Wide bevel across face of board

[Victor Robinson]

Need to make a wide bevel/taper across the face of a 6" board that is 1.25" thick. The taper is over 4 inches, going from 1/4" to 1.25" thickness. Haven't done this before but I can see a few different ways to accomplish it...wondering if I'm thinking correctly on this or if there's an easier way...

1) jointer - glue a strip to one side of the face of the board with matching bevel used to support the board at the proper angle.

2) planer - sled with wedges supporting board over its length at the appropriate angle

3) bandsaw - angled table cut - don't like this option, difficult to support board safely

Your thoughts are much appreciated!

[Kirk Poore]

Across the ends of the board? Handsaw it or bandsaw it on edge, then clean up with a plane or sander.

Kirk

[Tom Ewell]

I've made several wide bevels for custom door 'thresholds' using a planer similarly to what you propose but I use a piece of ply with tacked on rails to guide the stock and another rail to hold the stock at the desired angle. The ply works as a stationary platen hooked and clamped to the planer table rather than a full length sled allowing for most any length of stock to be run through it.

Can rough the bevel out on the table or bandsaw then finish it up with the planer if you don't want to take too many passes through the planer.

[Victor Robinson]

I've made several wide bevels for custom door 'thresholds' using a planer similarly to what you propose but I use a piece of ply with tacked on rails to guide the stock and another rail to hold the stock at the desired angle. The ply works as a stationary platen hooked and clamped to the planer table rather than a full length sled allowing for most any length of stock to be run through it.

Can rough the bevel out on the table or bandsaw then finish it up with the planer if you don't want to take too many passes through the planer.

Ah, making the sled stationary is something I didn't think of. Do you bother with a bevel on the support rail or just leave it square?

And this is indeed for a door threshold, but I'll also be using the technique for a contemporary mirror frame the wife has ordered.

[Mark Wooden]

Make it in the planer with a stationary bed as Tom suggests, it's the easiest way. I usually cut a bevel on the support cleat, be sure to wax the surfaces the stock will slide on well. Expect to have to help push/pull it through the planer for the first few passes until enough of a flat surface is cut for the feed rolls to grab. Take light passes as you approach the 1/4" dimension, could get a little flexy.

[lowell holmes]

Plus one for Kirk's solution.

The band saw will require very little time and a hand plane will clean it up before you can set up planer.

[Tom Ewell]

Ah, making the sled stationary is something I didn't think of. Do you bother with a bevel on the support rail or just leave it square?

And this is indeed for a door threshold, but I'll also be using the technique for a contemporary mirror frame the wife has ordered.

So far, I just do a square for the support rail.

Might make for a little smoother operation with a beveled support rail, particularly with softer woods and/or you're going for a production run with a lot of footage.

If you go with this jig, as mentioned, help the stock along a bit to aid alignment and feed rate early on, waxing is a good idea as well.

[Matt Meiser]

I made some thresholds like this by running them through the planer with a strip under one edge.

[Matt Winterowd]

Your full bevel is too wide for the table saw blade, so you'll probably want to finish on the planer, but you can sidestep the first 10 or so passes through the planer by using a 90° sled on the table saw. You can tilt the blade and run the piece through on edge and remove the bulk of the material. Think about something like this made of plywood. http://www.grizzly.com/products/W1500

Takes about 10 minutes to make, and is very handy to have around.

[jack forsberg]

cutting the bottom out with a tilted dado stack on the table will give a nice thick front edge and the surface will not be seen. make you cuts from the nose first with the blade tilted to leave a heel to support for the work. Cut the heel off last using the fence with the piece vertical. each time you shift the fence you lower the blade and follow a line you draw on the end. Like said you don't see this surface and the front edge is still thick and over hangs the opening so a better sill. and don't forget the drip kerf

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[Zach Callum]

Across the ends of the board? Handsaw it or bandsaw it on edge, then clean up with a plane or sander.

Kirk

This is the way to do it. Why would you mess around with making a complicated jig for something that could be achieved in a much simpler way?

[Tom Ewell]

This is the way to do it. Why would you mess around with making a complicated jig for something that could be achieved in a much simpler way?

The OP has already said that he intends to do more than a one-of and he might feel that having a jig, which btw is not all that complicated, will suit his needs.
I've used my jig several times, not only for thresholds but most any milling that requires a long bevel for hundreds of feet in long lengths, the planer also leaves a clean surface so no need for further dressing.

As always, there is more than one way to do things but there is no reason to express incredulity because someone else's methods does not align with you own thinking.

[Victor Robinson]

This is the way to do it. Why would you mess around with making a complicated jig for something that could be achieved in a much simpler way?

The bandsaw was my first go-to, but I wasn't able to come up with a support system that was giving me confidence for this particular cut. And my handsaws are of the small variety.

[Prashun Patel]

This is the kind of thing that if you've tried doing it on the planer, you'll smack yourself for considering other ways. You can skin this cat many ways, but the planer sled is really the simplest. It's not much of a jig. Just a little glue or very strong doublesided tape and a strip of wood.

It's safe, straight forward, allows you to sneak up on the final depth, and requires minimal post-smoothing/flattening.

Don't get me wrong, I love using handplanes, but if your goal is fast and consistent, the power planer can't be beat on this.

[Frank Drew]

Across the ends of the board? Handsaw it or bandsaw it on edge, then clean up with a plane or sander.

Kirk

Kirk, He wrote across the face of the board, so perhaps I'm wrong, but I took it the way you did, that he meant across the grain, at the ends of the board. But I think he actually meant along the board's length, as with a door threshold that Tom mentions.

[Victor Robinson]

Kirk, He wrote across the face of the board, so perhaps I'm wrong, but I took it the way you did, that he meant across the grain, at the ends of the board. But I think he actually meant along the board's length, as with a door threshold that Tom mentions.

I should have just mentioned what it was for instead of trying to [poorly] describe the cut!

[Peter Quinn]

We do this a lot at work. Planer is the best for repeat ability and safety. But sled bad. Sled means it goes through with the wood. You want a "tapered bed board". Ours is a piece of melamine on top of a piece of plywood, piano hinge along one long edge so it's adjustable for different angles, you set the angle with wedges, a cleat perpendicular to the feed direction at the back end of the table keeps the bed board in place during use, you can work up a clamping scheme should shifting become an issue. If it's a one off and you want a single angle, you can just cut tapered strips on the sliding miter box or your favorite method, make them all the same, attach to the bottom of a bed board with nails or screws, a 1/4" strip on the low side of the bed board keeps the work in place as you take passes. I've done 16' material alone with both methods, essentially the same thing except the hinged one is good for every angle for the rest of your life if that's a benefit.

[Alan Schwabacher]

Google "scarf joint router jig" for the way plywood is joined when it still needs to bend smoothly. It's often used for stitch and glue kayak construction.

[Joe Calhoon]

We use a jig similar to what Peter describes. The degree of bevel is determined by the width of board inserted into the slot. Simple and no clamping needed, several widths of boards on hand with the degree marked on the end. We also use a 6" high Tersa head in the tilting shaper for some sill work. That works well for the type of sill jack showed.

sorry for the tilted pics, it takes several tries to get them in right side up.
Joe
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[Victor Robinson]

I ended up deciding to go the "quieter" route for the one-off threshold and used the bandsaw. I got a wavy cut, probably due to my procrastination on changing the blade as well as not being able to keep the board as tight to the fence/table as I'd like, but about 30 min with handplanes cleaned everything up, and was strangely satisfying.

Thank you Peter and Joe for describing (and showing) the clever jig you use! I'm going to go with that for the large mirror frame.