# Any idea how to cut recess



## warrenbatt (Jun 3, 2009)

Chaps, I am been asked to make a reproduction of the table shown here and I am at a bit of a loss on how to cut the recess shown on the rails. I know there is a simple method of doing it but have got a complete brain freeze on the topic.

Could someone put me out of my misery please?

Thanks


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

a 45 degree chamfer router bit (although I doubt they make one that big) and a bearing? or fence. I have a shaper but that is big enough. Hang on for dear life and make sure you have a lead line on the start and finish (means the piece is longer then you need). probably multiple passes as well.


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## warrenbatt (Jun 3, 2009)

I have a spindle moulder so any tooling that could cut it is an option, its the arc that has me thrown really. I hate pushing a piece of wood onto the moulder, no matter how many times I do it with every safety precaution I can come up it is scares the bejezus out of me!


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## BroDave (Dec 16, 2007)

*"a router with a large core box bit."*

This, but I would cut both side pieces at the same time while they were still one piece of wood,
Then cut it in half.


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## donbee (Feb 7, 2009)

Spindle moulders (shapers) scare me, too!

d


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

the shaper is about the only tool that still makes my heart pound but thats why you need a long lead and a long tail. By placing a pin (most shapers have several threaded holes in the bed to screw in pins) so that you use the pin as a place to carefully and slowly put the piece to shaping bit with bearing.


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## DanLyke (Feb 8, 2007)

I'm with BroDave. I'd do it on my router table, big ol' bullnose or core box type bit, with stops on the fence to limit it to the leg length. In fact, I think I'd leave room on either end, and cut that down to the leg width plus the length of the recess cut later, because I have to be less accurate about the length of the recess cut then. But I think that's a matter of which cut you think you can make more accurately.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

this looks like ~4" legs? judging from what I haven't seen any router bit that size (core box bit would have to have a 4" diameter to accomodate for the ~2" cove cut.

the only ways I know of to make such a molding cut is either a shaper, or a TS, but because of the stopped cuts I would have to say it was done with a shaper as I wouldn't take my chances with the TS setup for stopped cuts.


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## uffitze (Apr 23, 2010)

Seems to me the easiest way would be on a bandsaw and then clean it up with hand tools or a spindle sander.

(Probably would want a sled to hold the workpiece at 45 degrees.)


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## DanLyke (Feb 8, 2007)

If those are 4" legs, then the recess is only like 1" or 1½" radius. I'm sure Whiteside sells a bit that'll do that.

If you can't get a router or shaper bit that size, how about building a jig to cut that with a small blade in something like an angle grinder? My first thought was the way you do a cove cut with a diagonal pass across a table saw or with a circular saw, but that wouldn't get the end shape right. However, someone's got to make a blade that'd do the right thing that'd fit in a 4" angle grinder.


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

I stand corrected Dan. the bit should be ~2" in diameter, so that makes it a bit more reasonable to find


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## manumurf (Mar 4, 2010)

I have in the past done larger coves on the tablesaw by carefully guiding the workpiece across the face of the sawblade and then raising it up a bit at a time to increase the depth of the cove. The final product needs scraping and sanding to get the lines out but it works. The only hard part on that application would be the gradual start and stop of the shape.

Maybe you could get a Cove raised panel bit from mcls or other manufacturer, with a bearing or rub collar that would do the trick and not cost an arm and leg.


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## DanLyke (Feb 8, 2007)

Still be a scary bit to wield, it'd take me a bunch of passes to cut the cove that deep…

Looks like Whiteside's #1417 is a 1" radius core box bit. I'm looking for something with less of a circular profile, but Whiteside's "classic round bottom" link isn't giving me anything, and I'm reminded of why I had a paper catalog: their website sucks.

Amana has a H45948-CNC, but they have a warning about using it in CNC machines only. I'd risk it, but only if the piece was well restrained and I was taking off very small bits at a time (and, yes, my garage door does have a dent in it where I got bit rotation wrong once and saw high speed kickback in action. I keep meaning to do that again with video running as a cautionary tale…). In a router table with stops on the fence, and a stop outside of the fence, I think this'd could be a safe cut even with a bit that large.

