I already have the structure of the sides made, but leaving it as it is would be a bit dull. Some pieces of furniture look very nice with all their corners and right angles, but in this case, routing a molding around the glass will make a big difference and is one of the many reasons to buy a router.
For the decorative molding, I use a bit with a bearing that serves as a guide by resting it against the same strips that form the sides of the display cabinet. The edge of this bit has two S-shaped curves and ends at the top with a small vertical edge. Don’t confuse it with the one that has only one curve. You can find these bits in almost any cheap set of bits, often given as a gift when you buy the router.
The technique for routing the moldings basically consists of adjusting the routing height and cutting in a clockwise direction, removing material little by little until the bearing is resting against the wood throughout the entire pass. With some pieces of wood, we block the workpiece so it doesn’t move, and inside we place some blocks with the same height as the strips of our sides to have a support surface for the base of the router. If you’re wondering why I don’t glue it first, it’s because maybe some of you prefer to cut slots and insert a plate instead of glass, and you couldn’t route this molding with the plate in place.
I also use the router, this time with a straight bit and its guide for straight cuts, to route the groove where the glass will be placed on the inside of each side. After the necessary adjustments, it is an easy task, although it is worth noting the direction we are routing, since both with this task and with the molding routing, we can encounter large wood splinters that break and spoil the appearance of the routing. I’ve never had a case so severe that I couldn’t eliminate the damage as I continued deepening the routing, so I usually route in both directions. But I always keep in mind that the routing can be spoiled, so I’ll try to explain this more later in another post.
You can see the whole procedure in the video and the things to keep in mind, such as making sure the bearing will always end up resting against the strips, paying special attention that it doesn’t end up below the center strip, which is narrower than the others.
Everything about how to make this wooden display cabinet