cutting 30degree angle using Chamfer bit
wendy1 | Posted in Power Tools and Machinery on
Hi,
Went into my local tool supply shop today to see if I could find an appropriate router bit to cut a 30 degree bevel on a small 3X 3 piece of 3/4 inch pine. I explained that I wanted it to bevel the edges on a dog dumb bell I’m making for a friend. The salesman told me it would be best to use the chamfer bit in a router table. He said it would be easier and safer. I thought I could just cut the bevel using a fixed router (free hand).
Just wondering since I don’t own a router table. Would it be possible to cut a 30 degree bevel using a block plane?
Wendy
Replies
The hand-held router would work, but...
I think the reason they suggested you use it in a router table is that can be a bit much to take off at once. A router table would let you set the fence incrementally closer until the bearing made contact with the wood. You could get some pretty bad tearout and gouging if you tried it totally freehand, unless you're real careful control-wise and take very light passes - or put a bigger bearing on the bit to start out with. Or you could start off with a very shallow cut and set the router deeper for each pass - just be careful that the bearing makes contact on an un-beveled part of the edge on each pass. You could also start out beveling on a tablesaw and set it to only leave a 1/16th or less for the router bit to clean up at full depth w/out getting tearout. Or you could cut closer to the line and clean it up with the block plane too.
Waddaya mean it wont fit through the door?
The reason the salesman recommended a router table is because such a small piece of wood would not provide adequate support for a router base. In fact, handling such a small piece of wood on a router table is not very safe unless you have some kind of fixture that can hold it for you (not particularly hard to make, but may be time consuming). This is one area where it may well be much safer to use hand tools - such as the block plane you mentioned.
Good luck,
Richard Baker
30 degree bevel ??
AKC thing?? If not... just break the edges with a hand plane and be done with it..
EDIT:: I have a few routers and router tables.. For that.. I'd use a hand plane... Or sandpaper.. Just me though.
Edited 7/15/2005 10:15 am ET by Will George
Hi ,
I am in search of a used block plane. My uncle might have one he's willing to part with. If I don't find one for I'll have to purchase one at Home Depot or order one online. I think that's the safest way to cut the bevel. I could just sand the edges on the belt/disc sander.
Wendy
Wendy, if you just want to 'break the edges',(Chamfer),you'd best turn your belt sander up side down and clamp it to the work bench.
Hold all four edge corners at the proper angle and 'stab' the blank into the moving belt. On the other hand, if you need a bevel
( angled all through top face edge to the bottom face edge.) I suggest buying a low angle block plane. (Stanley) Draw a parallel pencil line along the four top edges as a guide to follow as you plane.
Using the plane,grip the blanks in a vise and plane the two cross grained edges first; then plane the two edges along the grain. Look at the grain orientation, so when you plane, you don't 'catch the grain' and get a rough grained finish. If the first attempt works fine along the board, complete the planeing in that direction. The opposite edge requires you to plane the opposite way.
Worse comes to worse, finish the beveling on the upturned belt sander. Stein.
Good luck Wendy.Your pal Peter Pan
Edited 7/15/2005 10:19 pm ET by steinmetz
Hi,
Thanks for letting me know how to cut bevels the old fashioned way. Would you be able to explain the differences between an ordianary block plane and a "low angle" plane. Does the low angle plane remove less wood?
Wendy
I see you have a belt/disc sander combo. How about tilting the table on the disc or belt sander to 30d and sand to the desired profile?Onward through the fog.
Chuck Whitney
Wendy, They both are adjustable as to how deep you plan to go although hardwood being denser calls for microscopic shavingsThe reason I suggested a low angle, is that it excels on rough/twisted or endgrain wood.. Costs a few bucks more than a regular block plane but worth every cent. I use mine only on end grain as the 'regular' can't cut the fibers of the end grain. I forgot to mention in the first reply: When planeing across end grain, don't go all the way in one direction but, return the stroke in the other direction.
(Eliminates 'tear out')Look for the Stanley plane Low Angle Block (It has adjustable throat. A Gem of a tool. Stein(I don't wanna grow up) metz
Geee. Get a plane from a BIG BOX then you are going to post about 'Why MY BIG BOX PLANE SUCKS'
For most small angles (my opinion) a hunk of sandpaper wrapped around a nice flat block of wood that fits in your had will do WONDERS!
If ya have a straight eye!
EDIT:: Dang.. that fits in your had TO that fits in your haNd !!
Edited 7/16/2005 2:06 pm ET by Will George
30 degree bevel ??
AKC thing?? I was serious.. I did not know that AKC had that rule??
Wendy,
Hand planes and power sanders will both work. Follow your gut, and use whichever method you feel gives you the greatest control and feels safest.
You'll want to practice cutting across the end-grain if this isn't a skill you've already mastered; tear-out is likely if you're not conscious of the way the wood fibers are prone to react when pushed sideways - whether by a plane iron or a sanding belt.
Good luck,
-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask youself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
folks did it for centuries, I don't see why you can't.
Unless of course you are convinced that violation of the "normitic" crede (why use a 20 buck hand tool when you can do it in twice the time with a 200 buck electric tool?) may damn yer soul or prevent you from achieving Nirvana.
