Coping jig and matched height raised panel horizontal router bits

[Alan Lightstone]

Wondering how to do this. I just purchased a set of Sommerfeld matched height raised panel router bits. But to rout the cope cuts on the rails, I wanted to use a coping jig to hold the rails securely. I just feel much safer that way. The problem is that the coping jig raises the rails about 3/8" in relation to the router coping bit. This obviously puts the matched heights out of whack. I tried raising the bit by the 3/8" and routing the copes on the rails, but then I would need a piece of lumber underneath the stiles to get the heights to match with the pattern bit. Seems like a cumbersome way of doing things, and didn't work out well on a test piece.

Do you guys use a coping jig to do the cope cuts on the rails, or do you just do it freehand with a backer board and push board (the way Marc Sommerfeld does it on his video and in person)?

[Alan Schaffter]

Set the bits up normally without the sled and make sure they match perfectly. Make a setup guide for each bit from UHMW or other hard, but machinable, material. If you always use the guide to set the height of the bitsit doesn't matter if you use a sled for the cope cuts- set the guide on the sled platform to set the bit height.

Another way to do it is set the bits accurately using trial and error, then measure the height from the table to a good reference point with a Wixey digital height gauge. Write down the bit number, height, and what reference point you used in a log book.

[scott vroom]

Here's how I do it with CMT's matched set:

1) do the rail end grain cuts using a coping jig.
2) put the coping sled aside and lower the router spindle until the cope cutter aligns with the cut you just made (i.e. you're using the rail you just cut as a
jig to get the cope bit back to table level).
3) swap in the stile profile bit and do a couple of test cuts to fine tune the fit.

Hope this helps.

[Bill Huber]

Go take a look at this post, there are pictures that may help, it is doing just what Scott said.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?106803-It-s-just-not-that-hard......&highlight=rail+and

[Alan Lightstone]

Interesting thoughts, guys. Scott: I love the idea of using the rail as a jig to get the height right. Sommerfeld has their Easy-Set jig to keep the height constant, but that makes using the coping jig impossible.

I tried using their Easy-Set jig on the coping jig surface to standardize the height, but that didn't work for me. I'm going to try it again, though, as I think it should work.

Process would be:
1.) Set height on coping jig with Easy-Set jig. Make rail coping cuts.
2.) Remove coping jig. Lower height by resetting with Easy-Set jig on router table surface. Make stile pattern cuts.

I think this should also yield the correct height cuts. Have to try it again. If not, Scott's rail jig trick sounds real good.

Alan: I have a Wixey DRO on my router, but it has too much slop in it. Doesn't yield repeatable results. I haven't figured out how to fix it yet. It's been a big disappointment. :(

Bill: It looks like I'm where you were two years ago.

[Erik France]

I've seen matched height advertised, but I don't understand how it would be beneficial without having a constant reference point when swapping out the bits. I guess they could be bottomed out in the router, but bits aren't supposed to be installed that way.

I set my CMT bits up much like Steve said.

[Randy Henry]

I used to have this set up before converting to a shaper. What I did to fix this problem was to get two 1/2" drill bit stops, and set them on the 1/2" router bits. It took several test cuts to dial them and get them set on each bit. When I used the set after setting them up, all I have to do is put the coping bit in first, with the stop sitting on top of the router collet, tighten up the collet and run the pieces. Leave the height adjustment alone, take out the coping bit, put in the pattern bit with the drill stop resting on the collet, and go. Perfect every time as I make sure I keep the set screw in the stop set very tight. Hope this makes sense.

[Peter Quinn]

I run a piece of the sticking first to set the molding profile to the reveal I want. I always set the sticking up first, because that is what you will be looking at in the finished product. That gives you a sample of the groove height from the reference face (face up or down depending on your set). Then I use the sticking sample to set up the cope cutter, and cope all my rails next. I do this on a router or shaper just the same. Its nice to have two machines but not essential. I made a very simple second router table, no lift, just a spare base on a piece of melamine MDF with a hole in it and a simple plywood L fence, so it is not hard to accomplish. I see no real advantage to a "matched height set" on a router because minor height adjustments are not hard to make using test pieces. On a shaper this makes more sense because a locked spindle represents a fixed height. But on a router the shanks rarely get set at exactly the same height and should not be bottomed out because they can become loose if so. My main router table has an O ring at the bottom of the collet so you can drop a cutter in, it is not bottomed out, but that little piece of rubber is not a perfect fixed height, depends on how things tighten up, so minor adjustments are almost needed anyway.

I use a coping jig on the shaper because the cutters are larger and often the gap between infeed and outfeed fences is greater than the rail width. On the router I use a push block and set the fence plates as close together as possible, and the gap is never greater than my rail width, so no danger of a piece being sucked into the spinning cutter. But there is certainly no harm IMO in using a good coping sled on the router table, just that you can get away without it.

I have one set of cutters for the shaper that is really easier to set up if the heights are matched, and I use a coping jig with a 1/2" plate. So I made a 1/2" thick piece of mdf with a little radius at the cutting arc that I put on top of the main table, secures with a cleat at the infeed side and some double stick tape, and this raises the sticking cuts up to the same height as the coping cuts with sled. Make sense? Just add the same amount to both cuts and your heights are again matched. I don't like to run router bitts any higher than necessary due to deflection, which is not typically a problem over such a short difference on a shaper, so you should decide if the increased height is worth the ease of set up.

[Alan Lightstone]

I've seen matched height advertised, but I don't understand how it would be beneficial without having a constant reference point when swapping out the bits. I guess they could be bottomed out in the router, but bits aren't supposed to be installed that way.

I set my CMT bits up much like Steve said.
What they have you do is install a rubber grommet in the bottom of your collet (not a bad idea to prevent bottoming out in any case). This equalizes the distances for all the router bits and provides the constant reference point.

Peter's point about the grommet not being a perfect fixed height is probably a good one. I haven't tried swapping out the bits enough to see how much the variation is. I'm guessing not much, but not perfect.

Peter: I thought of adding a matching piece of mdf to equalize the heights. Probably going to wind up using that approach. Seems the simplest, and allows me to use the coping jig.