Routing Mitered frames

It would help to know what you’re making. There is often more than one “right” way.

Generally, I would glue, then clean up, then finish.

What sort of routing operation are you talking about?

-- Jerry, making sawdust professionally since 1976

Run your inside & outside routing when the stock is still full length. When mitered it will fold around perfectly.

M

-- Madmark - Madmark2150@yahoo.com Wiretreefarm.com

Six of one and a half-dozen of the other.

-- I dream of a world where a duck can cross the road and no one asks why.

Depending on the profile, you may find that it’s much harder to clamp if you route first.

-- Gerry, http://www.thecncwoodworker.com/index.html http://www.jointcam.com

Easier to rout straight sticks of wood than a box shape. If you get a burned spot or chatter after you’ve made the frame you’ll kick yourself.

mill, route, sand, miter, quick finish coat, glue, finish

“Size” (apply a coat of glue to the end grain to make a better bond) the end grain if you have the time.

:)

I rout the inside edge first (on full lengths),
miter,
assemble,
any touch up sanding on the corners,
then rout the outside edge last.

Wow! what a responsive bunch of people, As a new comer to Lumberjocks, I am truly impressed. Thanks for all the advice. This project is a music box Mounted on a mitered base frame 7×20 x 7/8. The frames are 2 1/2” wide. The material is rosewood. (Pau Ferro). The lid is also a frame slightly smaller but 1 1/2” wide, capped with a solid top panel 4×18 x 7/8. All outside edges are to be routed with a Freud 99-450 2 1/2” Diameter Table edge router bit. This bit will remove a good portion of the Edge over a 1” wide profile. I can’t say that I have ever routed anything this aggressive before, and the cost of the material leaves very little room for error. Appreciate any advice available. Thanks

Safer, IMHO, to rout that table edge profile before glue-up. If you put the frame together first, you run the risk of “blow-out” at the corners.

-- Jerry, making sawdust professionally since 1976

Safer, IMHO, to rout that table edge profile before glue-up. If you put the frame together first, you run the risk of “blow-out” at the corners.

- jerryminer

I’m sure wood species makes a Big difference.
Router table with a back up board pretty much eliminates blowout.
I’ve done it freehand with no backer board on Alder with 0 blowout.
Sharp tools also help.

IDK, maybe experience helps. Knowing how fast to go, and how big of cuts to take.

Thanks for all the advice. All of your input has me thinking in several different directions, which is good, I think. I have decided to make two duplicate frame/sets out of Mahogany and test both methods first. This should reveal any problems I might have with my router skills and assembly procedure. I have also had to construct a new miter sled for my table saw and this should be a good test run. Will save the rosewood for last. Thanks again for all the support.

I was a picture framer for many years and we mitered nothing but finished moldings with the rabbet already cut.

When I make frames from wood stock I do the same. I cut the rabbet with either a dado head or a rabbet bit in my router mounted in a table.

-- This post is a hand-crafted natural product. Slight variations in spelling and grammar should not be viewed as flaws or defects, but rather as an integral characteristic of the creative process.

” I have decided to make two duplicate frame/sets out of Mahogany and test both methods first. This should reveal any problems I might have with my router skills and assembly procedure. ... Will save the rosewood for last ”

There you go! The best suggestion on the topic yet, and it came from you. As a fellow newbie, I find that a test joint or procedure is always best when undertaking something new or unfamiliar. Bette to ‘waste’ pine or hemlock, than rosewood.

-- Dr C