I have long employed the method of burnishing the long edge of miters in order to close fine gaps along the joint. It crushes wood fiber into the gap and makes it disappear. However, I wish I knew a similar trick to work along the INSIDE of a joint. Does anyone have a trick they’ll share?
Thanks,
Richard
Replies
I respectfully tell you that crushing or burnishing fibres into gaps
in your mitres is not a trick to tell anyone about- the result cannot be comparable to a properly cut and fitted joint.
If you are using machine saws to cut the angles you should easily get the correct fit. Using hand saws takes some skill. In both cases you can always plane or shoot to perfection. It's the same old story- tools tuned and sharp are the way to go.
Sorry- haven't really answered your question-maybe there is a trick, so I'll join you in waiting for something new.
I respectfully tell you that I learned that technique while working for a VERY HIGH END custom furniture manufacturing studio. Burnish a miter before you soften its edge with sandpaper. Of course you probably properly fit each joint with hand tools that you made from materials you harvested by hand and would NEVER use a power tool of any sort to desecrate your whatever....
In a perfect world, all of our joinery would match precisely and all the wood filler companies would go bankrupt. As I look out the window this morning, it's obvious that nirvana ain't showing up today so we (once again) must deal with lifes little imperfections.
Last year, I made several cases for a guy who makes high end stereo components. The cases are 1/2" maple plywood with rosewood trim and were gorgeous after several coats of tung oil.
Making those rascals was a colossal PITA. No matter how carefully I cut the miters, there was almost always a hairline (or less) gap at the edges. When I tried to sand the edges to relieve the corner, the microscopically thin veneer disappeared and I got some seriously ugly corners. Burnishing those corners turned out to be my salvation. No more sand throughs and the sharp edges were gone. Long live burnishing!! - lol
I am curious too! How do you burnish a miter?
Alan - planesaw
to whomever ask, Whenever you have glued a miter and finished fastening it with brads or nails, but the outside is slightly open, you can take something rounded like the shank of a screwdriver, the round cone of a nail-set or the back of a chisel bevel, and mash or burnish the outsides toward the middle. This works best with soft woods like white pine. After you have rolled and burnished the miter closed, use a folded piece of sandpaper to dress it a little more, and give the paint a little tooth.
"of course you probably fit......" I am having trouble interpreting this - can you elaborate?
Crushing the fibers of the wood to fill a miter gap? Ouch!!!
As Mook said, the best 'trick' is properly tuned tools. I get perfect miters right off my compound miter saw.
Regards,
Bill Arnold - Custom Woodcrafting
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Food for Thought: The Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
RCB,
as far as I'm aware, no easy way - I've had to do it occasionally by burnishing with a screwdriver, but setting up tools first to avoid having to fill in gaps at a later stage is far preferable.
For the bad gaps, consider running a small rebate and putting a line of stringing in a contrasting colouralong the joint line???
Cheers,
eddie
Richard, Do you know how to do a snap-fit cope? If you cut your part about 1/32" longer than the actual measured space. By bowing out the middle, to get both ends into place, when you let the middle snap back in, you will get a little crushing of fibers in the parts as the front edges of a properly back-beveled cope is snapped into place.
Coping works well, but I'm not too good at it.
When its an issue I'll sometimes use a bit of scrap to test the joint as I go along a run of molding and use shims behind the stock to tweak the cut as needed.
This sounds like trim carpentry, maybe you should try Breaktime.
I think maybe those others are thinking furniture rather than cabinetry trimmed on site. You have a lot more control in the lab than in the field.
And then there is always putty which works wonders on inside miters as the shadows do most of the work for you.
Richard- The truth of the matter is, I've fallen short of purity on any number of occasions during my life, and burnishing a mitre sounds like a heck of an opportunity to do it again- How do you do it? Thanks-
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