# Looking for you suggestions as to how to make this trim...see pic



## maduro (Nov 1, 2014)

Hey guys... I have this cherry trim on some of my cabinets and I am looking to make additional matching pieces. Has anyone seen such a router bit or do I make my own by making the straight cuts with a table saw and 3/8 inch cove router bit? Thanx in advance for your suggestions.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I think the straight cuts would be better done with a straight cut router bit rather than a table saw. With a table saw the edges would show saw marks. The center part of the trim would be better done with a panel raise bit. The 3/8" cove bit would take an additional cut which would leave marks that would take a lot of sanding to look right. 

The only way I know of you could get a knife to make the trim all in one cut is to custom grind a cutting knife set for a shaper or molder.


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## maduro (Nov 1, 2014)

Steve, thanx for your suggestions. As you say, I think the router would be the right way to go. I am just concerned about the transition of the 3/8 vertical part below the cove. Trying to make that perfect could be tough. Unfortunately, I don't know much about shapers or moulders but I wonder if that is too much expense for small project?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

A shaper would be a sizable expense for you, especially one that you could use loose knives like I do. You can purchase router bits to do a lot of what you can do with a shaper. They can be found pretty cheap on ebay and are carbide tipped so in a home shop should never need sharpening. They may be an expense however once you have them you will always find applications for them. 

I have shapers in my shop so that is what I rely on for tooling. I buy bars of steel in 25" lengths and make my own designs. The molding you are doing now I would likely use this knife for the center section.


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## maduro (Nov 1, 2014)

Very cool. Yea... that would be the one if it has a 3/8" radius. Now you got my interest....so where do you install that cutter? Is it a like a plain or a router?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

maduro said:


> Very cool. Yea... that would be the one if it has a 3/8" radius. Now you got my interest....so where do you install that cutter? Is it a like a plain or a router?


I believe the knife in the picture is probably 1/2" radius. I would have to use a different knife or make one. A shaper is like a big router. You would mount the knives in a collar like this panel raise knife. Like I said earlier you can a panel raise router bit that will fit a router with a 1/2" collet. A router bit will do the same work, you just loose the ability of making custom cutters. I looked on ebay and they don't have one right now with the profile you are looking for.


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## fareastern (Sep 19, 2014)

Steve Neul said:


> I believe the knife in the picture is probably 1/2" radius. I would have to use a different knife or make one. A shaper is like a big router. You would mount the knives in a collar like this panel raise knife. Like I said earlier you can a panel raise router bit that will fit a router with a 1/2" collet. A router bit will do the same work, you just loose the ability of making custom cutters. I looked on ebay and they don't have one right now with the profile you are looking for.


I am really glad that I don't have a machine like that in my life.We have laws that made that type of cutter retention illegal years ago and I have no doubt it has saved a lot of injuries.

If I had to make the moulding in the original post and had a router table with a 1/2 inch collet router,it would be easy to rout a couple of grooves for the two quirks-which still leaves enough of the other faces to support the wood when machining the radius with a 3/8" radius cutter.The radius should probably be cut in stages with such a small section and I would definitely use featherboards to guide it.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

fareastern said:


> I am really glad that I don't have a machine like that in my life.We have laws that made that type of cutter retention illegal years ago and I have no doubt it has saved a lot of injuries.
> 
> If I had to make the moulding in the original post and had a router table with a 1/2 inch collet router,it would be easy to rout a couple of grooves for the two quirks-which still leaves enough of the other faces to support the wood when machining the radius with a 3/8" radius cutter.The radius should probably be cut in stages with such a small section and I would definitely use featherboards to guide it.


They made them illegal because too many people either didn't know how to use them or didn't care to correctly set it up right. Properly set up, a correctly made well balanced set of knives is as safe as any cutter. In my early career I worked for a guy that didn't have a single matched set. He would stick his cutting knife on one side and just put any knive on the other side. He set the machine for me to run one day and it threw the knives out. Nobody got hurt but the experience stuck with me. Not long after that I quit that job and went to work for another company. There, there was an old man in charge of the shapers and I watched him make knives and he made two knives as close alike as he could and then put them on a scale and weighed them. He kept working at them until both knives were exactly the same weight. The shaper sounded a lot better with these knives and it had to be better on the machine anyway. When I started my business in 1986 I bought a Northfield shaper just like the one I used there and made my knives in the same manor the old man taught me. The only incident I've ever had or seen around a shaper is when I was at that first shop where the machine was set up and operated wrong. Still the system I have is hard to find anymore. The lockedge knives will do the same work and safer for someone that doesn't have the talent for making knives or uses a toy shaper such as Grizzly makes.


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## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

Looks like that trim could be made on a router table. Mill the stock wider than needed. Use a cove bit to cut the arc. If you cut it first, you can start in the area that would cut the straight part and progressively move the fence until you get the desired arc. Then cut the other areas with a straight bit. Last of all, rip of the outer edge (waste) on the table saw. That should be safe since it will be flat on the table.

Test on multiple pieces of scrap.
I think it will work.


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## maduro (Nov 1, 2014)

Ok, I think I have this worked out now. I'll just use a simple cove bit on a router table and slowly move it up to progressively just the wood so it tops off at 7/8 inch. Then, the straight part below the cove will have a natural transition. The rest will be cut using a straight bit.


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