I am planning a matched pair of solid panel alder music & tv cabinets, of different heights but each 98cm wide and 50cm deep, and want to make each with mitred case corners. I don’t feel confident in making dovetail mitres over the 5ocm depth. I could use e.g. a mitred spline or Domino joint but I have an unused 1-1/8″ lock miter bit that I thought I might try instead. I can find a number of videos etc. online but to my surprise nothing in FW since about 2000 – 2010 (not that I can find, anyway – see separate forum post on “Searching”). Is this because all has been said (basically: “chuck your lock miter bit”) or is it that a lock miter joint is not considered by the experts to be ‘fine woodworking’? I’d be grateful for advice on this – and, if advisable at all, on how best to adjust the bit and form the joint at the router table – before completing my final design.
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Replies
I can't find anything on FWW about setting up a lock mitre bit. As another forum post mentions, the search facility on the FWW website is next to useless, so its no surprise.
So, I'll recommend a webpage/article from another magazine:
https://www.popularwoodworking.com/techniques/lock-miter-drawers/
Hope it helps.
I've made a number of large cases using a lock mitre bit; also drawers. Once the set-up is done in the router table, the results can be very good, both in terms of very clean non-gappy corners but also strength.
When you do the set-up, it's beneficial to make and keep two pieces (for both the vertical and flat workpiece passes over the bit) as a set-up aid for future projects.
Thanks very much lat_axe, that's very useful and confirms what little I've found elsewhere.
On a point of detail: my cabinets will be backed up against a wall and will have front face frames so the corner joints will not be visible.
Been a long time since I used mine, but getting large panels across it will be challenging. Setup is trial and error to hit a point where a single pass on each board gives you a perfect fit. One side goes through face down and the other standing tall against the fence.
Since the cuts are deep end grain blowout is an issue, back up the stock on exit. I'd go with the domino.
Not fine woodworking? It's not cheating nor is it an inferior joint. If you can be patient and set up correctly, there's nothing wrong with it. It's just hard to run long edges past the bit steadily and consistently. That's why I've given up with three different bits, even using the matching set-up guides. The last time I thought it would be easier with a horizontal routing table, but decided not to make one.