Joining wood at 135°

ghostlymoron said:
The secret of successful planing is to have the blade razor sharp blade - I only discovered this recently. I can now slice through the toughest end grain with ease! If you can't use a plane, you won't produce neat work. Sharp blade and practice. I'd just do a butt joint with dowels for a 45° join.
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To test you blade hold up a piece of 80gm A4 paper in your left hand and try to take a shaving off the long edge on the right hand side of the paper without buckling the paper.
 
usernamenotvalid said:
Go back to the rough sketch above and reverse the lower angle to hide the endgrain
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The grain runs lengthwise, from left to right; there is no endgrain showing.

Yes, reversing the bottom angle of the sloping face is a possibility - as is indicated on the left part of the perspective view - but the finished result would depend on the accuracy of his workmanship.
 
PuffTheMagicDragon said:
... the finished result would depend on the accuracy of his workmanship.
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Unlikely to be good, there will be a lot of sanding involved. I've actually got a 45° router cutter, but it has a bearing on the end for chamfering. I wonder if I could take the bearing off and make two passes to gain the depth?

I guess an alternative would be to use thinner timber, and make a second layer out of plywood for the face. This has the advantage of making the joins stronger.
 
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nigelmercier said:
Unlikely to be good, there will be a lot of sanding involved. I've actually got a 45° router cutter, but it has a bearing on the end for chamfering. I wonder if I could take the bearing off and make two passes to gain the depth?

I guess an alternative would be to use thinner timber, and make a second layer out of plywood for the face. This has the advantage of making the joins stronger.
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Don't! You'll have no control over how deep you are cutting and will, most probably, only succeed in making a wavy face. The way to do it is to clamp or temporarily attach a length of wood that has a perfectly straight edge underneath the wood that you are trimming so that the roller has something on which to roll. This will set the limits to how deep you will cut.

But why complicate matters if you can cut the 45 degrees on a table saw? I think that you are overestimating the sanding that is involved.

Another possibility is to cut the bottom bevel as you originally proposed BUT fit it against the inside face of the lower vertical piece. This will make the sloping face 15mm shorter, which I don't think will matter much. The front piece at the bottom will not need any bevel to be cut; leave it cut at 90 degrees and just round off the outer corner. In your original sketch, extend the vertical lines of this piece and square them at the top. Even I can do it; it's no big deal!

If this is not clear I can draw you another quick sketch and scan it.
 
nigelmercier said:
Unlikely to be good, there will be a lot of sanding involved. I've actually got a 45° router cutter, but it has a bearing on the end for chamfering.
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Router bits which will do the 45° in a oner or the angle for the mitre are readily available at the link I gave above (but not cheap).
 
Looking at the project as a whole rather than just the joint, have you considered allowing an inch or so's gap between the tabletop and the underneath of the new console? This would allow a chart to still fit on the table, albeit you couldn't read the top few inches of it.

Pete
 
Seriously and with no intention to offend, I do believe that this solution is the easiest to produce, assuming tat you have access to a tablesaw for cutting the 45-degree edges. These cut edges will be hidden and will offer a good surface for gluing. the diagram is your original, modified to my suggestions as described above.

Box_zps8dc423c2pngmodified_zpsd9b38061.png
 
PuffTheMagicDragon said:
Seriously and with no intention to offend, I do believe that this solution is the easiest to produce...
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Possibly, but I think it's horrid :)

Thanks for the effort though, much appreciated.

When it bought the boat, it had a hinged 45° flap in this area, although lower down (see old rail in diagram and picture below) It was relatively plain, just a pencil slot in the top. I'm re-creating the look of this original; but higher up, fixed, and not the full width of the table.

Chart-Table-amp-Panel-20-2006-2_zps9726ed5f.png~original
 
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Just an update on this. I decided to make the front panel out of 6mm MDF with a sapele veneer, I'll be adding reinforcing struts when the instrument holes are cut. I figured out how to make the angles using a 90° V-shape router cutter.

Chart-Table-Instrument-Box-Hybrid_zps7ab76e79.png~original


PVA glue on MDF is currently drying (I used Cascamite for the frame), I'll post a picture of the completed unit when done.

Chart-Table-Instrument-Box_zps4898ef32.png~original


Just realised that this picture also shows my cut-down B&D Workmate, for bench use.
 
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Doesn't look so good today. I left it in the conservatory to fully harden, and some wood resin has seeped through the varnish. I will try acetone on it.

This was my first attempt at using veneer: I coated both surfaces with PVA and ironed it on. It mostly worked, except where there was a split in the veneer, which opened up. Filled with Brummer, as were a few gaps around the joins.
 
You really need to learn how to set up, sharpen and use a plane. Next time I'm back at the workshop (probably not until mid september at the rate my current job is progressing) you'll have to call in with your plane and i'll sort it out for you if you want.
 
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