anyone ever cut coves on a tablesaw?

[EricU]

I just watched some videos on youtube, and it really doesn't look bad as long as you take it slow. I want to build the bathroom cabinet that FWW had a couple of years ago, and one of the nice features of that was the cove at the top. But it's a big cut at the end.

[JGrout]

not really.

the key is of course that you take small cuts by raising the blade each pass until you get full width.

I generally do the last 2 passes at half the elevation of the first cuts so If I raise the blade 1/2 turn per initial pass I reduce it to 1/4 turn for the last two passes and do it however many times it takes to finish up the cove.

the key is the angle you feed the stock is more or less a cross cut in a trapped guide. that makes it far safer..

[John Mihich]

Rip blade also I believe. Only done one so my can't add to the process.

[SceneryMaker]

I have done it several times.I cut the cove in the 320 square feet of Dutch lap siding on this set with a table saw. I wanted a special size that I couldn't buy.



The wood gears guy has a calculator that makes a cove come out the right size without the guesswork. Here is the link. I have not used it though.

[jteneyck]

I reproduced a short section of molding for a fellow WoodNetter a couple of years ago:



I cut the cove on the TS. Light cuts leaves a pretty good finish.



After some other cuts and some scraper work and sanding, I had this:



It's not hard to cut coves on the TS and it allows you to use the same wood as the rest of your project for a perfect match.

John

[EricU]

wow, thanks for some great responses.

[packerguy®]

I did it twice on short runs.

Be prepared, its time consuming, and makes a HUGE mess.

[Pirate]

I've also done it on the ras with good success.

[Richard D.]

I wouldn't want to make more than 8 or 10 feet on the table saw, it creates a lot of sawdust. For a deep cove I'd consider wasting some material with a dado blade on the table saw first. Take small passes and it works well.

[Steve N]

Richard D. said:

---

I wouldn't want to make more than 8 or 10 feet on the table saw, it creates a lot of sawdust. For a deep cove I'd consider wasting some material with a dado blade on the table saw first. Take small passes and it works well.

---

This, and for safety I like a locked down jig, that allows no movement of the stock, except for straight across the blades top, nothing side to side, and I never allow my fingers to get anywhere close to over that blade. I've seen some nightmares in the ER from people thinking that was just an easy push through cut

Not at all unsafe to do, but it's a cut you want to do dry run through's on before hitting the power switch. Think 4 times, cut once.