Dru Dron
06-12-2010, 11:18 AM
Hi All,
I'm about to make several cathedral style arched raised panel doors for a kitchen pantry and have become uncertain about the safety of using the Freud 2+2 ogee style raised panel bit (w/backcutter) to cut/raise the curved top edge of the panel.
My concern is that this particular bit does not use a ball bearing to guide the workpiece and control the depth of cut (looks like the wood will ride on the central shaft of the bit instead), so it would seem that when doing the freehand curved cut I would have to make the cut in a single, heavy pass. I am well aware that it is preferable to make the raised panel cuts in at least two passes, but I don't see a way of doing this freehand for the curved end of the panel using this bit. I plan on taking multiple passes when using my router table fence to mill the straight sides of the panels. That's a no brainer based on my experience with previous non-arched raised panels I've done.
Does anyone here know of a way to do this in multiple passes freehand on a router table? By the way, I'm using a 3.25hp Milwaukee router motor in a Jessem Mast-R-Lift Excel router table, and the stock is 3/4" cherry. The panels are approximately 14" wide (this would be the length of the freehand cut across the curved end of the panel) by about 30". The other thing I almost forgot to mention is that I have the option of using my Woodhaven Frame and Panel Master jig for securely holding the panel as I make the cut. I'm hoping that will at least help with the personal safety of the cut, if not necessarily the quality of the cut (but hopefully both).
Does anyone have any advice on this? Any suggestions how to make multiple passes freehand without the option of using a large, then smaller bearing like other brands of raised panel bits provide? Do you think making these curved end cuts in a single pass will be a major problem?
Thanks a lot!
Dru Dron
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
I'm about to make several cathedral style arched raised panel doors for a kitchen pantry and have become uncertain about the safety of using the Freud 2+2 ogee style raised panel bit (w/backcutter) to cut/raise the curved top edge of the panel.
My concern is that this particular bit does not use a ball bearing to guide the workpiece and control the depth of cut (looks like the wood will ride on the central shaft of the bit instead), so it would seem that when doing the freehand curved cut I would have to make the cut in a single, heavy pass. I am well aware that it is preferable to make the raised panel cuts in at least two passes, but I don't see a way of doing this freehand for the curved end of the panel using this bit. I plan on taking multiple passes when using my router table fence to mill the straight sides of the panels. That's a no brainer based on my experience with previous non-arched raised panels I've done.
Does anyone here know of a way to do this in multiple passes freehand on a router table? By the way, I'm using a 3.25hp Milwaukee router motor in a Jessem Mast-R-Lift Excel router table, and the stock is 3/4" cherry. The panels are approximately 14" wide (this would be the length of the freehand cut across the curved end of the panel) by about 30". The other thing I almost forgot to mention is that I have the option of using my Woodhaven Frame and Panel Master jig for securely holding the panel as I make the cut. I'm hoping that will at least help with the personal safety of the cut, if not necessarily the quality of the cut (but hopefully both).
Does anyone have any advice on this? Any suggestions how to make multiple passes freehand without the option of using a large, then smaller bearing like other brands of raised panel bits provide? Do you think making these curved end cuts in a single pass will be a major problem?
Thanks a lot!
Dru Dron
Guelph, Ontario, Canada