Making stopped chamfers

[Lloyd McKinlay]

I have a project which has three 4x6 ten foot posts. I would like to add stopped chamfers on the upper portion of each post to dress them up a bit but am drawing a blank on the best way to accomplish that. Methods I find online are geared towards smaller pieces or trim routers, not a 50+ pound post and a full sized router with a half inch bit.

Any suggestions?

[Bryan Hall]

Can you clamp a stop on them?

[Tom Bain]

Are the posts already vertical, or can you still work on them horizontally? If the latter, the technique for large chamfers is really not that different than for smaller pieces. Just take multiple passes with a chamfer bit and drop the depth a bit each pass. Only limit is the size of the bit.

[Phillip Mitchell]

I’ve done miles of this on timbers in a pro timber frame shop in a previous life. It’s the same thing essentially as smaller examples, but a couple of things I’ve done that seem to help (especially in a splintery wood like Douglas Fir is Red Cedar, for example) is to make an initial pass that is to ~75% of the final depth and then come back with the final depth setting where you really aren’t removing much material.

It also becomes necessary to read the grain and sometimes climb cut if necessary to prevent blowing out the grain (deeper than you want to rout) which can happen in certain grain orientations. You need to be aware and comfortable and confident in doing this with a 3+ hp router and big chamfer bit, though of course, there is a bearing below the cutter. Still need to have your wits about you and be prepared to hold the router back from running away, but it’s not a huge deal and done all the time in timber framing and carpentry.

Depending on the actual size / diameter of your chamfer bit (some are huge) you may want to slow down the speed of the router. Looking at a chart supplied by different router bit manufacturers will give you a sense of where the RPM range should be for different diameter bits.

This is more to do with layout but it’s also helpful to come up with a unified marking system to tell you exactly where to start and stop with each corner. This is easier to do with clamped on stops that the edge of the base runs into, but you can also work to a mark and be pretty accurate while watching the beginning and ends of your cuts. Save sneaking up right to the line for the last, final depth pass so as not to overshoot it.

[johnny means]

I just strike a line and eyeball it. This does create a slight asymetry at the top of the chamfer. One side is radiused, the other is an angled line. It's barely noticable, but can be corrected by kissing it with a climb cut from the adjacent face.

[Mark Hennebury]

Use the jointer.

[Ole Anderson]

Use the jointer. Can you elaborate? I am trying to visualize how to cut stopped chamfers on a jointer.

[Mark Hennebury]

Lower the infeed and outfeed tables co-planer, say 1/2" below the top dead center of the cutting circle.
Set your fence to 45 degrees.
Put marks or tape on the fence for reference start and stop place.
Start the jointer.
Lower the post (resting against the fence) onto the cutter, push forward and lift off, rinse and repeat on all edges.

[Richard Coers]

Rough carve the stops, run the router, then finish carve the stops. A lamb's tongue really shows off your craftsmanship. https://www.woodsmith.com/article/the-versatile-chamfer/

[Lloyd McKinlay]

Answering questions the material is still horizontal in my shop so adding stops will be easy. The posts will be painted so I can mechanically attach the stops and fill later. I will need a larger chamfer bit than what I currently have, any suggestions, both size and brand? I tend toward Whiteside products.

Thanks to everyone for the good information. My chamfer bits are used for jack miters and so are fairly small. Guess my mind had trouble grasping that big of a bit in a hand held router.

[Mel Fulks]

Once on a large job we ordered “left” and. “right” bits.

[Derek Cohen]

I have a project which has three 4x6 ten foot posts. I would like to add stopped chamfers on the upper portion of each post to dress them up a bit but am drawing a blank on the best way to accomplish that. Methods I find online are geared towards smaller pieces or trim routers, not a 50+ pound post and a full sized router with a half inch bit.

Any suggestions?

Lloyd, I would use a router table with supports on each side.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Becker]

The 45º chamfer tooling I have (with bearing) originally came from Jessada which would now, relatively speaking, be Infinity. It has about a 1" cutting depth at full height which would be a respectable chamfer. 'Not sure I'd want to swing something larger than that with a router nor would I try for full depth in one pass for quality and safety reasons.

[Prashun Patel]

Router table if you want it perfect.

How long are the chamfers?

[Lloyd McKinlay]

Router table if you want it perfect.

How long are the chamfers?

Chamfers will be about four feet in length, need to lay out the design and see what looks best. The problem I see with a router table is the posts weigh about 50 pounds each and really awkward to maneuver.

[Mark Bolton]

I cant imagine shoving that timber across a router table/fence. If the face of the timbers is not suitable to ride a bearing along we always do lambs toungue/stopped chamfers with a scrap of ply as a fence clamped to the timber and ride the edge of the routerbase along the fence. We use to do this all the time on heavy rough sawn or reclaimed hewn beams when we needed a nice chamfer but any type of edge guided fence or bearing was not an option. Scrap of ply and tack/screw your stops to the ply, clamp it, and route away.

[Lloyd McKinlay]

Thanks, looking at both Infinity and Whiteside cutting length jumps from roughly 5/8 to slightly over an inch with nothing in between. I'm not looking forward to using a 2.5 inch diameter bit without a table but it's nice to know it can be done.

[Mark Bolton]

Thanks, looking at both Infinity and Whiteside cutting length jumps from roughly 5/8 to slightly over an inch with nothing in between. I'm not looking forward to using a 2.5 inch diameter bit without a table but it's nice to know it can be done.

If you have the router you mentioned it will be no issue. Your not hogging off a ton of material with a chamfer. I wouldnt have any concern running a very wide chamfer (1" or so) with even a smaller router. If it worries you take two passes. Two passing may be better anyway if its a pretty heavy chamfer because the grain can split the corner off. You'll be fine. Tie the cord around your ankle if your router doesnt have a trigger so if you lose it when you run you'll unplug it from the extension cord LOL :D:p

[Mark Hennebury]

I don't understand why you wont just do it with a router. Seems to me the be the easiest. you can do it in several passes and from both directions so that you get both ends clean without any splintering.

[William Hodge]

I had to chamfer a bunch of Sapele posts, with the chamfers ending in lambs tongues. I did it with a straight bit, and angled the route. To finish the cut at the lambs tounge I nailed on a guide that the straight bit bearing would catch, bringing the router away from the work. For normal chamfered posts I just use a big 45 degree cutter in a router, and carve the end of the cut flat. Just stopping the router at a point leaves a rounded cut.

[Tom Bender]

You can do this with hand tools. It'll make a nice afternoon's work.