I’m planning to replace an exisiting pedestle mounted rectangular desk top with an oval shape. Overall dimensions are 1 1/4″ t X 60″w X 40″d solid walnut. I’d like the edge to be a knife style approx 60*. Two main questions:
1. How to mill the edge to get get the knife effect?
2. To join the boards to get the width, is bisquit joining adequate or would a spline be a better choice?
JDP
Replies
I am not sure what you mean by a "knife edge"? If you could make me a sketch of what you want to achieve it would help.
In gluing boards edge to edge, there is no need for biscuits or splines! Face grain glue joints are not improved by either. On very long glue ups a few biscuits can help to align the pieces during clamping but do not improve the strength.
With best regards,
Ernie Conover
Ernie,
I suspect that he means the underside of the top is beveled to create a thinner looking edge.
John White
John,
You're right about the edge shape. Ernie answered back with the same conclusion. He advised using a hand held router with a chamfer bit after the oval has been cut and smoothed. I've scouted around for sources for a bit with an angle greater than 45* but no luck so far. I'll try a 45* in my plunge router on some scrap to see what that produces. Thanks for your interest.
JDP611
The bit you want is a panel raising bit like a Freud # 835-967 or # 800-473. They are large diameter and must be used in a router table, not a big deal, but they have the shallow angle you are looking for. The same type of bits are made by all of the other bit makers.
The other way to do this is with a hand plane. Just lay out the edge thickness and a line showing how far back from the edge that you want the slope to extend and take a bench plane and work your way around the table in several revolutions.
The cut will be down through the grain so there won't be tear out problems and the surface won't be visible in any case so it won't need to be perfect. By the time you get close to the final profile you'll be a pro with the plane and won't have any problem getting a nice even edge.
John White
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