Making mitred legs

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Cherryville Chuck
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Making mitred legs

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Post by Cherryville Chuck »

I’ve been working on a largish box for the MIL, picture below. I wanted to keep it as light as possible but also strong so I came up with the idea to laminate two mitred strips together to do that. There are two issues to do that. One is getting smooth mitres and the other is clamping them. I used a router with a 45 bevel bit for the edges of the strips and the one jig is for holding them down and tight against the fence. The strips I was beveling were 4/4 (15/16”) walnut 3/8” thick.

For the clamping jigs I cut rabbets on some 2x4 scrap 7/8 x 7/8”. That left 1/16” of the strips proud. I used strips and blocks of wood for clamps. Once the strips were glued I put them against the sides of the rabbet and against a stop block and screwed the clamps down.

I’ve always found trying to line mitres up hard but this jig made it easy. They didn’t come out dead even but by the time the edges got rounded a bit they look dead even.
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Herb Stoops
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Re: Making mitred legs

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Post by Herb Stoops »

Is that an open top box? Those miters came out good.
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Re: Making mitred legs

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Post by Cherryville Chuck »

It will have a top, I just haven't figured out the end design yet. I was happy with the miters too. The jigs made a difference. In the past I probably would have pinned them. I didn't need any pins this way and still had no issues lining the two halves up and keeping them lined up. Plus clamping them together the way I did was far superior and faster than trying to use F clamps.
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