Mitering Problem - Suggestions Wanted

[William Hutchinson]

I need some help with making the cuts for mitered frame for clock face. The rails are 3/4” and the stiles are 1 1/8” and the inside edge is chamfered. I’ve drawn the angle on the actual plywood backing and made the cuts with some scrap.

The problem is with the chamfers aligning in the corners leaving a gap. The lower photo highlights the mismatched chamfers. Does anyone know of a way to make this joint work? My alternative is to build the fame and then router the inner edge and square the corners with a chisel.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y66/wlhutch/Shaker%20Clock/Innerframemiterlayout.jpg


http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y66/wlhutch/Shaker%20Clock/Innerframemiterproblem.jpg

TIA

[Brian Peters]

why are you making the stiles a different width than the rails?

[William Hutchinson]

why are you making the stiles a different width than the rails?

The inner frame surrounds the clocks paper dial and will match the door. As you can see in the photo, this clock has an inner top and door stop (to be added) that reduces the rail widths by this difference.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y66/wlhutch/Shaker%20Clock/clockcasemockup.jpg

[Gary McKown]

Unless I'm missing something, it looks like the angle on the narrow piece should be a bit more acute, while that on the wider piece should be less so. They should meet on your mark, correct?

Looks like a series of test cuts would be necessary.

[Lee Schierer]

What I would do is make the rails and stiles the same width and glue them up around your face. Then cut a piece of plywood that fits tightly inside that frame and hot melt glue it in place. Then trim the two sides using my TS and fence to make the sides narrower than the top and bottom. All your inside details will match and only the width will vary.

[William Hutchinson]

Thanks Gary,

Why is the answer so obvious once it's pointed out. Thanks-- I'll go crawl under a rock and hide for awhile.:o

Lee-- I thought of your solution but it appears, that once the rails are reduced, the seam of the miter would not align with the newly created corner.

[David DeCristoforo]

Personally, I think you had the answer "up front". Assemble the frame and then rout the chamfer and finish up the corners with a chisel. The problem is that the chamfer will never "plane in" if the joining angle is not 45 degrees. And I don't think it will look right if the chamfers on the rails differ from those on the stiles. Your other option is to use a "mason's miter" to join the corners instead of a "full miter" Then you could mill identical chamfers on all of the pieces before assembling the frame.

[William Hutchinson]

A couple of test cuts to adjust the angles did the trick. I'll tweek these settings a hair and get this project finished.
I had to google mason's miter, that's definitely one method to remember.

Thanks all for your replies.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y66/wlhutch/Shaker%20Clock/Innerframemiterproblemsolved.jpg