On Friday, November 1, 2013 9:18:36 AM UTC-5, Swingman wrote:

The fluting is the hardest part, and that's not hard to do at all with a

plunge base router ... do one and it will be a guaranteed forehead smack

as to how easy it is.

You can actually buy jig to do the fluting:


http://www.rockler.com/router-fluting-jig?Max=999


... or you can also make a jig based on the same principle; or the old

fashioned way, set up a fence on one edge of a piece of plywood and use

spacers to provide the distance between the flutes.


Once again, I agree with Karl. I made a set of these, and was ready to do it again just for fun.

But... I am a field man for the most part. As a variant on Karl's plywood bed and spacers (talk about going back some years there, buddy!), I have made these trims with a router table, a table saw, and a router edge guide, all out on the job.

For the router table (homemade) it was easy. I put the right bit in the router, checked for depth, and simply laid out the fence positions on my table and when happy with the appearance on a cut piece, I put a large pencil mark on the table for fence position (formica topped table) to make each cut a snap. A piece of tape 6" of center of the bit in each direction allowed a pencil mark to let me know where to stop and where to start.

On the table saw, it was the same procedure except I used a dado blade set with 3/8" wide cut instead of using a bit. I had no trim to match as I made it all new, so the customer wasn't concerned with the square cuts. I lightly rounded the square cut edges with a pice of dowel wrapped around sandpaper. It looked great when painted. The hardest part was stopping and starting on the marks on the fence, but I crept up on the marks slowly and it was fine.

This one was the sneakiest. I had to match a piece of existing trim. Thankfully, the trim we were replacing was only damaged from water rot, so when removing it I had the dimensions and placements of the flutes literally in my hand. I took my Bosch D handled router, put a 3/8" box bit and set for depth. I attached the optional fence and simply set the fence to match each cut position by simply putting the bit in the groove and tightening the fence. The fence made it easy since it had one of those old "micrometer" style adjustments. I tacked a piece of wood on my new trim board to use to stop the router on both sides. I simply routed until I banged into the "stop" and my start/stop cuts were perfectly aligned. My only problem here was keep the router spot on when cutting across the length. I had a helper, so it wasn't bad. But it was fast, easy, and I used what I had on hand. I still remember; I cut the fluted section out of perfectly clear hard pine, and stopped it from the concrete about an inch up, and used white oak for the base and head details.


Personally, I wouldn't bother with PT material, you will have trouble

with the painting until it dries sufficiently. Use a wood like white oak

which, once primed and painted, will last longer than you when properly

maintained.

Worse, when the PT (or as I know it, **** wood) won't cut right. I just finished off a deck repair, and I used a 3/4" round over bit to the top piece of the hand rail. It was so wet that it cut the wood off in strings! The PT I get around here is so damn wet it is almost useless. No reason at all to spend your time and effort working with crap that won't last.

As always... only my 0.02...

Robert