Need advice on how to route a raised panel

[xcross]

Hi,
I'm making a pair of raised panel doors for a cabinet and need some advice before I start. The bit I chose is the MLCS Ogee with Bead Raised Panel Router Bit. The panel is made of red oak. I've cut some bead and picture frame molding of the same material and it is very hard to route. With those smaller bits I could only cut less than 1/8" depth/pass with the piece held firmly with vertical and horizontal feather boards.

I did a practice piece with the panel bit and found I needed to cut 1/16" or less per pass. But I see a couple problems. The first is the panel will be too big to allow the horizontal feather board so I would have to hold the piece against the fence and bit by hand. Second, I'm changing the depth of the router each cut instead of leaving it fixed and using shims under the piece as I've read about.

I've seen a gadget on the MLCS website that holds a vertical feather board offset a few inches from the fence. I suppose that would help with a large panel but still worry that holding it by hand in the horizontal axis would let it kick back. Controlling the depth of the cut, it seems like a stack of shims (its a pretty deep profile) would just make the stability of the piece worse and not work as well as changing the router depth.

I'd appreciate any advice on the best way to do this first raised panel project. I'm pretty happy with the panels I made planing and biscuit joining and don't want to attempt milling the profile till I know what I'm doing on that step.

Thanks
Chris

[LCHIEN]

first thing, have you reduced the speed of the router - looks like that bit is 3.5" in diameter?

for example (not that this is the last word, other sites may suggest differently)
http://www.newwoodworker.com/ref/rtrbtspds.html

http://www.rockler.com/blog/index.cf...AF82F6F8B64106

[radhak]

The last time I did this, I used the tablesaw for straight-line raised panels, using a jig something like shown here : http://www.newwoodworker.com/pnlrasjig.html



But even recognizing you want the ogee profile, you might as well start by cutting the panel on the TS first, and then routing it. Might make for lesser runs, and maybe safer too.

[Mr__Bill]

You can take smaller cuts two ways, either not as deep and raise the bit each time/remove a shim or hold it away from the fence and gradually move it in with each pass until you reach a full cut. You can also, using a jig like radhak shows and your table saw cut away a large amount of the waste. Hold your bit up to a block of wood and draw the profile, now use a straightedge and see what a saw can remove without getting into the profile shape that the router will be cutting. Do a test, it's amazing how close you can get to the final cut with the table saw. After that I would set my depth of cut for the bit and work my way against the fence for a final cut.


Hope this makes some sense to you

oh yeah, don't forget what Loring said about slowing down the bit.

Bill

[Black wallnut]

All great advice so far! Take many small passes. Remember to go across, down, across, and finish with down the grain. Feed steady. Make sure your router is plugged into a circuit with nothing else on it and either no extension cord or one of short and heavy gauge wire.




Both of the above were done with an MLCS flat panel raising bit.