Need a rounded corner, no router

[Luke Hill]

That's basically it. I need a rounded edge on a stool that I am making, and it's gonna be next month before I get my router.

If you don't have a router, how do you go about getting a rounded edge?

I am doing something like:
http://www.furnitureplans.com/product_images/medium/6000_medium.jpg

thanks!

[Paul Girouard]

A "4 and hand "file , a block plane to start the radius , finished with the 4 in hand.

A belt sander would also "hog off " the bulk of the material the hand sand .

Or a variety of what today would be called " special" planes could be used. They'd cost about the same a good router and bit set up MTL(More Than Likely=MTL)

[Gary Keedwell]

Well, you could do what Paul said but don't take off too much stock and then when you get your router ..you could then finish it off. Nothing looks better then a nice EVEN mill job.
Gary

[Paul Girouard]

Well, you could do what Paul said but don't take off too much stock and then when you get your router ..you could then finish it off. Nothing looks better then a nice EVEN mill job.
Gary
Gary , for the record , ( I think the Bosch would be my choice;) or this job)

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b299/PEG688/routers.jpg


I'd use a good router and sharp bit , I was just suggesting options for what tools I assumed he may have at hand or that are lower cost items.

[Dan Barr]

Just that.

Make your own router plane by grinding a piece of steel in the desired shape, honing and making a block to hold it with a wedge to secure the iron.

Gradually progress from a shallow depth to the desired depth.

Or you could chamfer the edges on the jointer and then finish by hand.

V/R

Dan

[Jason Beam]

The above advice is sound, but I want to put forth a caution:

Whenever you want to "do what that tool can do without that tool", know that you're probably going to make sacrifices.

The "by hand" methods I'd use are a handheld coarse sanding block and some patience. Pay attention to get the curve as even as you can. If you want to be real picky, make a cardboard cutout of the profile and check it along the length of your piece. This isn't gonna go nearly as fast as a router and the quality may take some effort to maintain.

The handplane method has been used for centuries and a steady hand can do it real quick. But it means having a properly tuned plane and experience with such things as grain direction and sharpening. Sandpaper's faster until you're adept with planes. Planes are faster once you're adept with 'em. The best part is that once you hog off the bulk with a plane (relative term, hog off, you'd really only take .003-.005" shavings, anyway), you can really fair the profile with a card scraper or by taking lighter shavings with the plane. But watch that grain direction! :)

I'd say patience and a block of 60 grit would yield your best results if you pay close attention to getting a uniform profile.

Edit: OH! to help guide your profile, scribe the depth on both the face and the edge of the board. Say you want a 1/4" round-over. Mark a line 1/4" in both on top and on the edge of the board. This tells you your profile's boundries. When you're sanding/planing never cross those lines! This will help you to know how far off and how even you've got things. That's an old chamfering trick i'd seen, that works with round overs, too.

[Von Bickley]

Luke,

Tell us where you live..... A "Creeker" may be close-by.

[harry strasil]

neander method is to take cuts with a block or other plane and then use a scraper as shown below out of an piece of scrap metal, you can refine the curve by using a sanding drum in the drill press, and just hone the flat edges. Then finish with fine sandpaper.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/layout/roundedge.jpg

[Ern Gumban]

Luke,
Since you are still building your tool arsenal and have not yet added a router; I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume you do not have a block plane, sanding wheel, or a grinder to make a router plane.

One method I used when just starting out is to find an object from around your shop, such as a short length of PVC pipe (long enough to hold in your hand firmly), with an inside radius that is close to the kind of rounded edge you want. Cut the PVC pipe in half lengthwise with a hacksaw etc. and there ya go, a nice profiled sanding block to place your sandpaper inside of. Start with a low grit and go higher as you achieve the radius you want.

You can get a surprisingly uniform rounded edge if you are patient and steady. Sure, it's primitive, but from experience I know it works.

Hope that helps,
Ern

[Doug Shepard]

I'd start with a block plane and get it close. You could make a sanding block pretty easily to clean it up by drilling a hole through a block of wood then cutting lengthwise through it then using spray glue to tack some sandpaper onto the block & groove. You might have to play with the drill bit diameter to get what you want. You'd have to allow for the sandpaper thickness (and stiffness) plus the kerf width of whatever you use to cut the block lengthwise down the middle of the hole.

[Luke Hill]

Wow, thanks for everyone's responses! I need to just break down and buy a good router, but the funds are tight right now. So, if anyone has one they want to get rid of, and are somewhat close by, let me know. I did buy a Dremel this weekend, and supposedly there is a router attachment I can get for it, which might work as well.

