While making a round sunburst mirror frame consisting of 16 segments, I had to miter both sides of each segment at precisely 11-1/4¡ on my tablesaw to get a gap-free fit. Rather than trust the accuracy of the saw cut, I came up with another approach.

I started by cutting each segment as close as I could to the proper angle and then glued up four segments at a time to form the four quadrants of a circle. I then positioned one quadrant at a time on a perfectly square board so that an equal amount of the quadrant overhung each edge of the board. I clamped the quadrant in place and trimmed off the overhang, using a flush-trimming bit in my router.

When all four of the quadrants were trimmed in this way, I dry-fitted them to check for a tight joint that would require minimal clamping pressure. No further trimming was needed, but if it had been, I would have glued up two semicircles and trimmed the edges with a straight board.

Anthony Fudge, Snow Hill, Md.

Fine Woodworking Magazine, June 1999 No. 136

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