Router Bits

[shmokes]

Can I use any 15 degree angle chamfer bit to route the edge of a piece of 3/4" thick wood across the entire thickness of the board so it goes from this:

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To this:

|\
| \
|  \
|   \           (Pretend that's a 15 degree angle instead of 45)
|    \
|     \
|      \
|       \
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And not this:

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| \
|  \
|   \
|    \___
|           |
|           |
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Will multiple passes finish it off right if it won't route a 3/4" sheet in one go?  I'm trying to decide whether to put down $30 for one chamfer bit.  The precision of the cut will make it worth it if it will make it uniformly across the entire thickness  of the wood, but I don't want to waste $30 on a bit that I will probably never use again if it won't even work for this project.  It's questionable whether I even want to use it for this project.

Question 2:  There are VERY low priced (low quality too, I assume) 50 piece router bit sets on Ebay that include multiple chamfer bits but they list them as 9.5mm, 13mm, 16mm, 19mm.  Can these numbers be translated into angles?  I'm considering picking one of these up, but I would be very disappointed if none of those chamfer bits would do the job that I expressly bought the set for.

Obviously I am new to routers.  I have never routered anything in my life.  All that is about to change so I really appreciate any info that could be passed on  

[Larry Smith]

re: question2
I went with the cheap bits on ebay. If they last 1/2 as long as the more expensive bits I'm way ahead. Also I can see what bits I use most often and replace them with good ones if need be.

[RandyT]

Can I use any 15 degree angle chamfer bit to route the edge of a piece of 3/4" thick wood across the entire thickness of the board so it goes from...

If you are trying to do this on a straight edge, a table/circular saw is a better tool for the job.

RandyT

[Xphile]

Can I use any 15 degree angle chamfer bit to route the edge of a piece of 3/4" thick wood across the entire thickness of the board so it goes from...

If you are trying to do this on a straight edge, a table/circular saw is a better tool for the job.

RandyT

Randy is right, if you want to bevel a straight edge, you're better off using table saw or circular saw w/straight edge clamped to it...if you're going to be routeing a non-straight piece, (and you say you don't want a shoulder) you would need a secondary surface for the bearing to ride on...eg: a jig/template tacked or clamped to the underside of the piece you are routering...in that case your 15 degree bit would act as a beveled flush/trim bit..  (if you don't mind the 1/8th inch or less flat spot the bearing need to ride on on the finished piece, then you don't need the jig/template...)

[Wienerdog]

A 15

[Xphile]

urk, never really thought about it, but your right..he'd have to flip the fence to the other side of the blade, and run his workpiece through on edge...not gonna be the most uniform cut if you get your workpiece wobbling while cutting..:-) Probably not going to want to cut a full sheet this way...(xphile has visions of a 100 pound sheet of MDF flopping over and doing very bad things to shmokes, the tablesaw, and my conscience)

(could do it on the shaper tho'...well, he could if he had a shaper and cutter...not really much help there, sorry.:-)

[Wienerdog]

lol, usually that cut is done on a shaper or a tablesaw with a jig (sharing xphiles 100 pound vision...).  For a full sheet of MDF, it might be feasible to build a jig for a (very strong=High HP) circular saw... if you had to.  

[RandyT]

With a stock table saw setup, you can get an angle from 45

[Xphile]

just not thinking simple the last couple days..:-)so, thinking further, (as long at the cutter will span the 3/4 inch- I'm pretty sure it won't, you prolley need a 3 inch long bit to span15 degrees over 3/4 inch- but if it did..:-)  you could clamp the piece *securely* to your workbench and run the router plate along the edge of the 3/4, with the bearing riding on the flat..like this:
_____________________
_____________________] <- router plate
|\  \                /
| \  \              /
|  \  \            /
|   \  \          /
|    \  \        / <--cutter
|     \  \      /
|      \  \    /
|       \  \  /
|        | [_]     <--bearing rides here
|        |
(ick, just previewed it and ascii art is *not* my forte..)

it would be a little tippy, so go slow but steady, don't be too tense or you may over compensate, and you'd only get one shot at it, (your 3/4 inch plate riding surface would be gone after your pass)

c'mon Shmokes, what is your aplication? with all the woodworkers here maybe we can brainstorm a safer/easier/better solution for ya..:-)

[shmokes]

Hmm...I've very little woodworking experience, but I must be going about this the wrong way cos what I'm talking about should be really common.  The edges I want to cut are for the front and back walls of my control panel.  The top surface will be angled downward 15 degrees and I want it to sit flush on top of all the walls.  I feel like I'm missing something that should be obvious.

[Grasshopper]

I'm facing the same dilemma as I also want to build a panel sloped at an angle.

I think I've found a solution but I haven't tried it yet.

It's very hard to explain without a picture. However what I think you need to do is keep the edges of the back and front sides of you panel at 90 degrees but cut two parallel channels on the underside of your panel angled at 15 degrees. The front and back panels then fit into their respective channels.

This can be done with a router. You clamp two parallel straight pieces of wood to the underside of the panel. One of the pieces is used to guide the router in a straight line, and the other one is used to life the router up at an angle. I'll attempt to draw a picture of what I mean!

\\\
  \\\\\
  ### \\\\\\\\        ###
  ###   //   \\\\\\   ###
  ###            \\\\\###

The "#"s are the two pieces of wood. The "\"s are the base of the router, and the "/"s are the router bit. The picture will probably need to be viewed with a monospaced font.

Hope this helps.

[Xphile]

Hmm...I've very little woodworking experience, but I must be going about this the wrong way cos what I'm talking about should be really common.  The edges I want to cut are for the front and back walls of my control panel.  The top surface will be angled downward 15 degrees and I want it to sit flush on top of all the walls.  I feel like I'm missing something that should be obvious.

explaining what you need to do makes this *so* much easier...

you want your CP's top to angle down towards you at 15 degrees, so your front and back have to be 15 degrees off a normal edge's right angle (or 90 degrees)... you just set your table saw at 15 degrees and cut your front and back's top edge. or set your straight edge and clamps up on your front/back pieces, angle your skilsaw deck to 15 degrees, and make your cut.. easy as pie..:-)

[Wienerdog]

Can we delete this thread and start over?   lol, if you don't have a tablesaw, you can set the blade on a circular saw to make this cut.