[CharlesWebster]

I'm building some 5-piece doors for my vanity and medicine cabinet for my new bathroom.

I successfully set up the profile cutter to run the long-grain profile cuts on my rails and stiles, but am having trouble with the end-grain cope cuts. The pieces are only 1-1/2" wide and even after cutting deeply into my sacrificial fence, I can't hold the pieces square as I move them across the cutter.

I have a router table sled, but the cope cutter won't cut far enough into the sled's sacrificial fence to complete the cut, and I don't have a clamp with a deep enough throat to clamp the work to the fence.

Bill Hylton's Router Table book suggests a coping sled with an integral toggle clamp. Is this the best/easiest way?

What are you folks using?

Thanks,

BTW, the vanity seems to have moved from the "project" category to the "career" category, it's taking so long.

 

[Cherryville Chuck]

I take a square piece of some type panel board and use it to push the work past the cutter. It keeps the piece square and provides some blowout protection as well as being readily available, zero setup, and dirt cheap. I believe I've seen Marc Sommerfeld among others who use the same method.

 

[DesertRatTom]

I have a coping sled, but rarely use it. You might try clamping the rail to a chunk of MDF and push it through that way. Also, is your bit really sharp? You can buy a larger clamp for a few bucks. Make sure the MDF backer is square. You run the end of the rail and the MDF directly on the table top, up against the fence. You'll probably have to experiment to get the bit set the right height so they match the stiles you cut. I follow the method shown in Marc Sommerfeld's YouTube videos on door making. Much easier than using a coping sled. Check it out.

 

[hawkeye10]

I was having trouble with using a backer board because I still wound up with it getting crooked. I bought a coping sled that I got a few days ago and I haven't used it yet.

 

[okie GW]

Miter Guage with backer board

I have a miter slot in my table and use my miter guage from my craftsman table with a backer board. I also use feather boards to make sure my rail stays flat on the table.

 

[mgmine]

Like Okie I use a miter gauge with a backer board and use feather boards both on the fence and table. If you don't have a miter slot in your table this is the time to put one in. I tried a sled but it didn't work that well.

 

[Terry Q]

I too use the miter slot, I've tried a couple different coping sleds and find them inconvenient.


In woodworking there is always more then one way to accomplish something.

 

[CharlesWebster]

I made the coping sled shown in Bill Hylton's Router Table book, and it works great. My only issue is that it required raising the bit so far that it ran into the metal fence extrusion. I solved that by thinning the base of the sled by a couple of 32nds on the planer.

I made the rails and stiles for one 5-piece door today, and routed the profiles on the pieces for the second door. I'll cut the copes tomorrow, then on to assembly.

This vanity project is turning into a career!