Making architraves

[dedee]

I need to make some architrave like this.

I am not too concerned about the rounding at the narrow end. A straight 3-4mm edge would be fine and I expect easier to do. Dimensions approx 15mm high x 40mm deep

All I can buy over here are the fancy multiple ogee designs which do not meet with the approval of the boss.

I have a router table (it's the one that the late Barry Burgess made) with the Triton TRB001 router. Unfortunately the move to France got in the way of me ever having a chance to use the table and router so this is very much a newbie project for me.

Is this a straight forward job for a novice? What type of router cutter (or cutters) do I need? Is it easier to do this type of job with or without a bearing cutter?

If I make a success of this I may well be making new architraves for at least 5 door frames (both sides) so I do not mind buying a quality long lasting cutter.
At the moment all that covers the cap between the wall and the door frame is D section moulding, which is very typical over here but looks awful when either tiled or papered up to.

Thanks

Andy

 

[JMcK]

Not the same profile as you have shown but I use this:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Axca ... 806782.htm

The larger one 666196.

It gives a profile which is more like the traditional French architrave.

It may not be what "management" want.

Re the rest of your post, I find it a straightforward job with a router table, bearing cutter and slower speed.

I tend to use a reasonably, not too, wide piece which is more comfortable (safer?) then rip it to size.

Others more expert will post.

 

[Racers]

Hi,

You could just plane a bevel with a handplane, it would take some time but it can be done. You can remove most of the waste with a table/band saw.

Pete

 

[jeffinfrance]

hi andy,

i've seen that profile on plinth (skirting) over here in my local tout faire. cut off the bottom.....job done.

if you want to do that with a router bit you need a pretty big panel raiser for the chamfer and a radius cutter. not cheap and a big radius for the panel raiser tool....mind your fingers! if i need router bits i normally get em shipped from england, better selection. trend catalogue's pretty good.

thinking about it, you could do the chamfer on your planer then just radius the nosing. need a bit of sanding after, but if you did the radius first with a bottom bearing cutter, you can then plane down to the nose.

where are you in france?

all the best,

jeff

 

[AndyT]

Depending on how much you need, it might be a whole lot easier and pleasanter to plane it. You can take off the main bevel quite quickly, and then do the rounding over. How you do that bit depends on what you have. A suitable hollow plane would be best, but you could do a decent job with the same jack plane you used for the straight, finishing off with a shaped sandpaper rubber.

That's what I'd do if you have just one door's worth - if it's a whole house I might think again!

 

[mr grimsdale]

I'm not a router person but I'd say that that's a particularly difficult shape for a router. The wrong tool for the job.
I recently did a load of skirting and architrave with a plain bevel and the easiest way was to saw the bevel on a TS and finish with a hand plane to gauge marks. The alternative being either to make or buy a new cutter for a spindle moulder, or to rig up some sort of jig, neither of which I thought worth it for this one job.

 

[Paul Chapman]

I'd also do it with a hand plane. Simply mark each end of the wood with the correct shape and plane away Even if you have quite a lot to do, it wouldn't take long.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[jedmc571]

I've done this a few times before, never used a router to do it though.

Do you have a table saw ?

15mm MDF / Pine, set your saw to the desired angle ( I used 20 degrees ) and chamfer the edge off leaving the face with the amount you want, then round over the edge with a small round over bit.

HTH

Jed

 

[dedee]

John, yep that Axminster bit is just what she does not want, too fancy for the house I'm afraid.

Jeff, that's and interesting idea. I had previously dismissed skirting as being to big, but if I can find the profile ripping it down to size would be easy. I'm in Normandy by the way - and you?

To all of you that suggested using the hand plane. You are spoilsports I've been trying for ages to find a project to use the router table. I guess that I am not sure I can get a good uniform shape and finish along 2m lengths.

Perhaps Jed's combination of table saw to remove the bulk of the waste then the round over bit for the rounded edge would be best.

I'll have a look for some skirting plinths at the weekend first.

Thanks

Andy

 

[jedmc571]

Andy,

Have a look at this

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?a ... earch=true

They do it in MDF as well ?

Is their a B&Q over the water from you anywhere ?

That said, it's a nice little project, and easy to do, great use of your router table with a round over bit :wink:

Cheers

Jed

 

[dedee]

Jed, B&Q may well be the in the same group as Castorama over here but that is exactly want I want and does not seem to be available off the shelf over here. I shall see if I can find some skirting to rip down after today, if not, it table saw & router/plane.

I did find this o the trend site
http://www.trend-uk.com/en/FR/product/4 ... utter.html

might help?

cheers

Andy

 

[jedmc571]

Not worth the money for a 1 off IMO

Go with plan A, I'm sure you have a standard rounding over bit.

What's nice is you can decide on your own unique size, that little bit of bespoke :wink:

au revoir

Jed

 

[Steve Maskery]

I, too, suggest doing it by hand. But if you really don't want to hand-plane it and want to use the router, you could rig up a pair of feet for your router rods, so that one side was higher than the other and use a straight bit with bottom cut. I did this once, about a gazillion years ago. I think it was probably a Bob Wearing idea. I forget the details, but it did work quite well.

But for a few metres, I suggest you work up a sweat.

S