Von - I am just outside of Memphis. So, if there any "creekers" that get together, I may be interested in seeing how the pros work.

Thanks for the responses!

[Luke Hill]

Just FYI, I found a router and table at an estate sale. I was trying all sorts of stuff before that, and now that I own a router, I quickly realize that I was wasting all sorts of time without it!

Thanks for the input everyone

[Ern Gumban]

Just FYI, I found a router and table at an estate sale. I was trying all sorts of stuff before that, and now that I own a router, I quickly realize that I was wasting all sorts of time without it!

Thanks for the input everyone

Congrats on the score Luke! Have fun and be safe.
Ern

[Micah Carter]

depending on what kind of radius you're looking for, a slickplane could work very well for less than $20.

neat tool to have anyway.

[Mick Zelaska]

Hold off until you get the router!!!

[Danny Thompson]

Luke,

I'm no pro, that's for sure, but if you want you can drop by (Cordova) and use my router/router table sometime. PM sent with my number.

Danny

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/misc/progress.gif

[Greg Peterson]

Luke - If a perfectly rounded edge is your goal, without a lot of practice you'll likely need some power tooling to achieve the desired result. As for non-powered tooling I've had good success with Mircoplanes. Inexpensive and it provides a great amount of control, is quiet and does not create dust, just shavings.


Gary, I have to take exception to your statement.

"Nothing looks better then a nice EVEN mill job."

Practically anyone can mill perfectly dimensioned wood. It is in the slight imperfections where I find the heart and sole of the craftsman's work. Those imperfections tell me more about the craftsman than anything else.

A slightly uneven chamfered edge, slight remnants of a gouge or chisel mark, an imperfect round edge are details that attract my hand to investigate. These little clues left in the wood are invitations to explore the piece in greater detail. They invite one to touch the work.

I don't strive for perfection in my work. Square, solid, functional and pleasing to the eye certainly. But I don't ever want to remove all of my personality via mill work. I hope one day someone will look at something I made and want to touch it, examine it and wonder about the person that made it.

[Roland Chung]

Wait for the router. Do you have a buddy with a router? A neighbor? Tell them that you will only be a minute or two.

[Shannon Vincent]

I second the "borrow my router table".I am in Germantown,and have a roundover bit.PM me if your interested.

[Bill McDermott]

Luke,

Someone might appreciate the idea of giving you a router for Christmas (just be sure your hint has a make and model #). You are certain to like having it.

Since the stool is a modest project, you can mess around with hand tools. Sand paper will get it done very nicely -- eventually. You can greatly speed things up by taking bigger bites first.

I suggest you get yourself a wood rasp. A Nicholson #49 (rough) or #50 (not so rough) is a great tool to have in your shop. You will use it a LOT. Practice with it on some scrap before going to the stool. The trick is to keep moving diagonally. If you just go back and forth, it's a really wide saw, and you wind up with grooves.

Rasps are like other tools. Lots of different grits. Lots of different qualities. Nicholson is a USA product and strikes a good balance between cost, quality and availability.

One last thought... routers are awesome but you should definitely take a class, or watch a video. The operative word is "power". You can wreck your stool in a heartbeat with a brand new router. Of course, you'll use the heck out of it for years to come.

May your grandchildren enjoy the stool!

[Steven Wilson]

Luke, I would just take a block plane and plane a chamfer on the edges. I think a chamfered edge looks better on Shaker furniture than rounded anyhow. As for the router, wait untill you can get something decent. For handheld work I still like the PortCable 690 kit (fixed and plunged bases). It's not as powerful and doesn't have all of the bells and whistles but it's bulletproof. For fixed bit work (like rounding edges where you don't need to plunge) a nice comfortable small router is easy to control and works well.

[Bob Childress]

:) I guess nobody read his post that he had bought a router and was already using it. :confused:

[Bob Vallaster]

Since a Dremel isn't a router, I will presume Luke is still open to suggestions.
Ern suggested wrapping sandpaper over a piece of PVC cut lengthwise. You can do the same with a 6-12" length of cove moulding in the radius of your choice.
And (if you have a shape to copy) you can mold Bondo over a wax-paper-covered form to make virtually any shape. Rough the edge to be rounded with a block plane and/or rasp, line your shaped sanding block with paper, settle in for some vigorous sanding. Keep a towel handy to wipe the dripping sweat off your project.

[Gary Keedwell]

:) I guess nobody read his post that he had bought a router and was already using it. :confused:
Their still doing it Bob:D :D Doesn't anybody read the posts:confused: :confused:

Yes, Greg if there was anybody I could depend on to disagree with me it ...............never mind;)
Gary