holes to suit each individual tool. The
rack was assembled using spacing
tubes and 8mm threaded rod secured
with washers and dome nuts.
Furniture
focus
Tom’s experience
gained while running
his own carpentry
business has proved
invaluable to the
Trend Technical
team.
by Tom Rogers
Arrange the tools carefully to make
maximum use of the shelf area,
ensuring that there is adequate room
to remove and replace individual
items easily.
A vernier gauge can be used to check
the hole diameter or slot width and
length required for each tool before
adding the guide bush margin.
These holes can be cut out using flat
bits, twist drills or hole saws, finishing
the edges square and smooth.
To secure the template, drill two
holes in each edge to accept a pair of
pin clamps. When cutting thick
material, it is recommended that a
long reach cutter is used to ensure
that an adequate shank length can be
held in the collet.
30
INProfile
N
eatly and accurately cut,
comb joints are visually
acceptable on utility
furniture, instrument boxes and
casework, but are not generally used
on decorative furniture and artifacts
due to their ‘mechanical’ appearance.
However to achieve a more
aesthetically pleasing effect, the
interlocking grain pattern can be
further enhanced by cutting a bead
detail along the joint length. This can
be carried out using the inverted
router fitted with a bearing guided
beading cutter.
The comb joint is initially cut using a
Comb jointer set (Trend Ref. 876) or
on a comb jointing jig such as the
Elu/DeWalt multifunctional jig.
Alternatively the joints can be cut on
a saw bench or by hand.
Prepare all the timber, finishing the
edges square and true. Set up the
cutter or jig and cut each mating end,
alternating each pair to leave the top
and bottom edges flush. Glue and
clamp the joints until dry, before
planing and finishing the joint faces
flush.
Select a beading cutter with a bead
diameter equal to the length of the
comb fingers. Set up the cutter in the
inverted router table, and adjust the
cutter height to cut the full joint
width.
When cutting small workpieces on
the inverted router table, fit a false
face across the back fence to prevent
the work turning into the cutter at
the start and finish of the pass.
A range of beading cutters (see the
Trend 1997-98 catalogue, pages 30 to
31) are available from Trend, suitable
for cutting both small or large
diameter beads, machining from either
face in turn.
Winter 1997