On 1/4/14, 9:56 AM, Leon wrote:
On 1/3/2014 1:34 PM, Len wrote:
I want for make a lot of 4 inch square blocks for the corners of
door and window trim. I don't care for the typical rosettes you can
buy in the big box stores. I want something a bit more unique for my
house. I have a Milescraft router pattern maker and have chosen a
daisy flower design that is about 3 1/2 inches in diameter. The
blocks will be painted so I chose poplar for the wood. However, the
cuts are not smooth and require a lot of work after the routing phase.
I have tried going around the pattern twice in both the forward and
reverse directions. All it seems to do is make the grooves a bit
wider. The problem is that the rotary pattern requires some cuts with
the grain and some across the grain. The latter are rough!

My last thought beside junking the idea is to go to a harder
wood. Has anybody used this beast (Milescraft ..) with good success?
Is there a hidden secret to it that I should know?

Len



Actually if you are going to paint I would recommend using MDF instead
of wood. If you use the green water resistant MDF you will have little
issue if any at all with water based finishes.

I second that. The next subject that always comes up is the best primer
in the world for mdf, and that would be Zinsser B-I-N shellac based
primer. It's expensive but perfect for mdf. It dries fast, doesn't
"soak" nearly as much as other primers, dries hard for easy, light
sanding to a glassy smooth finish.

Best part is the shellac grabs tight to any topcoat you put on top of it.


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