On 12/13/2012 11:21 AM, Jack wrote:
On 12/12/2012 7:38 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On 12/12/12 4:18 PM, dpb wrote:

2 - What's the trick to ensure a perfectly square cope on the end
grain of the rails?

2) As said before, use stock wide enough for several rails and cut them
in one pass, then rip to width. Crosscut them square w/ the sled on the
TS first, then run them along the fence on the shaper/router table.

Well, I gotta admit that not one site I've visited, and I just went
through about 6, all from different sources, offers that advice. Every
thing I've read says to use a sled or a push block to keep the rails
square with the fence.

He didn't say not to use a push block or a miter gauge/sled. He said use
wide stock, cut it square to begin with, and rip the wide stock to size
after coping. The push block is to cut down on end chipping, but it's
not really needed if ripping to size after coping.

....

Indeed...just a few comments/amplification on my style/preferences...

I rarely _do_ use either assuming I have wide-enough stock that I have
sufficient length against the fence to have a stable bearing surface
throughout the operation. By doing it that way having squared the ends
first one isn't:

a) fighting two separate reference planes (the fence and a sled/gauge
for dominance in alignment, and

b) taking the time to ensure that if a) the two are square to each other
and the material is correctly positioned, etc., ...

It's all in promoting efficiency by dispensing w/ what isn't needed and
simplifying the operations to the minimum.

I _may_ use a small block if the stock material is particularly prone to
severe splitting, but in general it isn't really needed as the next
operation will clean up the edge automagically anyway. And, it's only
an issue on the first pass anyway as once the end is coped they're all
done. So, unless your stock is just precisely wide enough that you lose
a whole piece, you can just make a cleanup pass over the jointer anyway
if desired/needed...that's quicker than clamping a piece to the stock or
having to handle the two pieces together (or at least it's the way I've
become accustomed to working... )

W/ a piece as wide as the 8" stock I mentioned previously, I am
perfectly comfortable using it freehand against the fence in either
direction--coping the ends or sticking the edges. Then again, I've been
running a shaper for 40-some years now, and there _is_ a certain
learning of technique w/ time...

The first freehand shaping against a pattern was, at that time, a
pucker-factor experience, indeed, but now it is routine so familiarity
does help and having had some instruction from both formal classroom
shop as well as some of the older guys w/ the industrial experience
along the way certainly didn't hurt.

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