Vertical Panel Raising Bit - trying them out

[Art Mulder]

Howdy,

Even though I've been woodworking for over 10 years, I am still just a hobbiest, with a day job and many other responsibilities. As such, there are many facets of woodworking where I have not had the time to explore in depth. Raised panels are one such area. For whatever reason, I just have not used raised panels very much.

The first time I raised a panel I used the method of making cove molding on the table saw, only making half a cove. (this involves sliding a board diagonally over the saw blade, and raising the blade a fraction at a time. it works, and gives a nice curved surface, but is VERY slow. This is suitable for when you need only one or two panels.

The next time was also on the table saw. With an angled sliding jig, you can clamp and cut raised panels. it works, but again, is fairly labour intensive, as it requires clamping each board four times -- once for each side, plus another Table saw setup for cutting the shoulders. Last year I used this method when cutting the raised panels for the drawer fronts of nine drawers. It was endless. I swore to never do that again.

I don't have a shaper, and am unlikely to get one in the near future, so that avenue for raised panels is out. Horizontal raised panel bits on the router table seems to be the next most popular option. But they wouldn't work in my basic router table -- the opening is too small for the bit.

Here then, is my first experience trying out a vertical panel raising bit in a router table. For my project (another set of 9 drawer fronts) I chose the Vertical Straight Panel Raising bit from Lee Valley (Part # 16J63.52).

I mounted this in my PC690 mounted in my disposable router table (http://wordsnwood.com/2007/p.rt/) that I made a while back. My fence was too short for these large drawer fronts, so I first attached an auxiliary fence to the face of my fence with some wood screws. It was about 10-12" tall and the length of the fence.

Router table set up - front
102636 (http://familywoodworking.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=26239&d=1228317981)
Router table set up - back
102637 (http://familywoodworking.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=26240&d=1228317981)


Actually using the bit was almost anticlimactic. It just worked. The PC690 is a single-speed router, so I was carefull to not try and take too large a cut in one pass. But even so, I found it only took two passes to raise the panels to the depth that I wanted.

In hindsight I should have made three passes. On a ww'ing forum I read some advice that at the end of your run you should give the fence a tap (pushing it over maybe 1/32nd I would guess) and take a final tiny cut. I did encounter some minor "ripples" in my work pieces that I had to sand out. I presume that the board wiggled a tiny bit in use, and I would think that a final pass like that would help take care of that and reduce some of the clean-up sanding that was needed afterwards

102638 (http://familywoodworking.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=26241&d=1228317981) 102639 (http://familywoodworking.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=26242&d=1228317981)

NOTE: This is a posed shot - nothing is turned on. I ALWAYS wear ear and eye protection when using tools. I didn't actually know my wife was going to include me in the shot, but I actually like the "overall" view this gives.

102640 (http://familywoodworking.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=26243&d=1228317981)


(...To Be Continued)

[Art Mulder]

(...Continued)

And that's about all there is to say.

It really was not that hard to use this bit. It worked fine in a simple inexpensive router table. It worked fine in a simple inexpensive 1.5HP router. It worked fine with a simple homemade wooden fence that was probaly NOT flat to some incredible thousands of an inch.

I'm quite satisfied. Here are some test boards.

102643 (http://familywoodworking.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=26245&d=1228317981) 102642 (http://familywoodworking.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=26244&d=1228317981)

And just for completion, here are some of the drawers with the finished (though without finish) drawer fronts mounted.

102644

[Chris Padilla]

Looks good, Art! I have to admit that the vertical panel raisers look significantly less scary than their horizontal counterparts!! I may have to try it someday....

[Mike Robbins]

Yep- I use a vertical paner raiser bit too. Like the aux fence you installed.

What I found also helped out was a trap fence so that the panel had a fence on both side to keep the bottom from kicking out, especially on the 2nd cut where the bearing surface is smaller due to first cut.

Taking 3 cuts seems to be best way, at least with the MLCS bit. Got lots of chipout when I tried two big cuts. First panel I did the first cut was about 70% of total depth! Massive chipout and poor quality cut :mad:
Next few I did looked way better when I didn't take more than 40% of depth in one pass.

