raising panels - removing waste with table saw first

[Nathan Callender]

Hey all -

Okay, so I've raised a few panels, and I've got about 25 more to go for a project I'm working on (hobby). I'm raising them with a 3.5" raised panel bit in a router. It's hard maple, and I've having to take lots and lots of really small passes to not bog down my router. So, I'm thinking that I could remove most of the waste on the edges with the table saw first and then only have to cut the profile into the panels, which should be way faster. I've looked around and am pretty sure this has been answered a bunch of times but I couldn't find a great solution. Can someone point me in the right direciton about how to cut a shallow angle off a panel safely on a table saw. I'm assuming it requires running the board vertically across the fence with lots of feather boards. However, is there a sled that I could build that may be safer.

Anyway, any advice would be appreciated!

[Mike Heidrick]

What router are you using?

[Virgil Johnson]

I use a tall fence with good results.

Since it is a roughing in cut the fence does have to absolutely vertical but I get it a close to 90 degrees as I can.

I find I can get good control with the tall vertical surface.

Virgil

[Peter Quinn]

I'd make a tall fence that rides over or works with your current fence, and possibly a push block that rides on this fence depending on the panel size. Also, make sure you have a ZCI for a throat plate for safety. Hard maple may give any router a run for its money. Hogging out the waste should give you an easier time of it.

[Virgil Johnson]

oh

if you need more control as with large panels make a sliding tall fence with a sandwich of two tall members that "capture" the saw fence and slide along the saw fence with a panel clamped to the tall fence

make sense?

Virgil

[Virgil Johnson]

i guess Peter got to it first!

chuckle

Virgil

[John Jendro]

Here's an idea of the type of jig other's have been saying to build. Just size it to your needs. You don't need to use the toggle clamp, regular clamps work just as well.

John

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/library/images/tablesaw_tenon_jig.jpg

[Lee Schierer]

It's not exactly what you are looking for, but, I make raised panels on my TS and you could use the same techniques to remove excess stock for your router. I have illustrated instructions at my web site. Making raised panels on a TS (http://www.home.earthlink.net/~us71na/raisedpanel.html)

[Larry Edgerton]

I'd make a tall fence that rides over or works with your current fence, and possibly a push block that rides on this fence depending on the panel size. Also, make sure you have a ZCI for a throat plate for safety. Hard maple may give any router a run for its money. Hogging out the waste should give you an easier time of it.

Ditto.

I have a commercial shaper that can easily run that cut, and still I often cut the waste away more as a way of avoiding blowouts, particularly in figured woods. I often make my panels out of consecutive boards so a blowout can ruin a whole run.

[Virgil Johnson]

Great jig John!

The only change I made was a tall fence opposite the tall part on the left if I were doing large heavy panels.

What I have found with large heavy panels that between the weight wanting to fall to the left and the way things get pushed the jig wants to fall to the left making the jig bind on the fence and getting cut away from a 90 degree angle.

The tall part on the right acts as a counter balance and may even have to be beefed up a bit to counter a heavy tall panel wanting to fall to the left.

But then again I may be nitpicking.


Virgil

[Nathan Callender]

Okay, that's seems like a pretty easy setup. I think I'll try a simple fence and featherboards as proof of concept and then make a sliding fence/sled. That jig look slick!

Thanks again - I know I can always get real advice from you all. I'll give it a shot tonight!

[Nathan Callender]

Okay, I got some shop time in last night. I built a simple vertical fence attachment (sorry, need to take some pictures), zero clearance throat plate and set up feather boards and discovered that there's nothing to making these types of cuts. Super simple!

It also has reduced routing time tremendously! I'm a little surprised that none of the books I have mention removing the waste this way prior to running panels on the router to raise them. The setup is super simple and I can't think of a downside to it, even if I had a large shaper!

Thanks again.

[Paul Greathouse]

Nathan,

The tablesaw jig that John posted is a great idea as you have found out by building your own. Here's a link to a jig I built which uses a track saw instead of a tablesaw to achieve the same results.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=116146