How to bevel table top ends?

[Juss1]

Have a cabinet top that is 5' wide by 20" deep.  I'd like to put a bevel on 3 of the sides.   How do you safely do that on the end grain sides?  Any way to do this with power tools or this strictly handtools only?

[Alan S]

How about a chamfer bit in a router table?  A panel raising bit can cut a shallow angle.  I assume you want a chamfer, rather than a bevel that comes to a sharp point.

[Willyou]

If you are using a router, make sure the bit is sharp. First, glue or tightly clamp some waste pieces along the long grain sides where the end grain cuts will begin and end. this will prevent end grain tear-out at the beginning and end of the cut. Second, Do your cuts on the end grain first and take shallow repeated cuts with the router until the bevel (chamfer) as deep as you want it. Third, make the long grain cuts to the same depth. Make sure the wood grain is not angled outward against the cut. Otherwise, carefully make a climb cut to prevent split-out.

[FS7]

On long grain, tearout is pretty unlikely (unless you're routing hickory). It doesn't matter which side you start at.

For end grain, always route that first. I do not find tearout at all common when "starting" the cut, but at the end it can happen. The theory goes that if tearout happens, it will be fixed when you route the long grain. This is usually true (but not always). Shallow cuts help, especially a shallow final cut, and climb cutting the "end" of an end grain routing pattern helps as well. 

If you're using something like a panel raising bit, I wouldn't try climb cutting with something that size. Take very shallow successive passes.

[BloomingtonMike]

Big shaper cutter on large shaper table, preferably one of a sliding table variety. With the control of the sliding table and its mass and safe hand holds you can climb cut the endgrain ends a bit. Use pressure hold down bars and safety shields on the fence and span the fence opening with fence bars or a sub fence to provide as much support as you can. Do the ends first then the long grain. Using a Large euro cutter like from garniga or rangate with multi inserts ( not the multi set euro block) and shear knives will also reduce chance of tearout. Go big or go home.

That or a hand plane.

[mike4244]

Have a cabinet top that is 5' wide by 20" deep.  I'd like to put a bevel on 3 of the sides.   How do you safely do that on the end grain sides?  Any way to do this with power tools or this strictly handtools only?

45° champher cutter in a hand held router. Personally I would not rout the short ends on a router table because of the 5'-0" length. You can tack a strip to the short end of the trailing side to prevent splintering. May be better for you than a climb cut . Probably 3 light cuts will suffice. Start on one short end. Any fuzz , scotch brite removes it without scratching.

mike

[jteneyck]

Have a cabinet top that is 5' wide by 20" deep.  I'd like to put a bevel on 3 of the sides.   How do you safely do that on the end grain sides?  Any way to do this with power tools or this strictly handtools only?

Power hand planer, hand plane, TS with the blade tilted and the panel on edge riding against a tall fence, handheld router with a beveled fence.  


John

[mike4244]

Power hand planer, hand plane, TS with the blade tilted and the panel on edge riding against a tall fence, handheld router with a beveled fence.  


John

John, remember the top is 5'-0" long. You would be nuts to try to bevel the short edges with the top against a fence sticking 5'-0" above the saw table. 

mike

[Hank Knight]

Beveling a large panel or a tabletop with a sharp hand plane is a piece of cake. Mark the thickness and the width of the bevel you want to achieve and plane to the lines. End grain is no problem with a low angle plane. As others have suggested, plane the ends first, then the sides. Planing the sides will remove any spelching that occurs on the ends. Just to be on the safe side, I always clamp a sacrificial board against the edge at the end when I plane the end grain to support the edge of the workpiece. Here is a cherry hunt board top I beveled with a low angle jack plane. It is 1" thick with the edges beveled to about 1/2"

fullsizeoutput_434 by Hank Knight, on Flickr

[tomsteve]

If you are using a router, make sure the bit is sharp. First, glue or tightly clamp some waste pieces along the long grain sides where the end grain cuts will begin and end. this will prevent end grain tear-out at the beginning and end of the cut. Second, Do your cuts on the end grain first and take shallow repeated cuts with the router until the bevel (chamfer) as deep as you want it. Third, make the long grain cuts to the same depth. Make sure the wood grain is not angled outward against the cut. Otherwise, carefully make a climb cut to prevent split-out.

it would be wise to find a way to clamp a temp sacrificial board at the ends of the cut for the bit to go into. helps relieve tearout.