I want to make some rosettes with a slight routed edge

[dirk martin]

I want to make some 3" and 2.5" rosettes out of red oak. I also want all 4 edges to be slightly routed. My plan is to first cut my rosettes square, then use my drill press and cutters to create the cicles within, and then use a small shaper like the Grizzly G0510z (http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2010/Main/65) to route my edges over slightly.

I haven't purchased the small Grizzly shaper yet.

Will I have problems shaping the edges of those small rosettes on that shaper, safely?

[David DeCristoforo]

Problems? No. Safely? That's another matter! Machining small pieces like that always poses a danger. I would use a "submerged" cutter, make a ZC fence for whatever cutter was being used and a push block/hold down for the pieces. If you do that, you will be able to work "safely" but pay close attention and make sure there are no distractions.

[Brian Greb]

I have shaped the edges of rosettes on a router table before, I have also used a shaper head in the TS to profile the edges, and one time a long while back I made a jig so I could use the router freehand. So I don't see why you couldn't use a shaper with the proper set up. btw what profile are you intending to put on the edges? Do you have a router? What about a router table? Might be a more cost effective route.


Use push pads when profiling... or use clamps to keep your hands clear of the cutter. just some sage advise from a good friend.

[Joe Chritz]

I often clamp small items in a wooden hand clamp to do edge profiling.

Any shaper and or router table can handle this pretty easy.

Joe

[Josiah Bartlett]

Make a little sacrificial jig to hold the blocks, and it will be safe enough.

[Jim Heffner]

Joe, has the right idea about using a wooden clamp...I think he was referring to a wooden handscrew clamp....these are VERY handy clamps to have in the shop! They can be used for a variety of applications and are inexpensive to buy. I am finding more and more uses for them as time goes by.

[Van Huskey]

I dd a bunch for the house my wife and I built a couple of years ago. I ddn't like the shaper approach siince for small profiles I like the faster speed of the router for a better finish. My solution was taking a piece of 1/2" ply gluing some rubber shelf mat material on it then using a toggle clamp to hold them down I routed two sides then rotated it and finished the other two sides. I used a laminate cutter for the router. My rosettes were rather large so depending on the size of the trimmer base and your rossettes it may not work but it is certainly a darn cheap way versus buying a shaper or router table which I did not feel as safe using. YMMV

[Tom Hargrove]

I think the wooden clamp "fixture" would work well for a small run. However, if you are making more than a dozen or so, I would make a fixture like the one that Van describes. The fixture could be used to center/locate the rosettes in the drill press as well as the router. Otherwise, you are going to sick of opening and closing the screw clamps over and over and over.

[Larry Edgerton]

I sometimes make rosettes to match raised panel walls, using the same cutter but with a smaller depth cut. I make a jig that the rosettes drop into out of plywood. It is important that all of your sizes are consistant so that they fit into the jib snugly. I run the cutter over the table. I screw a piece of aluminum barstock to the bottom of the shaper fences so that the jig has no chance to dive. The jig is about 2 feet long, there is a hinged holddown with handles on either end of the holddown that are used to guide the jig/rosette through the shaper. The holddown folds to just past the middle of the rosette, but not as far as the shaper cutter. On the fence of the shaper is screwed a half circle just the size of the cutter plus about a quarter inch.

It is not fast, but it is safe.

[Gene Howe]

I always run both edges of a length of the squared and sized stock through the router cutter first, then cross cut them to size. Saves time and halves the chance of a screw up.
Like another poster, I use a wooden screw clamp for the final two cuts.
The clamp for the DP mounted rosette cutter is simply a fence at the back with two loose pieces of stock clamped on either side of the rosette square.

[johnny means]

I prefer a laminate trimmer for stuff this delicate.