Novice's router problem
 

I am making a cabinet door. I cut 4 pieces of 1x3 and routed a 1/4" grove
in them to take a plywood panel. I then routed a 1/4" tongue on the ends of
the short pieces to mate with the grove in the long pieces.

I "intended" on assembling the door and then routing a 1/2" roundover on the
inside and outside edges of the 1x3. I made up a partial sample, and like
how it looks; simple but strong.

Well, it just occurred to me that panel will get in the way of the router
bit and prevent me from doing the inside roundover. And I can't do them
before assembly because they won't fit together properly. And I can't do a
temporary assembly because it will be too flimsy to hold together properly
without glue.

I know there are special router bits for this purpose, but I have already
cut the panel grove, so I am kinda committed.

Any suggestions how to make this work?
In the end I expect I will have to assemble it temporarily and hope for the
best, but hopefully someone will have a better idea.
thanks

Novice's router problem
 

"Wade Lippman" wrote in message

Well, it just occurred to me that panel will get in the way of the router
bit and prevent me from doing the inside roundover. And I can't do them
before assembly because they won't fit together properly.


I'm not sure I'm following this properly. You have four pieces that make the
frame of the door; two sides, a top and a bottom. . You want to round over
the inside of the frame.

By doing the roundover after assembly, the part where the panel is would be
rounded, but where the sides meet the top and bottom rails, you want to
remain straight. If this is correct, can you just mark the place where the
two meet and just rout to that line?
Ed

Novice's router problem
 

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
. ..

"Wade Lippman" wrote in message

Well, it just occurred to me that panel will get in the way of the
router
bit and prevent me from doing the inside roundover. And I can't do them
before assembly because they won't fit together properly.


I'm not sure I'm following this properly. You have four pieces that make
the
frame of the door; two sides, a top and a bottom. . You want to round
over
the inside of the frame.

By doing the roundover after assembly, the part where the panel is would
be
rounded, but where the sides meet the top and bottom rails, you want to
remain straight. If this is correct, can you just mark the place where the
two meet and just rout to that line?
Ed

Well, I was intending to round over the corner, but your way would work;
perhaps even better. I just wish I were capable of such precision! If I am
off by an 1/8" on either piece it will show up horribly. Or am I
exaggerating the difficulty?

I suppose I could change to a mortised joint, where running the router
before assembly will be fine, but a mortised will be a lot more difficult
with the crappy equipment I am working with.

Novice's router problem
 

In article ,
Wade Lippman wrote:


I am making a cabinet door. I cut 4 pieces of 1x3 and routed a 1/4" grove
in them to take a plywood panel. I then routed a 1/4" tongue on the ends of
the short pieces to mate with the grove in the long pieces.

I "intended" on assembling the door and then routing a 1/2" roundover on the
inside and outside edges of the 1x3. I made up a partial sample, and like
how it looks; simple but strong.

Well, it just occurred to me that panel will get in the way of the router
bit and prevent me from doing the inside roundover. And I can't do them
before assembly because they won't fit together properly. And I can't do a
temporary assembly because it will be too flimsy to hold together properly
without glue.

I know there are special router bits for this purpose, but I have already
cut the panel grove, so I am kinda committed.

Any suggestions how to make this work?
In the end I expect I will have to assemble it temporarily and hope for the
best, but hopefully someone will have a better idea.
thanks



Howsabout:
place the pieces together, face down, on a flat surface.
place some scrap blocks, say about 2"x5", on the back
(i.e., the exposed 'top') of the frame, at each corner,
and 'tack' them to both pieces.
turn it over, so the face is up, and clamp the assembly, at
all four corners, to a piece of scrap approximately the
size of the entire door
route all four sides of the inside edge.
dissassemble.
insert center panel, and glue up.
route the outside edge.


If the base construction would be subject to flexing, because the
center panel is missing, then you just need to 'reinforce' it during
the temporary assembly, so it _can't_ flex. As my H.S. shop teacher
was wont to say, "You have to out-think the materials you work with."

