Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
lock miter joint
Michael van pelt
building four Morris Chairs and I want to use a lock miter joint on the legs. I hve hd great results with the router bit but only on short pieces. any bow at all makes it very difficult keeping it tight up against the fence on the router table. Thinking about investing in a stock feeder and shaper cutter and doing it on my shaper. Anyone having good results on the router table with 30” pieces? suggestions? thanks
Re: lock miter joint
Hank Knight
Michael, I've built some fairly large cabinet boxes using a lock miter bit and had good luck with it. You are right, though, any bend or curves in the workpiece makes a mess of the joint. I use finger boards on my router table fence directly over the bit to keep the workpiece pressed down flat on the bench and a lot of side pressure to make sure it doesn't wander away from the fence. This has worked well for me.
Re: lock miter joint
Jim Dillon
Michael, your right, a well-fitting lock-miter joint is kinda fussy to get right - at least in my hands. But it is a neat way to get consistent grain on all sides of a leg without having access to very thick stock. And, as you mentioned, the individual pieces must be as straight as you can get them. I have not done 30-inch legs, but 18-inches or so. I use the approach Hank described to snug the piece really tight to the router fence - both horizontally and vertically. Below, hopefully, is a picture of feather boards used on either side of the bit. Additionally, I have feather boards coming down from the top again on either side of the bit. I use a push stick to guide the piece without exposing my fingers to the spinning bit and just to feel safer. Jim
Re: lock miter joint
Michael van pelt
Thanks Hank. Thanks Jim.....appreciate the suggestions. I am going to try the double feather board approach and if the tool budget can afford a new stock feeder
Thanks