Yep, you can do it with a block plane in less time than it takes you to thumb through a catalogue to find the right router bit. You probably could have done it in less time than it takes you to read this post.
Mind you, the block plane (assuming you got one)has gotta be somewhat sharp, and you might wanna make a few lines to plane down to, or maybe the angle might work out to be 29 degrees... but guess what....
nobody will measure the angle and...
The world will not end.
Cut away.
Cowtown Eric
Eric,
Very excellent answer!I had resisted responding along those lines despite growing frustration at some suggestions which were leadingWendy up the garden path.
The fact is that decent wood work is about Cutting timber with tools that are sharp, not sanding the @ out of it, or going overboard with power tools when the job (of that chamfering) could have been done in the time taken to set the tool into the router and fix it into the table, or mess with the angle on a disk sander.
Edited 7/17/2005 4:50 am ET by Philip Marcou
I'm with Philip.
You could learn how to sharpen a plane (any b**&^%$ plane), practice on a couple of scraps, AND get the job done in the time it would take to find, buy and set up a safe router solution! And, you'd feel a hell of a lot better about it!
Malcolm
ps - I'm back from my week in Malaysia!New Zealand | New Thinking0.06% of the world's people are Kiwis
nobody will measure the angle and...Some breeds of dogs are particular about angles.......... ;-)aloha, mike
Metoad
Castagate me as much as you like ???
Castrate would be a better word.
I deeply resent your 'dissing' of Wendy
Steinmetz. You owe both Wendy and me an apology!
Edited 7/17/2005 9:31 am ET by steinmetz
Metod,
I don't understand why you think Wendy's lack of knowledge is "dumb" or "stupid". Perhaps you were born with an innate set of woodworking skills.
I, for one, started out with zero knowledge, and learned a lot more from those who were willing to take the time to answer my "stupid" questions, than from those who gratified their own egos by belittling others.
All of us are on the same path, some further along than others. As the poem goes, we can leave behind us a stumbling block, or a stepping stone. Or a soap box, for me to climb up on. I'll get down now.
Cheers,
Ray
"dumb" or "stupid".
My wife said that when I did not know what SHE was thinkin' about... GGeeee
Will,
Well Metod was just offering criticism, when he compared the poster to a dumb blonde, and suggested that her post made knots a shrine to stupidity. Good thing he wasn't trying to belittle anyone, as I thought at first.
Regards,
Ray
Jointers..
Dang,,, when he compared the poster to a dumb blonde..
No hate here AT ALL! I just like stuff like this..
Lets just say long ago.. My wife died her hair blond.. I came home.. After a few hours she asked me if I noticed anything different? I told her you usually have a pink bow in your hair and now it's Blue???
She was REALLY Pissed....
EDIT: I knew but never told her ! I'm BAD To The Bone...
Edited 7/18/2005 1:12 pm ET by Will George
Castigate me as much as you want (for my post), or suggest that I be banned from the Knots for as little or as long as you deem appropriate.
okay, here's a compromise. You are banned from the forum for a year and we will accept the time served as your sentence........you are free to go. Dont be a stranger. Aloha, mike
Metod,
I am not cutting you any slack. Why?
We hear zilch from you for a long time , then you re-appear with 2 poisonous posts-#24617.3 and #24595.12,-I remember these because I could see nothing humorous and I thought they were uncalled for. Now you are resorting to long philosophical essays, seated at your computer wearing more than one jockstrap (your own admission).
Dear chap, we feel for you-what can we do to help?
As you pointed, lack of knowledge is the beginig of everything..
YEP! I was so stupid I walked up to her and asked for a date and she said My car or yours??
Why did you feel the need to reply to the poster at all?
I suggest that if dumb questions offend your towering intellect you would be better off ignoring them and letting those who are prepared to be helpful, answer.
IanDG
Metod,
I apologise if my criticism hurt your feelings.
Regards,
Ray
Metod Metod,
there are times to be right, then there are times to do the right thing.
your wisdom needs to simmer and cool before it is served.
right now it is your turn to eat crow. it is a meal best eaten warm. the after taste won't be so bad.
come back soon.
j
I'm sure this would be over-kill for what you are doing, but here is a plane that will do that chamfer: http://www.hidatool.com/woodpage/plane/chamfer.html
G A,Bevel, not Chamfer George (30 degrees not 45.)
Nice planes though. ED.
Edited 7/19/2005 2:53 pm ET by steinmetz
I guess I missed the word bevel when I read the post. (so when does a chamfer become a bevel?)
The chamfer planes are offered in 45, 30, and 60 degree versions. I've never had any use for other than the 45 degree, though.
George,
A bevel doesn't just take off a corner,(Chamfer) but continues all the way through to the bottom.( Bevel) The cutting edge on a chisel is ground to a bevel. Steinmetz.
Metod,
good spelling, better attitude.
an intelligent man knows the answer, a wise man understands the question.
j
Granted, my criticism about dumb was short of tact, and I apologized for it.
Hell, I type some things in here that do not come out quite like I was thinkin' all the time..
Just my brain and fingers fight each other when I least expect it!
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