I am having a heck of a time getting the right setup on a lock miter bit in my router table. I’m making Stickley style legs using this bit, following an article from a back issue of FWW that is also reprinted in the “In the Craftsman Style” book.
The problem I am having is that I’m not getting a nice crisp mitered corner on the pieces, the best I can do leaves about 1/32″ proud which then needs to be sanded back.
I am setting the height on the bit to be about centered on my stock and trial-and-erroring the fence on my router table. Is there something I am missing about this setup?
Replies
Try the technique from the woodshopdemos.com site:
http://www.woodshopdemos.com/cmt-lm5.htm
I totally forgot about the woodshopdemos site, that guy always has really detailed setup instructions. Thanks.
Try http://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/guides/lockmitre/index.php
The Lee Valley website includes detailed instructions for setting up a lock miter bit correctly. Go to the lock miter router bit page.
I assume you are trying to put four sides together to make the leg. It's totally unnecessary to build the leg this way and the lock miter doens't add to the strength. Other articles just lay the mitered pieces down on some tape and fold it up and you are done. A couple of the merle strap clamps at MLCS make a quick job of it. The only time we use a lock miter bit is in a three sided box beam otherwise it's just more work for no reason. You could also just use a simple spline or a few bisquits. I suspect they sell that lock miter bit to the hobbyists mostly.
just trying something new... thanks for the comments.
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