How would you make splines without a tablesaw?

Do you have a hand saw?

-- "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence Wake Up America!! Please read; http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/26-0

What do you have for tools?
A good hand saw would work.

chisel and hammer?

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Router!

-- Folly ever comes cloaked in opportunity!

I have made them or my router table.Build a jig just like the one for a table saw and slide it along the fence.A solid carbide spiral cut bit worked better for me than a straight bit.

-- " I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter" gfadvm

Jig saw if you have one.

spline cutter with router. What are you splining? short end grain, panels ?

Grooves for spline, a plow (plough) plane or combination plane set up for plowing. Works cross grain too but you must be very attentive to issues of sharpness and take shallow cuts. Backup the exit with a scrap block.

If you are going to cut the groove on a mitered piece with a plow plane, make an axillary fence to hold the plane at right angles to the surface being plowed.

To make the splines you can simply resaw a bit heavy and plane them down or plan to use plywood.

Plow planes such as the Record 044C originally came with both imperial and metric width blades. These same blades would fit a Stanley #45 or #55. And the straight blades can still be purchased new from Stanley (sharpening required of course).

Another alternative, especially if you expect to cut lots of long grain grooves would be either a Stanley #48 or #49 or modern reproductions from Lie-Nielsen. Or 1/2 of a wooden match plane set.

If you are talking about splining across a miter, these can be cut with a dovetail saw and chiseled free. Make yourself a gauge block to clamp across the joint to help you saw straight. Sharpen up the chisels too.

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I just watched a video where they made splines with a biscuit cutter

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It looks like your main machines are a scroll saw and a disk sander… anything else?

You could cut strips on your scroll saw… or with a hand saw… then sand them smooth…

Use the splines as a pattern to mark the corner of a box (to be splined)... make one cut (one side of a spline), place spline up to the cut and mark for second cut… make the cut, then clean out with a chisel…

This is assuming you’re going to put them (splines) into the corners of a box…

... am just shooting in the dark…

What do you want to do? What do you have to work with?

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If you have a slot cutting bit for the router, you could use it… by changing the ht., cut two parallel cuts the thickness of the splines you want… cut’em out with a hand saw… sand’em… use’em…

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

yea sorry about lack of info. it is for a box on mitred corners. I have lots of tools- bandsaw, router, chisels, several types of handsaws, power saws etc. dont have a biscuit cutter or table saw.

Any particular way to hold the box while trying to cut straight ?
Also I am assuming you glue the box up before adding the splines? ?

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I jig on the band saw, then knocking the waste out with a chisel should be easy for you.

-- "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence Wake Up America!! Please read; http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/01/26-0

To make a jig for doing it on the router, simply cut one end of a board at a 45 degree angle. This will be a guide that you can lean the box against as you run it over a straight router bit on your router table. Start with the bit just barely above the table surface for a shallow cut. Adjust the fence to where you want it, then run the box through, steadying the box with one hand, holding it square against the fence, while sort of using the triangle as a push stick with the other. Just rotate the box and make four passes, one on each corner, then adjust the bit higher and repeat until you get it the desired depth. Does this make any sense? It works, but I’m probably not describing it well enough. It’s easy enough to do, then if you want two or three splines per corner, just readjust the fence and do it all again. Anyway, the thicker the triangle pushstick, the better, because it’s easier to keep it straight that way.

-- Dale Manning, Carthage, NY

OK…

Yes, you glue the box up… apply glue to the miters in 2-3 coats letting the glue soak in after each coat.
Look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m4jEiekLKY

If your band saw is large enough, I’d make a small sled that would hold your box at 45* to cut the spline cuts into box corners… Cut several slits to make the spline cuts… touch-up with small files, chisels, etc.

EDIT: Yes, after reading DaleM’s comment, I agree… a small sled for the router table would work better!

I think I’d cut the box first THEN, cut & sand the splines to fit the box…

I think I would use the band saw for the splines… cutting a little oversized… & sand down to desired size.

I know you can do it!

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"