Bird's Mouth Joint

[kelly logan]

Any of you have any experince with birds mouth joint router bits and which manufacture would you reconmened

[Tom Esh]

No experience with them yet, but I've got a project coming up and I'll probably go with Lee Valley. Their bits are excellent quality and perhaps more importantly they've got the best setup instructions (including a joint troubleshooting section).

[Darnell Hagen]

+1 for the Lee Valley reccomendation.

I used their bit to make a pair of oak columns for a fireplace surround. After I had the parts milled and the joints cut, I arranged the stock in order and used masking tape to hold them tight together and flat. I put a bead of glue down each joint, then rolled the whole thing up into a tube and used more tape to hold it together. From there it was wrapped in vapour barrier and then it went into the vaccuum bag, no platen, just the bag. I put the line from the pump deep inside the column. The result was a evenly clamped column with invisible glue joints.

[russell lusthaus]

Just a thought for you to consider -

I have seen guys who make the bird mouths joint with multiple passes on the table saw with the blade set an angle. They say they get better gluing surfaces on the Table Saw than with the router.

Russ

[Kurt Rosenzweig]

Just a thought for you to consider -

I have seen guys who make the bird mouths joint with multiple passes on the table saw with the blade set an angle. They say they get better gluing surfaces on the Table Saw than with the router.

Russ

Thats how I do it. Here's a site that may help you with calculators and all. Good luck.
http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/04/s/articles/birdsmouth/index.cfm