Help on tips for making trim molding

[David Figueroa]

Since I have never used a router before I was wondering If you might be able to give me some pointers.

I have to make my own birch cabinet moldings (since I cannot find what I need at the molding store). What I need is 3/4" thick trim with ogee edge.

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3/4" | <- routed edge
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What I think I need to do route the ogee edge along the length of the board then rip that piece, and do it over again, until I have enough trim.

My question(s): This is probably best done on a table with fence? Is it possible to do it free hand? How to do this? I guess you would need to have some guide for the ball bearing to follow?

Finally which tool I need to get the job done (with safety and cost as consideration).

Thanks much.

[Richard Wolf]

If I understand you correctly? If the router bit has a ball bearing on it, no, you do not need a fence. The board should be clamped down and the router with bit installed, can be ran along the edge. Once the edge is routed you will cut it to size on a table saw. (With a fence).

[David Figueroa]

Thanks Richard,

Yes, for ripping use fence on the table saw. I was thinking in an ogee profile, there is no straight egde, no flat part; so what edge would the bearing use to guide the router?

Maybe I am misundertanding the height parameter. If the router bit is 3/4" carbide height, this does NOT include the bearing, correct? So does this mean that I should instead get a 5/8" carbide height so there is 1/8" at the bottom where the bearing can ride?

[Jim Becker]

IMHO, it's easier to do this, and more consistant if you use a router table, fence and featherboards for this particular task. I would only do it with a hand-held router if it was just for a single piece or two.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I'm in agreement with Jim. I've made molding for bathroom cabinets. A router table is a much safer and consistant method. Freehand.....my hand.....it tries to get away from me. JMHO&2 cents worth.

[Byron Trantham]

I'd use a table mounted router if possible. It is difficult, event with a bearing guide, to keep the profile consistent. If you don't have a table, then make the moldings on a "wide board". Do two edges and then rip them to size on your table saw. If enough material is left, do it again until the resulting board is too narrow.

[Jim Becker]

...make the moldings on a "wide board". Do two edges and then rip them to size on your table saw. If enough material is left, do it again until the resulting board is too narrow.

This is REALLY important, both for quality and for safety. Even larger moldings are often better made this way since you can control the material better when you are working with something physically larger.

[Charlie Plesums]

As noted, you may have problem finding a flat area for the bearing to follow. The router table solution is best, but if you don't have a table, then the router fence will provide the guide. Be sure that it is set so part of the output is not cut, to provide a guide on the outfeed side of the guide or fence.

If you have neither router table nor router guide, then try clamping or screwing two boards together... one to guide the bearing and the other to be cut as the final moulding.
Bearings are nice if you are following a curved or complex path, but the tiniest flaw in the wood being followed by that small bearing becomes a mountain (or canyon) in the final piece. Any time you can use something larger than the bearing as your guide, do so.

[David Figueroa]

Ok, will investigate the router/table setup... how about pc/benchdog?

I just had another thought, would either the E or F guides work in lieu of router table?

[Carl Eyman]

Charlie's idea of two boards is the way I'd go without a table mounted router. If you could run the two over the jointer first you'd minimize the chance of mountains or canyons Charlie talks about.

[Bill Arnold]

Well, I must be missing something here. Why would the router bit with bearing have trouble following a flat, square edge? You start with a squared edge then, as Byron said, route the ogee profile on both edges and rip them off giving you a square, flat edge for the next pass. I've done this both freehand and on a table.

[David Figueroa]

If you want an ogee profile on the edge of the board then there is no "flat part" for the bearing, i.e. the bearing is hanging free beyond the bottom edge. With a router table fence, the rest of the board provides the guide against the fence... This is why Charlie suggested using two boards (thanks Charlie).

But, oh no, I didnt think about doing a joiner pass. Yet another tool I do not have. Sigh.

[Bill Arnold]

If you want an ogee profile on the edge of the board then there is no "flat part" for the bearing, i.e. the bearing is hanging free beyond the bottom edge. ...

OK, well more information would have been helpful. I built a side table a few weeks ago with an ogee profile on the inside and outside edge of a 3/4" frame. You must be using a much larger ogee bit than I envisioned.

[Charlie Plesums]

...Why would the router bit with bearing have trouble following a flat, square edge?

Two parts to the answer...

If the edge that the bearing is following is perfectly flat and square, there will be no problem following it. However, if there is a tiny pin knot, a tear out, or other flaw that might be overlooked, the router bearing has a complex navigation system that will find that flaw and dive to the depths of the flaw. As it finds the flaw, it draws the much larger cutter to a comparable depth, creating something that looks like a canyon in your profile. This is so you can later find the otherwise invisible flaw that your bearing found. If you have a longer fence, either on the router guide or the router table, you disable that flaw finding system that is standard equipment within the bearing.

Second part of the answer...

An ogee profile is an S shaped curve. Sometimes the curve incorporates the entire thickness of the board, leaving no straight area for the bearing to follow, which requires the extra board or one of the other "fence" tricks discussed. But there is no law that says the S curve must include the entire thickness. I have often used an ogee like a different type of roundover, so the ogee only does half (or whatever) of the tickness of the board, and the rest of the board can guide the bearing. I think some of the confusion in the discussion is because some of us are thinking of the ogee for the full thickness, and others are thinking of the ogee on only a portion of the edge.

Charlie