Cutting Bullnose

[Dennis Putnam]

I'm trying to make bull nose for stairs. I have a 1" bull nose router bit and am using true 3/4 stock. Because of the size I cannot make it in one pass. I'm OK with the first pass but it is the 2nd pass that is giving me trouble. Since there is no bearing in the center of the bit I don't have a good way to prevent the bit from going too deep and gouging or tearing out. Trying to adjust the fences after each pass is extremely time consuming and I don't know if I have it right until it is too late. I hope I've described the problem well enough for someone to advise. TIA.

[Bradley Gray]

Sounds like you need to get a 3/4" bullnose or a 3/8" roundover.

[Dennis Putnam]

Thanks for the reply. My bad. It is actually 1" stock. I guess I'm really going to need 1/2" round over bit. Even the 1" bull nose bit leaves a ridge as apparently it is not really for 1" stock. I guessing it is for 1" dimensional lumber which is expected to be 3/4".

[Doug Garson]

The bullnose bit I have has a bearing on the top (end opposite the router). Anytime I've used it I use a template to run the bearing against. I don't adjust the template if I need to make multiple passes, just don't push the bit all the way against the template, you could also run the first pass with a thin spacer on the template. You could also us the same technique with the fence, add thin spacer or just don't push the bit all the way against the fence.

[andrew whicker]

You can also buy different sized bearings (diameter). Check out Whiteside. You can buy a package of bearings of various sizes.

[Dennis Putnam]

I was fortunate to find a 1/2" round over bit at the local HD (last one). They seem to be quite rare. In any case that worked and I am making good bullnose. Thanks.

[Lee Schierer]

After you make the first pass, the bearing has no place to ride on the wood so the cuts don't align. This is easily fixed by using a fence on a table mounted router. Adjust the fence so the bearing is perfectly aligned with the face of the fence. A feather board against the out feed side of the fence will help keep the stock against the fence at the end of the cut.

You can make dowels of various sizes out of any wood using this technique as well. Just be sure to rotate the previously cut edge so it is right above the cutting edge of the bit.

Router Bit World has many 1/2" round over bits.

[Brian Gumpper]

It sounds like your are making first pass and second pass for each piece. First up is get a piece of wood that will be your setup piece. Then run all boards first pass, use the setup board to set your fence depth then run all boards second pass. Only have to move the fence once.

[Keegan Shields]

Setup your router fence for a full pass. Then put a 1/2' MDF shim board on the face of the fence for the first pass. Run all of your stock through, then removed the 1/2" shim board from the face of the fence and take a full depth pass to finish it up.

You might have to play with the number of shim boards and their thickness, but the principle remains. No need to move the fence once its set.

[John TenEyck]

This ^^^^^^

John

[Mike Cutler]

I'm sure the OP has resolved his issue, but the one aspect I didn't read was that the fences have to offset for the bullnose profile.
Regardless, Keegan's method works perfectly if a back fence isn't going to be used.

[Doug Garson]

I'm sure the OP has resolved his issue, but the one aspect I didn't read was that the fences have to offset for the bullnose profile.
Regardless, Keegan's method works perfectly if a back fence isn't going to be used.
I don't think that is correct, at least not for the bullnose bits I have. My bits have a bearing , the outside of which aligns with the middle of the bullnose made so that no material is removed from very middle. If the bit is used with a fence, the fence (infeed and outfeed) is aligned with the bearing, no need for offset as would be required when using the router table as an edge jointer.