Rail & Stile Rookie Questions

[Dennis Putnam]

I'm attempting my first panel door and have been practicing with my rail and style bits. The problem I am having is that I keep gouging the edges until my wood hits the bearing. It is not so bad with the inside because my fence helps me with the long pieces. However, with the narrow ends it is a real problem. What is the proper way to feed the ends into the bit so I do not gouge the edges?

I recently built a router table and the recommendation was not to install a T-slot because using a miter gauge was not necessary on a router. Now I'm thinking this guy never did rails & styles because I can't think of any other way to do it.

Thanks.

[Jeff Monson]

I think your problem is from lack of support from your fence until the workpiece hits the bearing. 2 different options in my book, make sure the fence is parallel to the bearing (I use a straight edge about a foot long) or make an insert that will support the workpiece till it hits the bearing, my fence is mdf so if I need to move it in its not a problem. Usually when this has happened to me its been a fence alignment to bearing issue.

[Charles Thomas]

You need a coping sled to hold your boards. Unless you cope and then rip, it is next to impossible without it.

[Jeff Monson]

I use a coping sled for end cuts if that is what you are refering to? You dont have to have a mitre slot for that.

[Paul Greathouse]

Jeff and Charles are correct, you need a coping sled. Some sleds are made to run in the miter slot but it is more advantageous to not use a miter slot when coping because you want your sled to slide against your fence and be square to the cutter to make accurate end copes/cuts.

If you were using a sled that runs in a miter slot then you would have to ensure that your fence was perfectly aligned with the miter slot each time.

You can easily make a sled, just do some searching here on the creek and you should be able to see some examples from the very simple to the ultra-refined. Mine is homemade and very simple but it works perfectly every time.

[Dennis Putnam]

Thanks for the replies. I first eliminated the ultra fancy and just focused on the simple block with a handle type. I hope I am understanding the concept: this method depends on the fence rather than a t-slot and I am guessing that the edge of block itself winds up mutilated to some degree and would need to be ripped after each set of cuts. Am I understanding correctly?

It appears the only thing I really need to buy are the hold-down clamps. Do the big box stores carry them?

Thanks again.

[Josiah Bartlett]

Another useful thing when coping is to have a pair of sacrificial blocks and the start and end of the cut to prevent tearout of the piece. It also helps a lot with alignment.

[Myk Rian]

Some people have a negative mind-set about router tables and miter slots. I have them on all mine, and find them useful. I also have T-tracks. If you use them, have them. Don't listen to those that argue against.

A coping sled in a miter slot is the way I do the end-grain on my RTs.
You can get the clamps at HF, Woodcraft, Rockler, etc. Not sure I've seen them at the boxes.

[Don Jarvie]

A question near and dear to me since I am making doors right now.

The easiest thing to do to eliminate tearout is taking multiple passes so the bit take a little at a time. And as Jeff said the bearing and the fence should be parallel. Put a ruler across the fence and push it until it hits the bearing on the bit.

Tearout on the end of the rail is a pain so I made a coping sled. The coping sled has the sacraficial board the is behind the rail to prevent the tearout.

[Rod Sheridan]

I use a sliding table shaper when coping, however here's how I would do it if I had a router table with a mitre track.

- make a sled from BB ply with a nice tight fitting mitre bar attached.

- add a strudy wood fence with a tiny bit of adjustment in it for squareness ( all it needs is an oversized hole on the bolt.

- add a couple of DeStaco toggle clamps to hold the work down.

you can use the router fence with a thin stop block to set the length of cope.

Use a backer block to prevent tearout.

This is what's done on shapers if they don't have a sliding table, and it works great.

regards, Rod.

[Chip Lindley]

The wonderful thing about woodworking is, there are a zillion ways to accomplish the same work, depending on what tools are available, or the personal tastes of the w'worker.

Same as Rod, I do my rail/stile work on a shaper. But the same principles can be applied to a router table. When cutting the cope on rail ends, I first cut each piece exactly to it's finished length. Then, I set the infeed fence half of the shaper exactly in line with the tongue-part of the cutter. (the fence serves only to reference the workpiece before it is clamped down. The fence does not guide the piece through the cut, whatsoever!)Then, the piece to be coped is held in my trusty Weaver coping sled perfectly square to the cutter. The Weaver has an "armstrong" hold down to keep the pieces from moving. Works great, and increases your hand-shaking grip! The 3/4x3/4 hardwood backer is squared exactly 90 deg. to the miter slot, plus keeps tearout from happening on the trailing side of the cope cut.

IMO, this setup is the next best thing to a sliding table shaper! Well, almost! Those Copemaster jigs that ride on a cushion of air, with pneumatic clamps are wayy $nifty$!

[Dave Wagner]

For my shaper, I built my own sled for doing these from a scrap piece of flooring, a couple clamps and a homemade handle...

[Joe Chritz]

On a rail the end that goes into the stile is the cope end. If the gouge is there then you need to make sure your sled is fully supported at all times by fence. The fence needs to be coplaner with the bearing and the sled long enough it is always supported. It can be supported on either fence at any time.

The long cut (where the panel goes) is the stick cut. That will gouge if the inboard fence (the first one) is set to deep. Make sure both fences are totally coplaner with the bearing and your problem will go away.

You can accomplish this with careful alignment of a split fence or some kind of zero clearance one piece.

Joe

[Dennis Putnam]

Does anyone have a template for creating a handle for this sled? I was thinking of just using a large diameter dowel but it seems the consensus is that a saw handle style is better so it can be angled to assure pressure toward the fence while cutting. What size and type material is best? TIA.