Replies

1. 
   gpwestmoreland | May 25, 2000 06:36am | #1

   *
   Terry,

   I've been watching this post since you put it up, thinking someone would offer suggestions. Since no one has, I'll take a shot; at least it will rotate you back up to the top of the board and maybe get a discussion started:

   Are you familiar with the way box joints or finger joints are cut on the table saw, using a long backing board on the miter gauge? A registration pin or block is fastened to the backing board a set distance from where the saw blade or dado enters it. After making each pass thru the blade, the workpiece is moved sideways to the next pass, with each new notch resting on the registration block.

   My suggestion would be to use a crosscut box (or sled) instead of the miter gauge, and a regular saw blade instead of dado for your particular application. Also stack the two opposing standards and cut them both at the same time.
   Of course you would have to make two cuts, one with blade vertical, one with blade tilted.

   Just my thoughts. Good luck with it. GP

   Just a

1. 
   gpwestmoreland | May 25, 2000 06:44pm | #2

   *Terry, This morning I reread your requirements and realized my suggestion will not work if your angled cut needs to be 60 degrees, because table saw blades won't tilt past 45. So here's another thought: Could you rip the standards to width, lay them all out on edge on sawhorses and clamp them together. Using a straight edge for a cutting guide and a power circular saw, make two cuts, one with blade vertical, 2nd with blade tilted at 45 deg. To obtain your 60 degree 2nd cut, you could attach a runner to one side of the saw base, tilting it an additional 15 degrees. You said you may get an order for "many" bookcases, so this would work better if you cut a bunch of them at once, because it gives the saw base a wider work surface to ride on. I got this idea from remembering the way carpenters gang cut rafters in making the "birds-mouth" cut, where the rafter connects to the top wall plate. Anyway, just another thought. GP.

1. 
   Sweejak_ | Jun 01, 2000 07:23am | #3

   *I've made these for individual pieces of furniture, (not too high end) by taking a thick board and laying out the sawtooth pattern with a divider and bevel gage. I then used a Radial to cut the horizontal and a sabre saw... or maybe it was an angled cut on the Radial to cut the angles. I didn't bother to set up a dividing engine and cut to the marks by eye. After that I ripped the board into four standards. This resulted in identical pieces but the result was a little fussy and a tad "homemade". Fortunately that is what the project called for. If your making lots of these you might consider making a jig and routing these out and then squaring the corners, but talk about fussy. How about subcontracting these out to a shop with CNC equipment?

1. 
   John_Nolte | Jun 02, 2000 02:47pm | #4

   *Terry:To do it in one pass, you will need something like a single angle milling cutter. It is like a small sawblade, but the teeth are cut at an angle. (Cleveland No. 310) The largest one my catalog shows is 3" dia by 1/2" wide with a 1 1/4" arbor hole. For a very short run, use the standard cutter with a bushing for the arbor and make several passes, lowering the blade each pass... For a bigger run, custom toling--if the client is willing to add it to the cost. Someone like Forrest may be able to grind a dado set for you, or you can have the inserts on a molding cutter ground to the correct angle. For that, you would need a sawcut first at the bottom of the notch, then clean up with the molding head.John

1. 
   Sweejak_ | Jun 03, 2000 01:52am | #5

   *John, this is a bit off topic but I would like a link for the custom milling cutter and the Dado set. I've been thinking that a set up like that might work for the joint described in another discussion under Joinery------> German Box.

2. 
   John_Nolte | Jun 03, 2000 05:10am | #6

   *Sweejak:I think you're right about the German box joint. One side has to be cut with an angled blade. Standard single angle milling cutters have either a 45 or 60 degree included angle. Niagra makes them in up to 6" diameter with face widths from 1/2" up to 1 1/4" However, adapting that to a saw arbor would require a 1 1/4" od threaded sleeve to use it on a table saw. Forrest advertises in FW. You'd have to call them and ask. For the German box, I'd want a 1/4" grooving blade.John