Shaping Raised Panels?

[Rich Huhra]

I am getting ready to shape some raised panels using my Grizzly 1035 shaper with a ogee bit with back cutter. The panels are 26" long and 8" wide made of 3/4" cherry. What is the safest way to do this with out having a power feeder? Is there a jig I could build to assit in cutting the long sides? I have a hold down for doing the ends, but worry about kick back for the long sides. What would you guys suggest?
Thanks
Richard

[Jason Beam]

LIGHT passes ... less than 1/8" per, if it were me.

[wayne ateser]

I am getting ready to shape some raised panels using my Grizzly 1035 shaper with a ogee bit with back cutter. The panels are 26" long and 8" wide made of 3/4" cherry. What is the safest way to do this with out having a power feeder? Is there a jig I could build to assit in cutting the long sides? I have a hold down for doing the ends, but worry about kick back for the long sides. What would you guys suggest?
Thanks
Richard

I did 1/2" cuz that was the handy size of shims for the fence. I suppose I would have liked to take smaller bites yet. On MDF lite I did the entire milling in 1 gulp no problem.

[Joe Chritz]

1/2 cuts should not be any problem.

Use a feather board and push blocks. The kind with the rubber bottom to hold the piece on the table.

I use a feeder but still take two passes. I get the fence and height set and then add a 1/2 plywood fence. I don't have a rub collar so I use a one piece zero clearance fence of MDF.

I just made 35 or so panels using the same kind of set up, although I have cutters for 3/4 material so no backcutter.

Used a rail/stail cutter from MLCS for those and what a difference that makes, well worth the $55 bucks.

The shaper is a scary beast spinning that 5 inch plus cutter around.

Be careful

Joe

[Rick Christopherson]

You're worrying about the wrong part. The 26 inch side is not the difficult cut, it is the 8 inch wide ends. This aspect ratio makes the end cuts unstable against the fence with a tendancy to skew. You're gonna want to make sure you have a way to keep the panel square to the fence.

This problem may also be compounded by the direction you choose for the cutter rotation. You didn't say which way you would be going, but most woodworkers without power feeders have the panel raiser below the workpiece because the reverse scares them too much. The result is that a narrow panel like this will have little contact surface to keep it from tilting by the time you begin your second pass.

If you keep the cutter below the panel, then you could clamp a filler strip to the table to keep the panel from rocking. If you have the cutter above the panel and don't have a power feeder, then you need to make a guard to keep your hands away from the exposed cutter.

[Brent Harral]

My shaper is dedicated to swinging raised panel cutters so I made this fence. Not sure how it could be any safer short of a power feeder and the top hold down works great. I get 100 percent DC (I do alot of MDF panels) and shorter width panels aren't a problem with the fence so closed in around the cutter. For panels less than 8" or so, I do use a simple sled, but not always I never had a problem of the panel "dipping" into the cutter. Anyway, I saw a very similar design of this on the net several years ago and said now THAT'S is the ticket! Had to build one...

[J.R. Rutter]

If you have room between the spindle and the front bottom edge of the fence, use a strip of aluminum along the bottom of the fence. This gives 100% contact the whole way across. I just used 3/4" wide strips and bandsawed out an arc around the spindle to give me the right spacing and still have support that won't bend. For panels with a back cut as well, I have spacers under the fence strip so that I still have the continuous aluminum strip. I use power feeders, so this prevents panels from diving into the small gap, or getting hung up. My fence registers on dowels in the stock shaper fence. I flip it upside-down to go to the back cut strip with spacers. Spring clamps are all that is needed to hold it on thanks to the dowels.

I run my cutters above the table, so that the back of the panel is flat on the table. For end cuts on narrow parts, I use a sled type backer that pushes along behind the panel to keep it square. It has a ledge underneath that registers on the front of the shaper table. For tiny panels, like drawer faces, I use a sled similar to a coping sled for end cuts.

Be safe!

[glenn bradley]

If you have a miter slot you might consider putting together something like a coping sled:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=40640

This would control your piece for the narrow edge.