Stopped Chamfers

Today I gave up using a router to cut stopped chamfers for balusters. In addition to tearout and blowout, you also get burning. Since I had

112 of them to do, and I really didn't feel like banging my head against that wall for the next 8 hours, I made a jig for the end of the edge sander. It's basically the same set-up as with a router table, only I had to make it angled at 45 degrees. It worked flawlessly, and I even like the aesthetic of a larger radius better. The longer tapering out of the chamfer is much more elegant. It's just a better method in every way, IMO. After you make the chamfer, you're done. It's already sanded! Today was the kind of day that makes me really love my job.

A question that keeps rattling around in my head though, is "why weren't we already doing it this way?"

JP

Reply to
Jay Pique
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Pictures/abpw, please?

Reply to
Swingman

Very cool. Sounds like a good idea. Perhaps you could post pictures of your jig, and the results, over at abpw?

Good question.

Reply to
Doug Miller

The old adage "When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail" probably holds true for a router as well. Art

Reply to
WoodButcher

It'd work with a spindle sander too, or even a sanding drum on a drill press I'd presume. You might could jig up a belt sander too.

I've never been able to access abpw, let alone send photos there. Could someone give me a quick tutorial? I'm accessing usenet through google right now, although I've used freeagent and some free feed in the past.

JP

Reply to
Jay Pique

Because we don't have edge sanders?

-Leuf

Reply to
Leuf

Well, that's why you can't get there right now -- Google doesn't archive the binaries groups.

And that's what you'll need to do again. Once you get a real news client configured, you get to abpw the same way you get to any other group.

Reply to
Doug Miller

Jay Pique wrote in news:1189546381.109828.79890 @v23g2000prn.googlegroups.com:

Because we didn't have an edge sander?

Patriarch

Reply to
Patriarch

Jay Pique wrote in news:1189546381.109828.79890 @v23g2000prn.googlegroups.com:

*snip*

It's simply that you didn't realize there was a problem with the previous way. Necessity is the mother of invention, you know. Dissatisfaction is the father.

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

JP, If you are OK with it, I volunteer to have you email me the photos and I'll post them on ABPWW.

ROY!

Reply to
ROY!

What's a valid email address to which I can send them? JP

Reply to
Jay Pique

I've got the pics on my computer now, and I'll send them to anyone who'd like them. Maybe this weekend I'll get set up with a real newsreader so I can post them to the binaries group. Now that I think of it though, my last free feed didn't maintain any binaries groups. (It was the (some) german server, I think.)

IAE, I did some experimenting with different woods today and wanted to follow up. The biggest frustration I had with using a router was chip- out at the very beginning of the cut. I was initially using reclaimed douglas fir, which can be brutal for splintering. I was able to eliminate the tear-out itself by climb-cutting, but the little chips at the initial plunge were going to be a big issue, I could tell from just a couple test cuts. I'm not sure if this problem could be eliminated by using a new or newly sharpened chamfer bit or not. My guess is that it would help, but not totally eliminate the issue. So I built a sanding jig.

This jig solved the tear-out/chip out issue entirely. I had zero instances of either. As for burning though, I did have some very slight darkening at either the beginning or the end of the cut on a few occasions. It was so slight though, that I didn't even bother to try and remove it; it was just a slight browning of the darker (harder) growth ring. And once I got the hang of getting the piece in and moving smoothly, I didn't have any trouble at all. If you let the wood sit in one spot, it *will* burn. I would lick my fingertips to get a good grip on the wood, until I was devoid of saliva. Then I put on some rubber gloves. Much better, the latter.

As you'll notice from the pictures, the chamfer I was making was quite small - roughly 1/4" across the flat. And this in a relatively soft wood. Today I ran some cherry, oak and maple and the results were somewhat less heartening. I was able to make clean passes the majority of the time, but there were enough instances of burning to make me really not want to do it in one pass. What I ended up doing was taking the bulk of it in the first pass, then bumping the jig forward a smidgen and cleaning it up with a second run through. Technique was vital, even on the second pass. Cleaning the belt with crepe helped. An oscillating edge sander might help even more.

At the end of the day, using a sander for chamfers isn't a panacea, but it's definitely a very nice trick to have in my quiver.

JP

Email me at mwskaneateles at adelphia dot net if you'd like the pics. I don't ever check the jaypique addy anymore.

Reply to
Jay Pique

Don't think it your 'newsreader' so much as it is your news server.

FYI, teranews

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offers a free account whose service includes at least some of the binary groups. ABPW is one of those included. There are probably many other "free" news services, but that's the only one I'm familiar with. I think there may be a nominal one time fee for setting up the account, but there are no additional costs. There is a daily limit on the number of bytes that can be downloaded, but unless you are heavily into binary downloads, that shouldn't cause a problem.

Somebody can probably come up with a zillion reasons not to use that service, but I never had a problem with it. I began using it when my ISP's news server started throwing random "authentication errors" that the ISP doesn't seem to want to do anything about. Every time I called Tech Support about it, I had a hard time finding anyone who would even admit to knowing what a "news server" was.

Tom Veatch Wichita, KS USA

Reply to
Tom Veatch

the*pile*of*junk*@aol.com

Remove the *s ROY!

Reply to
ROY!

Reply to
Jerome Meekings

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