have to look further for another one.

Sonny

[Sonny]

This profile seems about 30°..... I didn't try to measure it. This p rofile might be good enough, as is, no grinding.

Sonny

[-MIKE-]

I was thinking about this and I don't think it would take very long to set up a pattern for *all* doors.

The offset for each door would be the same, and the distance to stop/turn the router at the corners is the same for each door. The only thing that changes is the length and width of each door, but you don't really need to worry about that if you set op a corner jig.

A corner jig could be attached to a work table. The jig would have guide fences for the door that are attached to the work table. Straight router guide rails would attach on top of the door fences, and be set at a distance equal to the offset of your router base, starting from the inside edges of the rails/stiles.

Now just set a door corner in the guide jig, run the router through that corner, stopping a little more than half way down/across the top and side. Then rotate the door 90degrees in the jig and repeat 3x per door. Quick release cam hold-downs screwed to the jig would facilitate efficient clamping.

I drew up a quick illustration.

[DerbyDad03]

Hey, thanks for doing that work. That's an interesting idea. I'll keep it in mind when that project starts (again).