Sawdust on the Floor

Let’s talk about making the cope and stick panels that I used on thebedroom nightstands.  After dressing all of the stock, that will be used to form the rails and stiles of your panels, it’s time to rip it into its final width.  A simple task for the table saw. I am using this technique to make the side panels of my nightstands, but the process is the same as if you were making a cabinet door.  The only difference is how the outside edges of the rails and stiles are treated.  In my application, I left those edges at a straight 90° angle. If this were a cabinet door, the outer edges would be rounded over, or decorated with an Ogee bit.   The bottom edge of the door is normally softened or eased  either with a round over bit or your sander. 

 After ripping the stock, it was time to cut the edge profile  into all of the stock.  I choose to use my shaper table equipped with the stick portion of the router bit set.  This is a really simple bit to use.  The only hard part is to get the bit set to the correct height.  I really wish I had a magic formula for determining the correct height , but for me this is more of a what looks good rather than an actual measurement.  There are a couple of things about the height adjustments that you should keep in mind. 

First thing is that the router bits shown here are shown upside down from the direction they are installed in your router table or shaper table.  This seems to be an industry wide method of displaying  router bits, the only reason that I can come up is that it makes viewing the profile easier.   

I said that I don’t have a recommended method for determining the height of the bit.  But what I shoot for is that the slot for the panel be as close to center of the stock as possible. If the bit is too high off the table surface then the tab will form the back edge of the panel slot is too thin.   When this happens the tab often breaks off when you are assembling the door or panel.  Conversely, if the bit is set too low then the step top of the curve portion of the profile  disappears or becomes too small. 

Once I have found the “correct height” for this profile.  I will make a master piece, just in case I ever have to come back to this setting  The master can either be made from a piece of stock that was milled to the exact dimensions of your working stock, or from plastic jig stock.  I prefer to use the plastic jig stock, but if you use your stock pieces, then be sure you accounted for this when you first started milling stock. 

Once you have all the preliminaries done, it’s time to start milling the stock.  When I cut the edge profile, I like to use the hold downs that are a part of the fence on my shaper.  These hold the stock flat against the table.  Without the hold downs, the stock tends to walk up the face of the stock.  The use of feather boards on the table of the shaper are also recommended. When properly setup, the feather boards force the stock against the fence.  This helps produce cleanly cut profiles.  If your shaper or router table has a dust collection port, then be sure to connect it to either your dust collector or shop vacuum. This process produces a lot of waste. 

Before you actually run the stock past the router bit, take a minute to check each piece of stock.  Remember that the edge against the table will become the outside surface of the door or panel.  If you are going to finish the project with either a stain or oil, then you always want the best side down against the table.  Also check the edge of the stock for any knots or checks.  If the router bit hits either of these, it may chip out.  Best case scenario, it ruins the piece of stock, worst case the piece becomes dislodged from the stock and goes airborne.  Take it from me, those pieces of your stock really do hurt when they hit you.  A lot of woodworkers will wear a face shield when doing this type of work, which is not a bad idea.  The cost of the shield is cheap compared to the cost of you getting hurt by a flying piece of stock. 

Now that the edge profiles are done on all of the rails and stiles, it’s time to cut them to their final length.  Determining the length of the edge stiles is really simple. How long is the door or panel?  That’s the length of the stiles.  Determining the length of the rails is a little more complicated.  

Take another look at the cope and stick bits.  The coped end of the rails actually gets inserted into the edge profile.  How much does it get inserted? Well that depends on the profile of your cope and stick router bit.  On my one of my sets, it’s 3/16″ of an inch per end.  On another it’s a 1/4″ per end.  So the best advice I can give you is to measure yours.  When I went about trying to measure this, I tried a couple methods until I came up a simple method.  I took a piece of stock that measured 8″ long before I cut the cope profile into the end. So if I were to lay this rail next to a 2″ stile, I would measure exactly 10″.  Then I cut the cope profile into one end of the rail.  When I inserted the coped end into the edge profile, I measured the length of the stile and rail combination. The difference between this new measurement and the 10″ of the original length is equal to the amount the rail is inserted into the stile. In my case it was 9 13/16″, or 3/16″. So now that I knew that number I could calculate the length of the rails, the formula looks like this. 

Total desired width of the project minus the width of two stiles plus twice the amount of insert of one rail equals the length of the rails. 

For a 24″ wide panel with 2″ wide stiles and an insert length of 3/16″ the formula would be as follows: 

               24″ -(2×2) + (2x 3/16) = 20 3/8″ 

So now that I knew that length, I could cut all of my rails.  One word here in case I confused anyone, my statement above about the length of the rails is ONLY correct for the end or outside stiles. Because the sides of the nightstand are divided into three vertical sections, I had to add what I call intermediate stiles.  These intermediate stiles fit into the top and bottom rails. So the ends of these need to be treated the same way as the ends of the rails. In other words the same math applies to these as to the ends of the rails.

Determining the correct height for the bit to cut the cope profile takes a little more work.  This setting must be very accurate, or else the rails and stiles will not connect together correctly.  But before you start working on setting the height, we need to discuss one more thing.  When you are cutting this cope profile, it is being done on the end of your stock which is a very small surface, in my case a 2″ wide board. So the only prudent way to safely cut this profile is with the stock secured against a miter gauge. An interesting way of thinking about this process is to compare it to using your miter gauge on your tablesaw.  But instead of the saw blade, we are using the router bit. 

The use of the miter gauge is a smart step, however it is not a perfect solution. When you run the stock past the bit to cut the cope profile, there normally will be a large amount of tear out on the back edge of the stock.  Most experienced woodworkers will use a backer board that is positioned behind the rail stock.  This backer piece will see the affects of the tear out, instead of your stock.  The problem that this presents is that it is really hard to secure both the stock and the back  board with a standard miter gauge.  A better solution is to use a coping sled, also known as a coping jig or sometimes a Shaper Jig. Three different  names for the same product.  The coping jig, is actually a miter gauge with a table attached to the top of it.  The jig rides in the same track that the miter gauge would use.  The benefit of using the shaper jig is that you can securely  clamp both the rail stock and the sacrificial backer board at the same time.  The hold downs on the coping jig can be relocated on the jig to accommodate any size material.  The handle on the jig can be adjusted in the same manner as you would the miter gauge on a tablesaw. 

One method for determining the correct height of the bit is to use a piece of the stile as a reference.  Remember that the coped end of the rail must fit into the edge profile of the stile. So adjust the bits’ height until the stile can be easily  slid into the “cope” bit. If you are using a coping jig, then be sure to account for the added height of its table when setting the bit height. 

Alright, so we are all set to cut the coped ends for the rails.  The most important thing here to remember is to hold the stock securely, and to always use a sacrificial backer board.  Just like cutting the edge profiles, this is a process that will generate a lot of dust and fine partial debris.  So make sure your dust collection system is connected. Take your time when cutting these end profiles.  Too much speed leads to tear out or burn marks. Neither are easy to fix. 

Wow, sorry I got carried away explaining this.  Hope it makes sense.  Let’s stop here, and go get some supper.  Next time we can get the panels made and then form up the panels for the sides of our nightstands.  See you next time.

Just in case I confused anyone with all the names of parts, I’ve included the drawing below with all the pieces labeled. For a clearer view of both this image and the one above for the cope and stick joint, click on the images.