circle cutting

Getting the discussion started

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>Not much experience with this, but...

It can be argued that lathes were among the first, if not THE first, power tools, and at the same time they remain hand tools. Even a pole lathe is powered by forces other than the worker's muscular control against the cutting edge, and other non-electric lathes (great wheel on) are powered by forces external to the worker altogether (whether water wheel or whining young apprentice). However, to a greater degree than with, say, circular saws, the correct application of the cutting tool to the work is delicate and requires great artfulness, like hand tools.

So, I think you could use a lathe without guilt as a hand tool application.

If you wanted not to use a lathe or don't have one, I think you've captured the essential steps: mark out and shape. Specialists in curved work, like coopers or carriage-makers, might have specially built curved-sole planes, but the one-off builder would have used regular tools and worked carefully to the line.

This seems like a golden application for a scratch beader for the profiles.

Re: Getting the discussion started

Ernie Miller Topeka

>I felt sorry about that post sitting there also but he wanted to cut a rebate on the inside of a cut out circle and all I could think of was chisels. maybe hog out the waist with one and then switch to the beader to make it all even. I will check a couple books when I get home. I have one on curved work that is quite old can't remember the name though.

Naaaa....

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>You use one of these. Doesn't everybody have a 198?

Re: Getting the discussion started

Jack from Maine

>I had a feeling this was a difficult thing. Any references to books on the subject would be helpful.

I never thought of the lathe. I don't do alot of turning,mostly handles and knobs,but there are possibilities there. I have less objection to using a lathe than to riskng my precious fingers on a high speed electron burning finger biter(routers scare me).

Still wondering how it was done before electrons were harnessed.---Jack

Re: Naaaa....

Jack from Maine

>Does that work on inside circles,outside,or both?

Re: circle cutting

MikeL in SoCal

>Howdy Jack,

I'm having a hard time picturing what you need to do but I'd guess that the hand tools needed to get the job done would be small versions of the tools a cooper would use to make the lid of a barrel or the rabbet that the lid sits in. Coopers used all kinds of specialized tools for dealing with consistent curves. Instrument makers may also have specially designed tools for working on curved parts.

Cheers,

Mike

Both... *LINK*

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>For more info go here:

Be for warned, if you�re actually going to try to find one of these better have a lot room on your platinum card.


Stanley B&G

Re: circle cutting

Jack from Maine

>Mike ,it might be easier to visualize it like this. I made a round picture frame.I started with six equal pieces 3"x6"x7/8".I mitered them end to end into a hexagon and rounded off the six corners into a circle.Then I made a smaller circle inside the frame and cut that out.I need to make a rabbet inside this frame to hold the glass.----Jack

Re: Naaaa....

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>Was that a gloat, Scott, or were you just fantasizing? I didn't mention it since it's a fantasyland kind of tool.

Re: circle cutting

Dennis

>Well i would goto my stanley67 or the stanley68 or could use one of the leather shaves that have the fence and then use beader to square up the rabbit.

Not having one of these tools, then i guess maybe you could use a stanley 71 and make a fence or make your own beader to do it.

Dennis

remove nospam for email

Oh I....

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>wish it was a gloat! I've only seen it in pictures. I believe one or two have been on the "bay" went for over a grand if I remember correctly.

Re: circle cutting

MikeL in SoCal

>I seem to remember seeing a curved wooden rabbet plane just for this type of procedure (but maybe on a larger scale). I suppose the plane has to be designed to match the radius of the piece you're rabbeting. Then again, it might have been designed for rabbeting the outer edge of the curve.

I have to confess that I'd cheat and use one of those electron/finger-munching, noise/dust-polluting demons for the task.

Cheers,

Mike

Re: circle cutting

Clay C. in Miami

>Could you attach a custom-curve fence to the bottom surface of an old-woman-tooth or other similar narrow-blade router?

Clay

Re: circle cutting

MikeL in SoCal

>I was thinking something along a similar line. First score the cut with a modified cutting gauge. The modification is simply a convex face on the fence so you can ride the inside curve of the workpiece.. Then remove the wood with a modified hag's tooth router. Again, the modification is simply a convex fence. It *sounds* easy enough.

Cheers,

Mike

I think I got the rabbet figured

Jack from Maine

>I think you all gave me the clue on the rabbet.I have a #71 with an attached wooden base.If I built a fence to attach to it and scored the rabbet with a marking knife I believe it would be the method.

Thanks----Jack

cutting gauge,not marking knife

Jack from Maine

>was what I meant to say. Yeah,what Mike said.

Re: circle cutting

William R. Duffield on the Cohansey

>I have a couple of observations.

First, why do you need a circular rabbet? This is based on another question: Why do you need a circular piece of glass, since the edges are hidden by the visible circular cut out?

Whatever shape you need to enclose and restrain the glass, why does it have to be made from the same wood as the visible face? The strength of the frame would be increased if you "bricked" it, with six segments on the front, and six segments behind rotated by 30� from the front segments. You could cut the inner edges of the back segments to fit the glass before you glued up the whole assembly.

If it really were important to display the inner face of the glass door, you could use one of these quirk routers to cut the rabbet. One of its fences is short and curved.

Dang William...floating O.T.

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>There you go again with that quirk router. I'm still wating for my blades from Pam. I hope she realy didn't diss us. Anyway I'm wating to try mine.

Re: circle cutting

Jack from Maine

>I never thought of changing the design to accomodate the glass.I figured on the design for simplicity.Your idea might work but I think it would be over complicating it.I'm new at this stuff and I like things simple.

As to not needing a round piece of glass,the frame is only about 1.25"wide so the glass shape has to be close to the shape of the frame.No room to hide.I'm trying to come close to a particular clock made by Seth Thomas called the Regulator because that is what the movement is out of.

The originals were made with oak and/or walnut which would have been a little easier to work than cherry I think. The cherry was provided by the client from a tree he cut years ago. His choice ,not mine. I think it will be pretty though and I'm going to get some of the cherry as a bonus on this job.

That black metal tool,is that the quirk router? It's an interesting looking tool. I've never heard of it.Are they English made tools?Thanks----Jack

also

Jack from Maine

>I did like that idea of a separate inner part.I may try that on a round picture frame I'm going to follow this project up with.I went ahead and machine cut the clock face(I've been on this project for too long)but I want to do the whole operation by hand.So I'll do it on my time.---Jack

Re: circle cutting

William R. Duffield on the Cohansey

>Yes, the black tool is the quirk router. It is a Preston, made in England. I've discussed this here before. If you are interested in this approach, search the archives, and the Badger Pond Neanderthal Haven archives, if you have a copy on CD. It is designed to cut the rabbet on the corners of guitars, for quirk inlays, among other uses. The widest blade that it comes with is either 3/16" or 5/32", so the rabbet might have to be cut in two passes. The other tool is just a router.

A viable alternative strategy: You might want to consider using a cutting gauge with a curved fence and a straight fence, and use it to define the bottom and inside edges of the rabbet. Then it would be easy to clean it up with a scratch beader with a curved fence. These tools are easy to throw together in your shop from scraps. Making a set of these tools that will last for many years can get complicated, but for one or two projects, quick and dirty is the order of the day, and you will gain experience that you can apply to building some high quality ones.