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I am working on a small project that uses a mitered frame for the top. I would like to reinforce the corners w/ splines. The blades I have are all thin kerf and they don't cut flat-bottom slots. Do you guys file these slots flat or just fill 'em w/ sanding dust before finishing?
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I just finished 30 kitchen cabinets with loose tenons (a variation on what you are doing)
We used a dado to cut the groove so it was flat but you can easily use a router to cut them
If you use the router you can set up a small jig to allow the router to have a wider base to run on and they look great
Sorry not into filling in mistakes with putty or the like.
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Dr Dave -
Is it a single-kerf spline? I recently splined a single-kerf miter, and found that just hitting it with a folded piece of sandpaper was all that was necessary to knock off that hump. The project was a 3"x5" frame, so I was doing fairly fine work.
If it's a kerf-and-a-half, I wonder if any bumps would even show, since the high spot left behind by one cut would be hit by the blade edge on the next cut....
Regards,
TomComment
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Use a Small File
I just use a small jeweler's file on edge to make it flat. Works good, does not bake a long time to do. Be careful and check progress often so that you don't file a groove in it.
RAGS 
Raggy and Me in San Felipe
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If the wood is fairly soft I have had good luck with just placing a piece of spline sized material in the slot and giving it a good rap with a small hammer. This seems to flatten the corners and once the splines are glued in and sanded flush it looks pretty good.
Granted, this may not the the 'proper', 'craftsman' like thing to do, but it sure is quick.
BobL."Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from poor judgement."Comment
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I use a 3 wing cutter on the router table, keeps the workpiece flat rather than working on edge.The voices made me do it.Comment
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I'm confused. If you are asking about cutting spline slots with a tablesaw blade, what kind of blade does not cut flat-bottomed slots? AFIK all mine do. I've cut spline slots on several picture frames and never had a problem with this.David
The chief cause of failure in this life is giving up what you want most for what you want at the moment.Comment
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Well, once I explain it, there's a chance that you'll have to re-do all the picture frames you've ever made, so read on at your peril:
The blade that I was using at the time was an alternating top bevel (ATB) blade, like so:
Some ATB blades include a square "raker" tooth to make flat bottoms; perhaps this is the type of blade you have:
If not....
Regards,
TomComment
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Hmm... I went down and looked at my saw blades and they are ATB. Also looked at one of the picture frames I made and if it isn't a flat bottomed spline I sure can't see it. So... is it a problem if you can't even see it? Or is that like a tree falling in the forest?
David
The chief cause of failure in this life is giving up what you want most for what you want at the moment.Comment
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By my definition, it's not even a problem unless someone else can see it.
And, yes, it really is pretty minor. I think you'd be hard-pressed to notice it at all, especially on the side of a picture frame. Once there's glue in there, and you sand a little, and add some finish....
Regards,
TomComment
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I'm doing finger joints made on my TS for a jewelry box for my wife. My blade isn't flat bottom, it leaves sort of a w in the bottom. It's definately noticable, at least to me. I thought about going out to buy a new blade but had neither the time nor funds to do so.
So, I'm embracing the W left behind. I'm going to fill it with clear epoxy and will result is a line of visible gaps in the joint. They all line up and are evenly spaced (I'll try to post pics sometime). I'm hoping it will actually look cool in the end.
I'm going to try to pass it off as an intentional design feature (technically it is) and whenever someone asks how I did it, I'm going to smirk and say "man it took me hours to hand chisel all those on there".
Think anyone will buy that??
-John
"Look, I can't surrender without orders. I mean they emphasized that to me particularly. I don't know exactly why. The guy said "Blake, never surrender without checking"
-Henry BlakeComment
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In my case (single kerf cut) it was impossible to notice.
I did a little more research earlier, though, and found that some peoople suggested using a little super glue at the void before sanding. The glue bonds w/ the sawdust. Gotta work pretty fast, though. Only have a minute or two tops.
I tried that last night on a different void and it works quite well. I wiped some mineral spirits on the piece after I was done and it doesn't seem like it will affect the finish.Comment
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