Which involves: recognizing, allowing for, and *maintaining*the*upper*hand*
*over* "the inate animosity of inanimate objects". :)

Novice's router problem
 

In article ,
says...
I am making a cabinet door. I cut 4 pieces of 1x3 and routed a 1/4" grove
in them to take a plywood panel. I then routed a 1/4" tongue on the ends of
the short pieces to mate with the grove in the long pieces.

I "intended" on assembling the door and then routing a 1/2" roundover on the
inside and outside edges of the 1x3. I made up a partial sample, and like
how it looks; simple but strong.

Well, it just occurred to me that panel will get in the way of the router
bit and prevent me from doing the inside roundover. And I can't do them
before assembly because they won't fit together properly. And I can't do a
temporary assembly because it will be too flimsy to hold together properly
without glue.

I know there are special router bits for this purpose, but I have already
cut the panel grove, so I am kinda committed.

Any suggestions how to make this work?
In the end I expect I will have to assemble it temporarily and hope for the
best, but hopefully someone will have a better idea.
thanks

As long as your rails (horizontal pieces) are not cut to length yet, you
can simply do the roundover, and then cope the joint. You cut the
profiled portion off of the stiles (vertical pieces) the width of the
unmolded portion of the rails. Then you cut the rails to the proper
length, and cope the roundover to the stiles. . .Clear as mud, right? Do
some practice joints first. I have made full size doors this way, as it
is the original way it was done.

Kim

Novice's router problem
 

In article ,
says...
I am making a cabinet door. I cut 4 pieces of 1x3 and routed a 1/4" grove
in them to take a plywood panel. I then routed a 1/4" tongue on the ends of
the short pieces to mate with the grove in the long pieces.

I "intended" on assembling the door and then routing a 1/2" roundover on the
inside and outside edges of the 1x3. I made up a partial sample, and like
how it looks; simple but strong.

Well, it just occurred to me that panel will get in the way of the router
bit and prevent me from doing the inside roundover. And I can't do them
before assembly because they won't fit together properly. And I can't do a
temporary assembly because it will be too flimsy to hold together properly
without glue.

I know there are special router bits for this purpose, but I have already
cut the panel grove, so I am kinda committed.

Any suggestions how to make this work?
In the end I expect I will have to assemble it temporarily and hope for the
best, but hopefully someone will have a better idea.
thanks

You can do the roundover and then cope the rails to the stiles. All you
need is a good sharp chisel and a good sharp gouge. The rails need to
be longer by double the width of the profile of the roundover. You
remove the profile on the stiles by the width of the unprofiled portion
of the rail, and then cope to fit. I've made several full-size doors
this way, which is the original way of doing it.

(excuse me if this gets posted twice, btw)

Kim

Novice's router problem
 

You can place a spline into the groove to give a surface for the router
bearing to ride on. After you route the roundovers then remove the spline
and cope the mortise joints shouldn't be too difficult. Larry
"Wade Lippman" wrote in message
...
I am making a cabinet door. I cut 4 pieces of 1x3 and routed a 1/4" grove
in them to take a plywood panel. I then routed a 1/4" tongue on the ends
of
the short pieces to mate with the grove in the long pieces.

I "intended" on assembling the door and then routing a 1/2" roundover on
the
inside and outside edges of the 1x3. I made up a partial sample, and like
how it looks; simple but strong.

Well, it just occurred to me that panel will get in the way of the router
bit and prevent me from doing the inside roundover. And I can't do them
before assembly because they won't fit together properly. And I can't do
a
temporary assembly because it will be too flimsy to hold together properly
without glue.

I know there are special router bits for this purpose, but I have already
cut the panel grove, so I am kinda committed.

Any suggestions how to make this work?
In the end I expect I will have to assemble it temporarily and hope for
the
best, but hopefully someone will have a better idea.
thanks