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+-- Thread: ? about 45 deg lock miter bit. (/showthread.php?tid=7361198)
? about 45 deg lock miter bit. - lift mechanic - 02-26-2021
I am starting a dinning room table out of QSWO. The 4 legs are 5" square x 28" long out of 3/4" jointed with the Whiteside lock miter bit. I want all 4 sides to be quarter sawn. It has been around 10 years since I used the lock miter bit, I know how to set up the bit, at least I used to. I have not used the bit on oak before.
So my question is should I make the full cut on each board or, as I am looking at the bit, can I add a temporary 1/4" fence and make the first cut then remove the temp fence and finish with a second cut? will that work? Any helpful suggestions?
RE: ? about 45 deg lock miter bit. - Don_M - 02-26-2021
Your post is timely – I am about to start a project and planning to use a lock miter to join the cabinet edges.I have the bit – but have only used it once. As I recall made a full cut once it was properly set-up. But when all else fails – YouTube!. Here are two that I found
The first one the w’wer makes something very similar to what you are looking to do
The second one the w’wer uses a set-up template/jig
In both they take full cuts once et-up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbqEOCqt9_U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q3j9fC8eYI
RE: ? about 45 deg lock miter bit. - John Mihich - 02-26-2021
That bit is made for one pass - at least in my experience. Not sure how you can make a couple of passes - it would throw off the fit.
RE: ? about 45 deg lock miter bit. - fredhargis - 02-26-2021
That was my thought, it wouldn't work with 2 passes. But as i think about it, it might work if the pass is adjusted on the fence versus bit height. Whether it work or not, I would still do it single pass.
RE: ? about 45 deg lock miter bit. - KLaz - 02-26-2021
Good article on this from Woodcraft
Miter Lock
RE: ? about 45 deg lock miter bit. - CEPenworks - 02-26-2021
I use it on some trunks I make. You make it in one pass.
RE: ? about 45 deg lock miter bit. - cams2705 - 02-26-2021
With the setup of these bits being as finicky as they are, I've seen folks take a different approach. Use a full thickness quartersawn leg milled a little narrower than your final dimension on the non-quartersawn faces. Cut/mill veneer pieces of quartersawn a little wider than the thickness of each leg the to apply to those non-quartersawn faces. You can then run a trim router down the length of the leg to trim the overhang. If you're careful in the thickness of your veneer, you won't have to mill down the applied veneer faces.
RE: ? about 45 deg lock miter bit. - Rob Young - 02-26-2021
(02-26-2021, 04:49 PM)cams2705 Wrote: With the setup of these bits being as finicky as they are, I've seen folks take a different approach. Use a full thickness quartersawn leg milled a little narrower than your final dimension on the non-quartersawn faces. Cut/mill veneer pieces of quartersawn a little wider than the thickness of each leg the to apply to those non-quartersawn faces. You can then run a trim router down the length of the leg to trim the overhang. If you're careful in the thickness of your veneer, you won't have to mill down the applied veneer faces.
More, or less, this is what I've done the past few times I wanted QS to show on all four sides.
I was also making my own veneer from the same stock as the "big" show faces with a target thickness after everything is glued and sized of 1/16". So the veneers started out at maybe 3/16" + a bit. Then I have plenty to work with as I get things to final size.
A small chamfer down each corner pretty much hides the little tiny bit of flat-sawn that might show. And if I could, I fiddled with leg orientation so that the front view was of the veneer pieces, again minimizing the chance of seeing the very narrow bit of flatsawn grain.
I found this to be faster than a lock miter. But I was also able to use 4/4 or 5/4 material because none of the legs were going to be more than 1-3/4" in thickness (7/8"+7/8"). If I was worried about that I might consider either using another bit of oak as filler so that the blank is 3 pieces thick with two veneers.
RE: ? about 45 deg lock miter bit. - cams2705 - 02-26-2021
(02-26-2021, 05:47 PM)Rob Young Wrote: More, or less, this is what I've done the past few times I wanted QS to show on all four sides.
I was also making my own veneer from the same stock as the "big" show faces with a target thickness after everything is glued and sized of 1/16". So the veneers started out at maybe 3/16" + a bit. Then I have plenty to work with as I get things to final size.
A small chamfer down each corner pretty much hides the little tiny bit of flat-sawn that might show. And if I could, I fiddled with leg orientation so that the front view was of the veneer pieces, again minimizing the chance of seeing the very narrow bit of flatsawn grain.
I found this to be faster than a lock miter. But I was also able to use 4/4 or 5/4 material because none of the legs were going to be more than 1-3/4" in thickness (7/8"+7/8"). If I was worried about that I might consider either using another bit of oak as filler so that the blank is 3 pieces thick with two veneers.
In reality, I try to find rift sawn stock for legs so I have nice clean straight grain showing and leave the figure/quartersawn for tabletops, rails/stiles, and panels. I've just seen this alternative method a number of times and always remembered it as a good way to get quartersawn on all four faces.