Releif (back) Cutting Molding with a Router

[DR Buck]

I've started to make a fair amount of window casing and baseboard molding for my remolding job using my router table.  What I'm not sure about is do I need to do some kind of relief or back cut on the molding?  The molding cutters for my Woodmaster planer/molder come with a back cutter to do this, but for the molding pattern I'm doing I decided to use the router.  I haven't seen any of the router bit suppliers offering any type of cutter to do this .


So, if I should do a relief cut, how do I go about doing it and what sort of bit do I use?

By the way, here's the router table I built this past winter.

[Larry]

Is that a Narm inspired router table? ;D  Looks good.

The back relief on your moulding can help get over some of the ragged edges on drywall.  Helps to make it lay nice and flat against the casing/drywall.

Since you mentioned that you have a Woodmaster the best way to cut your back relief is with that machine.  Take a regular planer knife and cut three to the length of your relief.  Round the corners over on the grinder.  After a while you will have a big selection.  Too save on time pick up an old Belsaw for a few hundred and set it up with several of the most common lengths.

[metalspinner]

DR_BUCK,
What a coincidence!  I have a router table underway that looks almost exactly like that.  I just put a piece of laminate on the top and came up to eat dinner. I will rout out the hole for the router lift tonight. Drawers and a door will hopefully get made this weekend.  Can you share a couple of pics of your fence?

Relief cut?  I think a dado blade in the tablesaw would be one way to do it.

[DR Buck]

DR_BUCK,
What a coincidence!  I have a router table underway that looks almost exactly like that.  I just put a piece of laminate on the top and came up to eat dinner. I will rout out the hole for the router lift tonight. Drawers and a door will hopefully get made this weekend.  Can you share a couple of pics of your fence?

Relief cut?  I think a dado blade in the tablesaw would be one way to do it.

I cheated on the fence.  Bought it on sale from Rockler.  I routed some extra t-slots to the top section for larger feather boards.   I used double track on the table top.  T-trak & miter slot combo.  Just straight t-trak for the fence position.


I was thinking the dado blade/ table saw solution might be the easiest for back cutting.    I haven't tried it yet but I could do multiple passes for wider molding.