cuttinglumberwoodwoodworking
I am interested in learning this craftsmanship /technique:
Look like the piece of lumber in between has perfect cut to match the angles.
How did they transfer the cut dimension? Is there a tool for that?
I was thinking about using paper cardboard templates but even so, it's not perfectly lined up like the photo.
It might work - however the problem would be where the centre uprights join the horizontal sections.
This piece of ascii art might help:
||========||
|| || ||
|| || ||
|| || ||
||========||
|| || ||
|| || ||
|| || ||
||========||
Where "||" is the vertical sections and "==" the horizontal.
You'll end up with two sections like this:
||==== ====||
|| | | ||
|| | | ||
|| | | ||
||==== ====||
|| | | ||
|| | | ||
|| | | ||
||==== ====||
As you can see buy cutting up the centre you are cutting through the middle of the joints which will weaken the joints and they could come apart.
These joints are mortice and tenon and you could try strengthening them by putting a dowel through the tenon before cutting:
Drill all the way through, insert the dowel (with glue), plane and sand smooth. If you're painting the doors you won't see the join. To drill the hole straight you could use a portable drill guide or a plunge router.
You don't say what saw you used to cut the wood, but if you use a tenon saw you should get a cleaner cut in the first place that requires less sanding. This is because the saw has finer teeth for a smoother cut and a stiffening spine that means you get a straighter cut.
Clamping a second piece of wood to use as a guide is another alternative.
Alternatively you could use a plane to remove the excess wood - but make sure that you clamp a piece of scrap wood to the end of the plank to avoid it splitting:
------> direction of plane
+---------+---+
| | |
| ^ | | <- Scrap
| | | |
| | | |
direction of grain
Best Answer
I've tried a few cuts like this and got one of the crazy devices shown below. It's a "multi angle measuring ruler". Even if you get the angles right, you still have to cut the wood accurately and that requires a good miter saw, and even then, be prepared to do it a few times to get the saw set just right. This is an art and it takes a lot of practice It's not as easy as Norm makes it look on "this old house'. Good luck.