Replies

1. 
   Napie | May 26, 2008 08:57am | #1

   Gable?  What part of a book case is that?

1. 
   carpenter5 | May 26, 2008 08:59am | #2

   the side of the book case

1. 
   Napie | May 26, 2008 09:09am | #3

   OK, never heard that term used for the side.  Well, I’ve built a lot of case work over the years and have found a panel cutting sled to be just the thing.  Mine has only one fence on the front edge with a single runner for the left miter gage slot it, is big enough to support the stock. I have squared panels 32” wide with ease.

2. 
   SgianDubh | May 26, 2008 11:10am | #4

   Well, it seems to me that your approach was along the right lines in that it was safe through avoiding the dodgy practice of using the rip fence on your saw as a length stop to make the cut. It was simply your execution that let you down.

   Here's a slight variation that should help. Instead of just clamping a straight edge to a mark you've made and using a bearing guided router bit make yourself an accurate T square out of something like 15 or 18 mm (3/4") plywood that's about 60- 80 mm wide (2-3/8" to 3-1/8") wide. Simply glue and screw the long leg of the T to bisect the short leg. The parts need to be perfectly straight on both edges of course. If it's not exactly right, eg, the blade intersects the short leg of the T at 90.25º, sling it and make another one. It must be accurate, and the effort is worth it.

   Set up your router with something convenient like a 12 mm (1/2") or 15 mm (9/16") diameter router bit. Cramp the T square to the edge of a convenient sample board. With the base of the router running against the long blade of the T square make a shallow cut in the sample board. Let the cutter run off the sample board into the short leg of the T square. Do this on both edges of the long blade. 

   Next make sure both the front and back edges of your somewhat overlong gables are perfectly straight. Mark off the length you require on the front edge of one of your gables. Butt the front edge of your other gable up to the front edge of the first gable and transfer the marks from one to the other.

   Use your dead accurate plywood T square with the short leg of the T pushed up tight to the front edge of each of your gables. Line up the shallow groove already cut into the short leg of you T square with your mark on your gable ends. Cramp down the long leg of the T square. Rout the ends of you gable off. Now the ends are square to the front edge of the gables, and both parts are the same length.

   The only wrinkle I can think of off the top of my head is that not all circular based routers have a circumference that is accurately lined up with the centre point of the cutter, so you need to nominate a point on the circumference that always runs against the long blade of the T square. Routers with a straight edge on their bases don't have this problem, and you simply run the straight edge of the base against the blade of the T square.

   With a T square like this you'll find all sorts of uses for it, eg, running housings (dadoes) for shelving. Use the same 1/2" router bit, cut the housing in your gable ends, and then cut a tongue on the end of the shelves.

   The alternatives to this sort of technique of course is a sliding table saw which is my method, or a sled thing for a cabinet saw that doesn't have a sliding table, but as you note those sled things aren't great at handling wide and heavy parts. 

   Napie, I'm a little surprised you've not heard the term gable or gable end for cabinet sides before. It's a common term that I've been using all my working life in all the workshops I've been involved with over the years. Maybe it's more in use here in the UK than in the US. I don't know for sure. Slainte.

   Richard Jones Furniture

1. 
   philip | May 26, 2008 11:27am | #5

   I had never heard of this term either, so I trust the surprise element had been further reduced. It sounds more like architectspeak to me....
   Then again I have not had this problem with huge/long bookcase ends because I have always had a TRUSTY radial arm saw within reach-either my own one or a factory one.Philip Marcou

1. 
   SgianDubh | May 26, 2008 11:54am | #6

   Perhaps it's peculiarly British philip. Maybe it's even more particular and might be an architectural term adopted mostly by Scottish cabinetmakers and woodworkers. I know I've been using it since the 1970's, but I was taught a lot of my woodworking and terminology in my first trainee cabinetmaker's job by one or two curt and grumpy old Scots that smoked a lot of roll-ups, ha, ha.

   I notice the question was posed by someone based in Canada, which leads me to interesting but probably pointless speculation. Slainte. Richard Jones Furniture

1. 
   joinerswork | May 27, 2008 05:26am | #11

   Hi Richard,

   A gable is the end of a HOUSE, not a bookcase!  A bookcase's end is an end, a side, a head (in one shop where I worked).

   Old dog, learning new tricks,

   Ray

1. 
   SgianDubh | May 27, 2008 02:43pm | #12

   Well, that's true Ray. A gable is the end of a house, but woodworkers have been nicking architectural phrases, motifs and ideas for decades -- no, centuries, and almost certainly for millenia.

   Nothing like a bit of intellectual theft to keep those modern day architects on their toes is there? Slainte.Richard Jones Furniture

2. 
   joinerswork | May 27, 2008 03:59pm | #13

   Richard,

   True, I read that the "cartouche", so popular as the crowning glory on Chippendale case pieces was lifted from Greek temple ornament. Plinths, pilasters, cornices,  galleries, the furniture-maker's  lexicon is rife with terms taken from the play book of those "arch-a- tecks" as my father in law used to call them.  Almost as if the two trades are somehow ... related.

   Cheers,

   Ray

2. 
   carpenter5 | May 27, 2008 03:49am | #9

   Hello SgianDubh

   That sounds like a brilliant idea, in fact I have previously seen a T square such as the one you described, only with the advent of today's technology this one was more a trophy or wall ornament from previous battles. Curious though I do want to know what my neighbors south of the 49th call gables..... I guess the SIDE  of a a booke case says it all. Thankks everyone and I am still open to more suggestions.

   Regards

   Carpenter5

1. 
   oldusty | May 27, 2008 04:49am | #10

     Carp 5 ,

                We call them wall ends if they go against a wall , partitions if they fall in the center or width of the case or finished ends when you see them .

       I knew a crusty old timer who called them bulkheads even though there were no boats involved , I think this guy was one of Richards old roll up curmudgeons.

         This imo is a good reason for having more surface beyond your table saw to the side . On narrow ends 16" and less I use the RAS on wider like yours at the lengths you speak of I use the TS fence and if need be a helper or a rolling cart the same height as the saw table to support the long end .

         necessity is the mother of invention

                  regards          dusty

3. 
   hammer1 | May 26, 2008 02:30pm | #7

   I do a lot of large work with a portable circular saw. You need a good blade and a straight edge to clamp to your work. It only takes a practice cut to know where the blade cuts in relation to the straight edge. You can set up the cut as close as you can measure. I put some packaging tape, or similar, on the bottom of the saw plate to keep from marking the lumber. You can also put masking tape on the cut line to help with tear out. I cut on the backside. Any splinters usually get removed when a dado is cut but there isn't much with tape and a good blade. You may have to tweek some saws so the plate edge is parallel with the blade and will follow the straight edge. I put a couple of 2x4s on my saw horses to keep the work supported.

   Beat it to fit / Paint it to match

4. 
   Jfrostjr | May 26, 2008 04:01pm | #8

   This sounds like a perfect application for the Festool guide bar and either a router or their circular saw. The saw yields perfect cut quality.

   Frosty

   "I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922