Curved Doors; Raised panel & Six light glass #5: Finishing up the rails

In part three of this blog I milled out the pieces for the rails and got them glued up to width. Now after they have had plenty time in the clamps we’ll get started cleaning them up. get the glue all scrapped off and ready to sand. I make sanding blocks to the correct radius for the inside and outside of the rails and use 80 grit sticky back snad paper and stick it to the blocks. Below is picture of some finished rails with the sanding blocks that were used to clean them up. I use 80 grit first and then 120 grit and final sand after the doors have been assembled.

After the sanding is done its time to run the profile on the rails. I didn’t get any pictures of this, sorry. I don’t make any special jigs fot this. I just run them on the shaper free hand against the fence keeping the radius centered on the spindle. Our shaper has bars on the fence that swing around and lock into the other fence over the the cutter head, making a full fence across the spindle. If you don’t have that on your shaper clamp a wood fence across the two and make the center of the spindle on the wood fence and it will work the same way. If you are a novice I wood not suggest you do it this way, you should make radius fences to help hold the work in place, this will make it more stable.
After the profile has been run its time to run the 1/4 slot for the panels. I do this on the router table with a 1/4 straight cutter. I make a fence to match the inside radius of the rails and set it up to match the styles. Pictured below.

This next picture is showing how I ran the rabbit on the rails for the glass doors, its done much the same way as the paneled rails are done.

Ok, lets get them cut to length. I make a cradle to hold the rails at the right angle and clamp it in the tray on the table saw. I cut one side of all my rails first, making sure the angle is just right. I take either two rails or a rail and a style hold them together on a full size drawing and make sure the maintain the radius. Next I determine the length of the rail and place a stop block on the cradle and cut the other side of all the rails.

When all the rails have been cut I take the same cradle I just used and take two pieces and make a 90 degree piece about ten inches long ro so and cut a 45 on one end and add it to the back of the cradle to hold it at a 45 degree angle in the table saw tray. The only bad part here is you need two cradles exactly a like. One right and one Left to cut the jack miters on both ends of the rails.

If anyone would like more or better pictures of any of the jigs used here, just let me know and I’ll get some taken of them for you. And if you have any questions please ask. I know I haven’t been really very thorough here on some things. But I’ll do my best to answer any questions that you have. I’d much rather be showing you in person if that were possible.

Remember you can click on the pictures to see them in full view.

Next up! getting the panels together.

-- Les, Wichita, Ks. (I'd rather be covered in saw dust!)