1/16" Roundover Bit: Good to Have or Waste of Time?

[Brody Goodwine]

I'm considering a 1/16" roundover bit for the tops of drawer boxes and other "softening" work. Can you get a good roundover with this or is it just a waste of time vs a quick sanding?

[Jason Neal]

For a roundover that small, I would just use a 45deg bevel bit and then basically just wipe down the edge with sandpaper.

Of course, that's because I have a bevel bit and not a 1/16" roundover. I just prefer the appearance of a crisp bevel and I think a bevel bit is more versatile in that, by simply adjusting the depth, one can easily be make the edge more or less pronounced.

I use mine so often that I keep it parked in a little trim router.

[Bruce Page]

I have one. I bought it because I needed a consistent edge break in some toys I made for my grand kids. It worked really well for that. I haven’t used it since but you never know what's coming around the corner..

[Chris Rosenberger]

I just hit the corners with sandpaper. For me it is quicker than using a router for that small amount of stock removal.

[John Coloccia]

For flat goods, I wouldn't use anything but this.

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2003900/9407/Radius-Slick-Plane.aspx

You could have the router setup, turned on and ready to go, and I would still beat you using the Slick plane :)

And for everything else, I just hit with a little sandpaper.

[Carl Beckett]

+1 on Johns approach.

I dont have a slick plane, but I have a set of cutters that do the same thing. They are small metal pieces with a cutting groove on each end - I have two of them which means 4 different cutting angles.

You cant get into corners (but you can do that with a router either). In fact, I can get much closer to the corner than I could with a router.

Other times I have setup a 1/8 roundoff and just not cut as deep. Its not a perfect full radius, but any sanding then brings it round (and at the end of the day, there is always sanding it seems....)

So I would say a 1/16 roundover router bit is a waste. I would go with the slick plane as a first choice, those small hand cutters like I have as second choice (they are cheap and not particularly sharp), and then a larger radius bit set not to cut deep as a third.

YMMV

[Keith Outten]

Amana has a line of very small router bits with 1/8" diamiter bearings. I use the MR0112 1/8" round over bit on Corian door signs that have a window machined. The windows in my signs are cut with a 1/4" straight bit so the Amana round over bit easily fits into the small corner.

I don't know if they sell a 1/16" bit but you should be able to search on the model number above and find a source for Amana bits.
.

[Lee Schierer]

I have a small radius bit made by Freud and use it frequently. It is great for breaking edges consistently on dresser tops and other flat items. It is easier to do on end grain than sanding or trying to use a hand plane.

[John McClanahan]

I have one of those planes. I could never get it set for a good bevel, so I tossed it in a drawer and forgot about it. I was also trying to use it by pushing it. After watching the Woodcraft video and seeing it pulled, I may have to give mine another try. It would be quicker and easier than setting up the router each time.

[Don Stanley]

I'm considering a 1/16" roundover bit for the tops of drawer boxes and other "softening" work. Can you get a good roundover with this or is it just a waste of time vs a quick sanding?

You can never have too many router bits!:) I have one, and have used it on occasion. As another poster mentioned, works good with end grain, especially where you have a lot of parts to round-over - worth the time to do the setup! Another application would be for round-over on plastic/plexiglass parts.

-Don

[glenn bradley]

For the use you describe I would just use my hands and sandpaper. I do have and frequently use a 1/16" roundover bit but, this is for times when I need an exact 1/16" radius consistently along the edge for one reason or another. I never could get a reliable and consistent behavior out of a slickplane but, attribute this to my inexperience with the setup and honing of those cutters, and probably not to the tool itself.

[Mike Henderson]

I have a 1/16" round over bit and use it occasionally, especially if I have a lot of stock to round over. For a small amount of work, you can use sandpaper but if you have a lot of edges to round over, the router bit is worth while.

Mike

[Mike Newell]

I like to leave a small round over in a old Craftsman router all set up and use it to just ease edges. It works great if you happen to have a extra router our you could get a cheap or used router and set it up like I did for edges. It is really handy.

Mike

[Ole Anderson]

Slickplane here too.

[Brian Hughner]

I used to use sandpaper to break edges. Now I have a dedicated Ridgid laminate trimmer I got on sale set up with a 1/16 roundover bit. Works great and is much faster when doing lots of edges.

[Neil Brooks]

I like to leave a small round over in a old Craftsman router all set up and use it to just ease edges. It works great if you happen to have a extra router our you could get a cheap or used router and set it up like I did for edges. It is really handy.

That's kinda' what I was thinking, too. There's a half-dozen uses that I can think of for not-great, not-expensive CraigsList router finds. This would be one of them. My older Ryobi, set up for the dovetail jig, is another.

Plane OR already-set-up router is my go-to, for breaking edges -- even the silly little Harbor Freight (or other) miniature hand planes. Ya' gotta' love 'em :)

[Tom Ewell]

Depends on the task at hand.
I use Radi plane, Fast Cap Fastbreak, Veritas cornering tools and or assorted small router bits.

[scott vroom]

I use my 1/16" round over frequently to break both top edges of drawer boxes before assembly. If I'm building 10 drawers that's 80 edges I'm rounding (40 boards * 2 edges ea.). The 1/16" roundover bit applies a superior edge in far less time than hand sanding. If you've got extra time on your hands, or if it's just a few edges you're treating then sanding by hand might make more sense for you.

[Jeff Monson]

I leave my 1/16" roundover in my Bosch palm router all the time, I use it alot.

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

I leave my 1/16" roundover in my Bosch palm router all the time, I use it alot.

That's my solution also. And I'll bet that with it I can run a more consistent radius on a flat part with curved edges than any one can with their Radi Plane (I have one, it has it's occasional use).

[Ryan Baker]

Oh no! Not the Slickplane! I have one of those things and it is the most useless hunk of junk ever. The cutters are junk, not aligned with the bed, etc. Nothing I could do would produce an acceptable result with this "plane". It went in the junk pile and never came out. I couldn't even give it away.

There ARE some similar planes on the market that do work, and some are quite inexpensive. But then, a block plane will do just as well, or a scraper, or sandpaper, etc.

A 1/16" roundover isn't THAT small, and can be quite handy for some jobs. If you work mainly with power tools, I would say that a 1/16" radius round over in a trim router is a useful thing to have around. If you don't have a lot of it to do, a few hand tools can do it faster and easier.