[Glenn Clabo]

Art,
Nice info...pictural. I actually have had one for a while...but haven't used it. I bought it because the horizontal one is a little puckering...

[Jim Becker]

Nice work, Art. These cutters are good in many ways, especially for folks who for whatever reason don't have a 15 amp router available to spin the large, horizontal bits. The downside, of course, is the need to construct a sturdy and serviceable tall fence to support the workpiece. (I would still recommend a feather board to keep the workpiece absolutely flat against fence and cutter to ensure a consistent milling job)

[Steve Perez]

Howdy Art,

Those bits are great aren't they! Great job with the photos and my compliments to the photographer. If you really like using them, you should consider adapting your router table to be convertible to a horizontal router table. Looking at a closeup of your router table this would be very easy and very inexpensive to do. Materials would be at the very minimum: a scrap piece of plywood, a bolt and knob (for a pivot point), 2 small scrap blocks of wood, a short piece of threaded rod (and knob) provides vertical adjustability, and a second bolt and knob to lock the setting. Cheap huh? This way you could use your vertical panel raising bits with the comfort of laying your material flat on the table.

Basically you would be adding vertical mounting plate (plywood) for the router that swings behind your existing table about a pivot point on one end (say the right rear end of your router table). Screw and glue a small block of hardwood behind your router table opposite of the pivot. Screw and glue the second block behind your vertical plate. Drill and thread this block to fit your threaded rod (or use a t-nut inside the block). This provides fine vertical micro adjustability. Rout an arc on the mounting plate so that you can lock the vertical setting with a bolt and knob. You would have to clamp the table to your bench as it might be back heavy in this configuration. Would be a very advantagous and simple mod. This way you could have a simple horizontal mortiser too. I have a different kind of horizontal router table but these bits are a perfect match.

[Peter Quinn]

Hey Art. I use a shaper now, but I have used the vertical bits and prefer them in any router table to horizontal bits, surprised they are not more popular. I took a class in panel raising using a vertical set up where they had a removable shim system set to make the panel in four cuts. The shims were hard board auxiliary fence plates, 1/8" i think, don't remember the exact method of holding the auxiliary fences in place, but it was cool.

The main fence was set to final depth for the tongue thickness to match the groove on a door set (not a concern for drawer fronts). Put in all the shim fences, pass all four sides once, remove a shim, pass again, and so on. No fence adjustments, no turning the router off, pretty quick and very smooth.

Nice pictures and thanks for posting. Enjoy that set up.

[John Keeton]

Peter, wish you could remember that setup! I have my veritical bit on order and looking forward to trying it out and that sounds like a neat system.

[Norman Pyles]

Thanks for the pics Art, and the great write up. I've made one raised panel from MDF with a vertical bit, and it worked great. I did put a feather board at the bottom like Jim said, and it seemed to help keep the board from rocking. But my fence was not as tall as yours, so that may have been the difference.

[Walt Caza]

Hi Art,
I use those vertical panel raising bits with my homemade horizontal router table.
Just an MDF box, with the router mounted on an MDF plate,
which mounts and pivots on a box side.
The pivot provides height adjustment for the bit.
Sucking the box provides dust collection.
The router base plate cannot be too thick, to ensure a full depth, and thus width, of cut to raise your panel fully.

Works like a charm, quite a treat.
Cost some shop time and next to nothing in materials.
Never did take pics of my rig.
No shop time for me for a while.
I could show some pics whenever I get back into my shop.
See you in the sawdust,
Walt

ps It makes good horse sense to machine your panels flat on a router table,
and without spinning a huge 3.5" diameter bit... less scary for sure.
Make gravity your friend, like Japanese woodworkers do!

[Art Mulder]

Hey Walt, Jim, Steve, (et al) :p

Thanks for the kind words. Yeah, I considered making a horizontal table also, and I still may in future. But really, I think I got pretty good results with this setup, and for rare use I think it'd be fine. But if I start doing more, I may just see about some sort of horizontal arrangement. Supporting the weight of the router hanging horizontally is the trick there, I suspect.

best,
...art