Wrapping a large panel with seamless mitered edging can be a challenge. It goes without saying that you need to start with a straight and square panel. This makes the process of fitting the edging go a lot smoother. It also means making sure your table saw is set up for accurate 90° cuts. And an accurate setup carries over to cutting the mitered corners of the edging that wraps around the panel.
While I sometimes angle the miter gauge to cut miters, you can get better results by tilting the blade. A digital angle gauge makes it easy to set the blade to 45°, leaving the miter gauge square to the blade. Using this method, the top of the saw table fully supports the workpiece. This helps keep it stable during the cut and minimizes any flexing.
Before getting started, the first step is to miter a couple short pieces of edging to use as reference blocks. You’ll use these blocks to help locate and fit the first piece of edging. Start by temporarily clamping one of the reference blocks on the long edge of the panel at the corner. You can use the second reference block to position it precisely at the corner. Now cut a miter on one end of the edging and fit it against the reference block. Then it’s an easy task to mark the length of the edging along the opposite edge of the panel. This mark will be a guideline as you sneak up on the fit. At this point you can clamp the second reference block to the opposite edge, as shown in the photo above. Now you’re ready to do a little fine-tuning on the short end piece. Cut the edging a little long and check the fit.
Once you’re happy with the fit, it’s time to apply the glue and clamp the edging in place. Just make sure to place clamps both under and over the panel to keep the edging tight along the top and bottom edges of the panel for a gap-free joint line. It’s during the glueup that the reference blocks provide one last benefit. They keep the edging from slipping side-to-side on the wet glue as you tighten the clamps down. And the shorter vertical clamps help provide a working platform for applying glue and rotating the piece into place. With one end complete, you can repeat the process at the opposite end of the panel.
After you’ve glued on the two short edges, they’ll become your references for cutting and fitting the long pieces. Here again, concentrate on one piece at a time. These longer pieces have a tendency to bow and twist more than the shorter ones, so they require a little more time and test-fitting. But it pays off in a seamless fit. The result of a little patience and taking one step at a time will speak for itself.
