Sharing a technique for cutting miter key splines

[Edwin Santos]

Hi,
Today I was making a narrow frame for my Kumiko panel and wanted to reinforce the corners with miter keys. The common method for this is to use a jig that slides along the table saw fence holding the workpiece at 45 degrees so the blade can cut the slot. I've also seen a similar jig turned on its side to ride along a router table fence for a slot cutter to make the cut.

Here I am using a biscuit joiner to do the same thing. Did you know a biscuit joiner can be a stationary tool? All you need to do is mount it to a small bench on bench type table. Most biscuit joiners have tapped holes or some other means of securing them to a surface. Doing so improves accuracy and opens up lots of other opportunities. In my case, I just miter cut two small pieces of MDF and secured them to my table with double stick tape and I was ready to cut miter splines in about 60 seconds. The depth of cut can be set using the various biscuit settings. Here the frame is only 3/8" wide so it worked out that the 0 biscuit depth was perfect.

Not necessarily saying this is better than the table saw or router slot cutter, just another method of reaching the same destination. Hope this might be useful to someone else.

Edwin

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[Mike Henderson]

If I understand your jig, the blade is extended and you just push the work into the "V" in front of the biscuit jointer. How do you get the blade to stay out? I can see attaching the front part of the jointer to the table, but the blade would not be extended.

Or do you fix the work into the "V", perhaps with clamps, and then push the back of the jointer forward to extend the blade and cut the work?

Mike

[Paul F Franklin]

Nice solution. And nice kumiko panel; that's a lot of little pieces!

[Matt Day]

I’m guessing he holds the piece to be cut with one hand and pushes the biscuit joiner with the other.

Does the blade of the BJ have a flat tooth?

I like this much better than wrestling a big frame across a TS jig.

[Edwin Santos]

Hi,
Yes, Matt has it right. I hold the workpiece with one hand in the "V" and then plunge the biscuit joiner into the cut with the other hand. It's very safe because your fingers are well away from the cutter, and the cutter is limited in where it can go.
Yes, the biscuit joiner has a flat top bevel.

[Mark Gibney]

Thanks Edwin. Great tip.

[Bill Carey]

I'll be using this tip. Thanks Edwin.
And very nice panel too. Well done.

[Tom Bender]

So for those deeper slots we sometimes need, the table saw jig is still the way to go. Can anyone share a picture of a jig that works well?

[Larry Edgerton]

I made a spring loaded plunge jig for the shaper years ago when I had a job that required a bunch. Worked well, but when I moved I threw it out so no pics. .I used a sawblade from a dado blade with a 1 1/4" bore. Much safer than trying to do it vertically on the saw, but the splines had to be made with a 10" radius on the back side. I just made that curve on the edge sander and took off slices with the slider and a short stop block on the fence.

[Mike Henderson]

I don't care for exposed splines so I always do hidden splines, I have a jig I use with the router table to put hidden splines in miter joints.

Even for things like picture frames, I prefer hidden splines - but especially for things like boxes.

Mike

[Mark Daily]

So for those deeper slots we sometimes need, the table saw jig is still the way to go. Can anyone share a picture of a jig that works well?

I’ve used this for a long time. Just made out of 3/4” plywood. (There is a small chunk missing by the slot opening but it still works fine).

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[jack dempsey]

Thanks Edwin, always good to have other ways to perform the same task. Jack

[Tom Bender]

Thanks Mark, I have one similar, but yours looks better.

Larry, a 10" radius, you mean with a 20" blade! I'm guessing you mean a 5" radius. Plunging into a 10" saw blade sounds scary, horizontal or vertical. Why didn't the blade grab the work and throw it across the shop?

[Edwin Santos]

Thanks Mark, I have one similar, but yours looks better.

Larry, a 10" radius, you mean with a 20" blade! I'm guessing you mean a 5" radius. Plunging into a 10" saw blade sounds scary, horizontal or vertical. Why didn't the blade grab the work and throw it across the shop?

My question #1 is how large a miter key do you need to sufficiently reinforce a joint anyway (and how large a mitered workpiece are we talking about)? I think a max cut on the typical table saw would be, what? 2 3/4" or maybe 3"? The frame carrier might decrease that a bit, but making a deep cut like that with the workpiece vertical is not for the faint at heart.

Of course if you were really dealing with a massive mitered frame, then I suppose a hand saw would do it, and give you a thinner kerf, but again back to question #1.

[Mark Daily]

My question #1 is how large a miter key do you need to sufficiently reinforce a joint anyway (and how large a mitered workpiece are we talking about)? I think a max cut on the typical table saw would be, what? 2 3/4" or maybe 3"? The frame carrier might decrease that a bit, but making a deep cut like that with the workpiece vertical is not for the faint at heart.

Of course if you were really dealing with a massive mitered frame, then I suppose a hand saw would do it, and give you a thinner kerf, but again back to question #1.

Edwin, the jig I use is for cutting smaller decorative splines only. Structural would depend on the size of the material, what your making, etc.