miter lock router bits

One of my (not immediate) future projects is a couple of sofa tables. Each will be about 9' long, 16" wide. I plan on using black granite tile for the top supported by ply. The tile will be surrounded by a 3/4" mahogany frame approximately 3" wide. The aprons will also be 3/4" x 3"+- mahogany. I want something resembling a parson's table. Now the problem:...

I would like for the meeting edges of apron and frame to be mitered. I could use a 3/4 x 3/4 glue block on the inside of one or the other to keep them aligned while gluing but I'm thinking that getting that perfectly aligned to the mahogany could be problematic. Especially given the length.

My next thought was to run the already mitered edges on a miter lock router bit on a router table. I have never used one but it seems to me that it too could be problematic unless both apron and frame are perfectly straight and flat over the entire length. Another potential problem is the relative delicacy of the mitered edge...it would have to be used to guide on either the table of fence, depending upon which board was being routed. (I would NOT want to accomplish the miter itself with the router, just the interlocking part of the profile...the miter would have been done on a saw).

I've never had occasion to use one of these bits and would welcome input about their use. Ditto on alternative methods of joining frame to apron.

Reply to
dadiOH
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If I am reading you correctly you want the apron to be at the immediate edge of the top and the joint that joints the apron and top will mitered joint, probably a 45 degree joint.

Done perfectly it that joint looks great. If not perfectly the joint may not be close properly. Or the sharp edges of the joint at the corner would be easily dinged before, during and or after assembly.

IF your apron was backed off from the point/edge of the top miter point edge and attached say 1/8" shy of reaching the edge of the top you could plain or sand the top Point/Edge back to the face of the apron and essentially move the miter joint down from the top edge/corner of the top.

I could show you an illustration better than I can explain it. ;~) Zoom in on the joint.

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Reply to
Leon

I think so too :)

Yeah, that was/is my concern. Not so much after - or even during - assembly but before...using that sharp, delicate edge to guide on the surface of the router table surface or fence while cutting the locking profile.

Yeah, I've considered that, might wind up doing it. Sure would like a non-fudged miter joint though.

Shucks, Leon, I don' need no steenkin pitcher, your words are golden :)

Reply to
dadiOH

I bought one of those bits and stopped using it for a few reasons.

  1. Everything has the be absolutely perfect for them to join correctly and they are a bit of a PITA to join and clamp. The gets exacerbated by length.
  2. I determined they are pretty much a novelty and a solution to a problem that doesn't exist, because...
  3. The are better joints and better joinery.

I'm having trouble picturing the joint your are trying to accomplish, due to ignorance and beer. :-) But perhaps a decorative spline might suit your needs.

Reply to
-MIKE-

Easy to picture...

  1. 2 boards, each 3/4 x 3 x 108
  2. miter one long edge of each
  3. join the mitered edges so the boards are at 90 degrees to each other

Beer worn off yet? :)

A spline could work; basically, that is what a lock miter bit makes. Biscuits could work too. The problem with all of them is getting everything to line up perfectly over a considerable distance, Hmm...naybe I should consider veneer :)

Reply to
dadiOH

Same idea, but only 22 1/2 degrees instead of 90:

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I used biscuits with no problem over 70".

Reply to
Swingman

That's encouraging. Thanks! How wide is the wide piece?

Reply to
dadiOH

You mean the angled face frame "stile" that joined at 22 1/2?

- door side is 2" wide; side is 6" wide.

Reply to
Swingman

All the more reason to NOT use those bits. I was making a long joint and it was a major PITA squeezing that joint together the whole length. That locking miter joint would work for short lengths of stock or end grain joints, which would really benefit from that joint. There is absolutely no room for error with that joint and it's very difficult to get the glue to squeeze out, as well, meaning all the more difficult to get a tight fit.

Yes, and the coffee has kicked in. :-D

If I were doing it from scratch, I might go total old-school, low tech (are nail guns low tech?) and just edge glue the entire thing, and work my way along with a brad nailer to keep it lined up for clamping. If you don't want to see the nails, perhaps a pin nailer would work. You might get lucky and get a tight joint without clamping if you go easy on the glue.

If you were to go the spline rout, consider gluing the spline into one side, first, letting it dry, then gluing the other piece to it. I can see how the spline would eliminate the need for 90 degree clamping jigs. The nails/pins *should* accomplish the same thing.

Reply to
-MIKE-

Yeah, that is what I would do, don't want nail holes - even teensy brad holes - in my mahogany :)

At the moment, I am leaning toward biscuits (good excuse to buy a plate joiner) and have pretty much trashed the miter lock bit idea. Thanks for your input.

Reply to
dadiOH

Yeah, Karl's joint looked great! I would ask him how he clamped it. That's the real tricky part.

Reply to
-MIKE-

I was wondering that myself, but a few images before the linked one it shows it clamped. Scroll to the left...

I'm envious of Karl's ability and craftsmanship. Like all Master Craftsmen he makes it look easy even when we know that it is not.

Luke

Reply to
luke.t

ASCII and you shall receive:

Made a jig and some angled clamping blocks, with scraps, of course:

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Took about 30 minutes, but well worth the effort. I still have the angled blocks and have used them a few times since.

Now, go watch the damn football game...

Reply to
Swingman

Ahhh yes, the shop-made cleats. Hate that guy. :-D

Reply to
-MIKE-

22 1/2° joints using biscuits.

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Reply to
MaxD

Love the cloud motif. Well done!

Reply to
Swingman

Sounds much too fiddly. Why not assemble the frame and plywood, bevel the edges of both it and the glued-together apron, and glue the whole circumference in one gluing operation. Cut the top frame oversize by a few millimeters. Lay the top on a flat surface, upside down, apply glue. Just drop the frame onto it. No clamping, just gravity. After the glue is dry, clean up any and all top overhang with a router and pattern bit, or plane.

I'd leave the tile attachment to the last, maybe after finishing the wood.

Reply to
whit3rd

You are using a plywood base, might pockets hole be an answer? Would also make for dry fitting your side pieces marking the corner joints and fitting them possible. You can also remove them after the glue dries. ;)

Mark

Reply to
Markem

Well, ;~) I have done this joint and used pocket hole screws on the back side.

Reply to
Leon

That's what I did last time.

Reply to
-MIKE-

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