Possible ways of routing this job??

[Robert Alexander]

I have been asked to make some parts for these trestle leg moldings for a wood shop in my area. Let me give you my ideas, and those of you who do furniture work can tell what would work better.

In the photo I've added I need to route and build the 4 sided molding that will go around the main vertical posts for this table. Its about 17" tall and 9" wide. I was planning on cutting 4 wood blanks per leg, and a few inches longer than the total length for holding down the part, and cutting some 45 degree angles on each side so they will be glued up after the routing. The molding is made up of sharp angles except for the curved belly area. I want to use a end mill to do the roughing out, then a combination of some 60 deg bits and smaller end mills for the top and bottom areas. And only do the 3-D work in the belly area. The customer wants sharp angles for the molding so doing total 3-D work would make small radius's in the moldings. What do you think??

[Pete Cyr]

I would not route 4 pieces, I would route 1 wide piece to be cut in to the 4 sides.

To achieve sharp/crisp edges a combination of tapered endmills and v bits would be necessary following a roughing pass and or a 3D finish pass.

After machining I would cut the material/miter the edges to fit the post.
sequencing the order of pieces cut so the respective edges mate will help keep the profile in alignment.

[rcrawford]

Pete, that is how I first thought I'd cut it, but you will have a heck of a time cutting those mitres after the top has been profiled.

The first mitre cut will be simple, because you will have a straight edge to run along your table saw fence. All the mitres after that will be nearly impossible because you will no longer have a straight edge (the edge of the mitre cut will vary depending on the thickness of the profile).

I would cut the mitres first, then line them all up so you can just run along all 4 pieces at the same time to cut the profiles and 3D portion.

[Pete Cyr]

Good point, your plan is better, although you could use a spacer (between the fence and material) and reference against the miter vice the edge.

[Robert Alexander]

This is how I did this job for a customer. It took 2 hours to do from start to finish. I used a .375 end mill for the roughing, a .50 ball for the finishing and a 60 degree v bit for finishing the sharp areas. The thin light colored areas in between the pieces in the first photo are small pieces of wood to prevent tear out at the ends.