I was hoping for something like the Amana bowl and tray bits in a wider diameter, but don't see one.


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## manumurf (Mar 4, 2010)

Here's a shaper cutter that might work.


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## Eli (Mar 3, 2010)

Carve it!


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## BroDave (Dec 16, 2007)

Folks, it isn't a 45* cut. It is hollowed, like a core box bit, shaper or table saw would produce.

I really don't think that you could reproduce that on a table saw( too small of a radius) so the OP is left with core box or a shaper


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

A few swipes with a plane ?


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## MisterCat (May 25, 2010)

When I look at the middle part, I see a table saw cut, but at the corners it looks like a 4" diameter drum sander, with the piece held at an angle. You might have to hand fair the ends to make the transitions look right.

Good luck!


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## Pete_Jud (Feb 15, 2008)

a pattern made out of 1/4 ply or hard board then a flush trim or a pattern bit. On the router table.


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## warrenbatt (Jun 3, 2009)

the biggest core box bit I can find is a 2 inch diameter and you just don't see how that will be big enough. I would carve it but as I have to do one on each end of each rail, doing 8 and getting them in some proximity to identical is going to take so long I really don't think I could make money on the job! The problem, just to clarify is the gentle/semi circular part at each end, not the recess itself which is basic.

I'm going to buy a 2'' core bit and see how it looks but I really think it is bigger than that. we will see. Thanks you all for your ideas, I really appreciate them and please keep them coming


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## PurpLev (May 30, 2008)

FYI, if you do carve them - they don't all have to be similar - only each pair on each part as they are seen from the same angle. other than that - close enough would be good enough in my opinion as those will never be seen from the same angle, at any given moment to be able to compare and notice any differences.


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## uffitze (Apr 23, 2010)

This seems fairly straightforward to me, but maybe I'm missing something, and yes, on my first post I missed the fact that there was a cove in there.

Anyway …


cut recess on a band saw with sled to hold work piece at 45 degrees.
clean up to layout line on a spindle sander.
cut cove on straight portion on a table saw with a sled to hold the work piece.
cut the cove on the curved end portion using hand tools … a bench gouge being a likely candidate.
clean everything up.


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## DanLyke (Feb 8, 2007)

So it also occurs to me: You could combine the core box bit with a first pass with a flat bit to get the effect of a box bit if you need to cheat an extra half inch or inch out of that core box bit. It'd take a bit of care with the stops on your router table, but in a pinch…


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## Gregn (Mar 26, 2010)

Plow out the basic shape with a straight cutting bit to remove the majority of the waste and then use the 2" Box Core bit to finish the cut. Would be my suggestion on how to achieve this cut. Hard to tell with just the one picture to look at.


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## m88k (Apr 26, 2010)

The way I picture it, any shaper bit that will make the rail will make the endcap, it just has to be stopped before reaching the end….

I'm a lunatic, but here's how I'd approach it with the basically one tool I have:

Make repeated passes with a plunge-cut circular saw, starting from the outside at full depth, and reducing the depth of each pass to a calculated degree. The same could be achieved on an RAS or possibly a SCMS if you want to make me look sane.

This will leave you with a decent representation of the above pic, but with lots of tiny ridges. You'd need to follow up with a spokeshave or the like. It's hard to imagine successfully jamming any power tool not meant to make that curve in there.

Also, from what I can tell, there are only rails on two sides of the table; the one facing us and it's partner on the other side. It looks like the edge going back is flat.

Alternatively, doesn't walnut play nice with steam bending? Not that I've ever steam-bent a compound curve.

Finally, you're all talking about the size of the roundover, but we have no idea what the scale is! Is this a coffee table Warren? What are the approximate dimensions? I mean, I guessed that those legs were about six inches across, with a total table height between 12 and 18, but it could be any size at all as of now….


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