First Timer - Beading Recommendations

[JohnM Martin]

I'm wanting to add a bead to be aprons of a nightstand I'm working on. I'm relatively new to woodworking and have yet to attempt any projects with a bead component. I thought I would give it a try. I know I have some options: dedicated bead planes (old fixer uppers and some new makers), dedicated beading tools from premium makers (LV and LN), scratch stock, as well as beading blades for a plow plane (I currently own a 2017 LV small plow plane). I know there are multiple ways to do this, I'm just wondering what recommendations you all have? I don't mind spending money on a dedicated tool if it performs well. What are your thoughts?

As a side question, is 3/8" the most common size? That's what I seem to have seen the most in researching in forums on line.

[Bill Houghton]

What wood are you using? A scratch stock, either purchased or made, is the simple way to do it; that's a scraping tool, and not all woods scrape well. One traditional cheapskate method is to drive a slotted, flathead wood screw (good hardware stores will have them as individual screws) into a small block of wood and file off one side of the top of the head, so that the edge of the unfiled slot becomes a scraping tool. You then cut the outside of the bead with a block plane. I've never tried it - I scored a combination plane before I needed to try it - but maybe someone else has and can report on it.

As to choices if you're buying a tool, planes of any type - the LV small plow converted for beading, a combination plane (e.g., Stanley 45), wooden beading planes - are quick and accurate for straight, through cutting. If you're anticipating introducing curves to the edges of work that will get a bead in future designs, a scratch stock (the LV beading tool is just a fancy scratch stock) will give you that capability. But, again, it's a scraping cut, and not all woods will give you a good finish from that technique.

Much depends on budget. The LV beading cutter, or LN's beader, or a scratch stock (purchased - multiple sources - or made), or a used Stanley No. 66 hand beader will all be cheaper, at various levels, than a beading plane. A beading plane will give you a planed, rather than scraped, surface. You pays your money and you takes your chances.

If you've got the LV small plow and you can afford the attachments to upgrade to a beading plane, too, you won't regret it, for your immediate project and for future uses...although I'm unable to find the conversion kit as a separate item on the website, I'm sure LV would sell it to you. I just purely love the effect of a plane-cut bead on an edge. You can buy/make a scratch stock/beading tool in future, when you're doing something with a curved apron...always good to have an excuse for another tool, right? Or reverse the approach, spending less money now on a beading/scratching tool, and get the parts for the plow later. Neither approach is likely to fail you.

[Jim Koepke]

My suggestion is to use what you already have "(I currently own a 2017 LV small plow plane)." The size shouldn't overwhelm the piece. A 1/4" would look just as good.

One advantage of the plane is it can set the bead away from the edge if desired.

jtk

[steven c newman]

Meh..
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Done with a Stanley #45..
bead corner.JPG
Same plane, same cutter...
bead cutter.jpg
YMMV....

[Tom M King]

The biggest difference, as far as looks go, is the width of the quirks. A scratch beader typically has sharp points, so leaves small quirks that go down to a sharp point. Beading irons for combination planes leave a quirk with a flat bottom of some width. Dedicated beading planes can be found with the whole range.

For a scratch beader, I like the wooden one sold by LV, which is my best recommendation, since I like their cutters the best too. Even if I'm using the old Stanley beader, I use the LV cutters in it.

A dedicated beading plane is the easiest to use if you're putting a bead on the edge of something, but buying users for little money is getting harder to do. My preference is to find them from the UK, because they seem to take better care of molding planes over there than are typically found in barns here.

I almost never use a combination plane for beading, unless it's a raised bead on the edge of something like a Grecian Ogee with Bead, that has flats on both sides of the bead.

[Warren Mickley]

You will want to orient the board so that when you go to plane the bead you are planing in a favorable direction. The usual sequence is 1) prepare the board to dimension, 2) cut the tenons, 3) plane the bead, 4) clean the face with a smoothing plane prior to glue up or finishing.

I was thinking a 5/16 bead would look nice, that or 1/4 would be better for your small table than 3/8 bead. Especially for someone who has not made mouldings before, I would recommend avoiding boards with grain reversal or wild figure.

[Joe Williams]

Derek and others had a thread a while ago about doing beads and such with the Veritas small plow as well as others and it was talking about a 15 degree backbevel on the cutter. Made a good difference in dealing against the grain. Going to try it myself but it looks like it worked well!

[David Myers]

Where do you live?

I've got a few beading planes you can try out.

As for scratch stock vs beading tool vs plane, for me depends on the size of the bead I'm after and how long a run of it I need to make.

[Barney Markunas]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but to my eye, a 3/8 bead is pretty beefy for a small table

[JohnM Martin]

Where do you live?

I've got a few beading planes you can try out.

As for scratch stock vs beading tool vs plane, for me depends on the size of the bead I'm after and how long a run of it I need to make.

That's very generous of you. I live in Edmond, OK (just north of OKC) so probably a little far to run by and take them for a test drive.

[JohnM Martin]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but to my eye, a 3/8 bead is pretty beefy for a small table

That seems to be the common response. What size would you think would best fit a shaker style side table?

[Mike Allen1010]

Good question John – a simple bead is a great way to add some ornamentation and shadow lines to give a little pizzazz to furniture.

My personal preferences is the width of the bead is a function of 2 elements: the size of the furniture component (rail, style, leg, etc.) that the bead is being applied to, and also the style/size of the finished piece of furniture. With larger, casework, I like a ratio of 1 : 6, and for smaller pieces (which would likely apply to a nightstand) 1:8, with a minimum bead width of 1/8" (because any smaller and you run the risk of looking like a "defect" rather than a design element to the casual observer).


Likewise, for a Shaker style pieces with straight lines, I tend to err on the side of the smaller bead, as compared to "chunkier" craftsman, country style furniture, where a wider bead, to my eye, is more consistent with the more prominent design elements of the piece. I probably made that sound waaay too complex; roughly speaking, for simple/shaker style, if putting a bead on a 1" wide rail/style/leg, etc.; 1:8 ratio = 1/8" wide bead. 1:6 ratio = 3/16" wide bead. For furniture styles with boulder lines/design elements, I add 1/16" to both. Just my rule of thumb, YMMV.


Regarding what tool to use to create a bead; I'm a big fan of the scratch beader. I like the Stanley style beading tool with LV blades, vs. a plane either molding/combination, because I get less tear out and a smoother finished final surface. Once you use the fenced scratch beader to begin establishing the initial width of the bead, it's easy to remove the blade from the tool and use it free hand, in either direction, to tame reversing grain. That's something you can't do with a beating plane unless you have a matched, mirrored set (which is pretty rare). Finally, I highly recommend the curved, rubber sanding blocks for final smoothing. I generally try to avoid sanding like the plague, but for curved molding surfaces, like beads, these are super handy and are available in a variety of diameter/ bead widths.


Thanks for posting I look forward to seeing some pictures of your work.


All the best, Mike

[Mel Fulks]

I too prefer the old pointed corners.

[David Myers]

Here are a couple of examples of beads on a scrap piece of pine that might help you decide on a size. They were both cut with vintage beading planes. The small one is about 1/4" and the larger one around 3/8".

I (like Mike mentioned above) prefer the smaller bead over the larger one for this size component. To Warren's point about grain orientation, note the tearout on the small bead near the knot.
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[chris carter]

A few months ago, having never even touch a beading tool let alone used one, I purchased the Lee Valley cast scratch stock http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/pag...,41182&p=73766. Even with no experience there was zero learning curve. It was so easy I couldn't make a mistake even trying and the few projects I've done with it came out fabulously.