Miter Joints and Champagne

[jwd12]

Ever hear the expression Champagne tastes on a beer budget? I think that might describe my woodworking talent. This is my second major project on the BT3100. I am in the process of constructing a tool storage cabinet. I am trying to make 22" by 7" MDO drawer fronts. In a rare fit of taste I thought I could "frame" each front with 1/2" maple splined to the MDO. What a mess. I have made three fronts so far, and while each shows some improvement, they are far from acceptable, and even further from prefect. I have measured, remeasured and cut. Just when I think I have it dead on I need one of those saws that will cut a 1/16" longer. Obviously I need help with cutting but what about assembly? Should all four sides be assembled at the same time or should I assemble two at a time.Why can you guys have such prefect joints in the gallery. What am I missing?

[vaking]

What measuring tools are you using and how do you measure? How do you cut miters? There are several posts here on how to make jigs for miter cuts for BT, I remember jig by Rod Kirby. Try to make such jig and practice to make one perfect miter joint, regardless of length. With the jig you will have repetitive cuts and you can proceed to making an edge with 2 miters. Practice on some scrape piece of wood and make corrections for the length. (If you measure 22" and it comes out 21-15/16" - make next one 22-1/16. I suspect you are not taking into account the fact that teeth on a blade extend beyond the surface of a blade. If you are using just your SMT for miter cuts may I suggest:
make a strip of wood or plywood 2" wide and attach to miter fence with the right end of the strip hanging to the right and going into the blade. (I presume you have SMT to the left of the blade) raise the blade for 3/4" depth cut and make a notch on the strip. Without repositioning the miter fence or the wooden strip use the notch to measure how to position the strips you will be cutting. This is more precise than trying to measure distance to catch the edge of a blade.

[dlminehart]

Since miters are famously fussy, you might make a point of marking cut lines with a knife rather than a pencil. Another hint is to minimize the measuring by putting stops to keep cuts exactly the same length, doing all of one length before changing the setup to do the others. Regarding assembly, mitered corners are notorious for being tricky to keep in place. A common approach is to have L-shaped corners strapped together to ensure even pressure. There are also right-angle clamps.

[LarryG]

quote:Originally posted by jwd12

What am I missing?

Experience, possibly. Patience, maybe.

Of the two, I'd rank patience as the more important. I'm not a lifelong woodworker so I don't regard myself as anyone who has a whole lot of experience, but I do know that when I get impatient, what experience I do have becomes useless. And I should mention that the need for patience starts well before the project itself. You need it when you're setting up your tools, when you're building your jigs. If the tool or the jig is off, the cut will be off.

Two specific suggestions beyond what Alex and David have mentioned: do lots and lots and lots of dry fit-ups before you break out the glue; and "sneak up" on your cut line by first cutting the workpiece too long, testing the fit, and cutting again (and again, and again) until it's just right.

EDIT: Oh, one other thing. Remember that the object is to enjoy the beer, not to empty the bottle.

[gjat]

jwd, I've done woodworking for years on a tap-water budget which was a circular saw, handsaw, file, and sand-paper to make furniture. Firstly, a 45' miter might be beyond your current skills. Learning is a curve and we do 90%of our learning from our mistakes. You could have a bit of back-forth play in the SMT or the miter fence. You have to put the same pressure in the same place everytime your cut so thay you don't twist 1 way when you cut and then another way on the second cut. Your two choices are to make 90' joints or do 45' and cut them a little long and file/sand to tolerance. Take advantage of the fact it is a learning process and they are for your shop, not you living room. Do the bottom drawer front first completely and work your way up to the top drawer. The first one I would cut a piece and attach, then cut the second, attach, etc. When you build each front completely, you may lose production time, but you gain in seeing the whole picture and get the maximum learning from each.

vaking hasa good idea above to. I use a sacrifical fence of plywood on my miter guage. after I get satisified with the angle of my blade set up and I can cut a piece of scrap repeatedly at 45', I attach an over-long piece of plywood fence and cut it. Now I have an exact reference to line up the piece of wood I cut. I tend to over-cut a bit and finish up with my disk sander out of habit. When you attach 1 piece at at time, you can make sure you don't sand the flat side to the drawer face shorter then the drawer panel. The final piece I scribe from the other pieces, cut over long, and carefully sand to the pencil line, checking as I go. I assure you your 'top-drawer' will be better than the bottom drawer.

[Pappy]

You are missing this....



Best jig for miters. Problem is it must be built to precise measurements and angles or it won't help.

[jwd12]

Thanks for all your help. I knew I lacked experience and LarryG correctly identified my other problem. (I changed my signature after his input). I think I will practice and then maybe some more practice using a sacrifical fence. Assemble will one joint at a time. If that doesn't improve the joints will build Pappy"s jig. Let you know what happens next year. Happy New Year!