Easing corners on furniture

[michael dilday]

I bought a Woodriver corner easing plane from woodcraft. It is a really nifty small plane that looks like it would be great and when it works it does a great job however... It keeps splitting the wood. It seems like if I go against the angle of the grain it is worse but even if i favor the grain it still cuts the corner off randomly. I have tried taking small bites multiple passes and still have an issue. It is so bad that I cannot get hardly a single corner eased over without at least one or two issues. I have been gluing them down and continuing to try it but now I am about to give up on it. Does anyone use anything like this with success? Any other ideas for easing corners? In the past I have just used sandpaper with pretty good success but was looking for a better solution. Woodpeckers had a nice looking one time tool corner easing plane but I just couldn't justify the $500 price tag for the set.

https://www.woodcraft.com/products/w...r-easing-plane

[johnny means]

You've over complicated things. A hard sanding block with a fine grit paper is the best tool for breaking sharp corners. Not everything calls for a special gadget. I usually just glue 180 or 220 grit paper to any old scrap of wood call it a day. Sometimes, if I need a softer corner, I use an old ROS pad. I never use a sponge or handheld paper because it always leaves scratches on the adjoining surfaces.

[Bill Carey]

2nd the sandpaper I use 180 on a preppin weapon and it works great.

[michael dilday]

OK you got me - what is a preppin weapon?

[michael dilday]

Thanks guys. I am thinking sandpaper too.

[Jacob Mac]

Is a round over bit a possibility? Otherwise, I almost always use a block plane

[michael dilday]

I think a rounder bit would be too aggressive. I only want 1/32 or maybe even less.

[Jacob Reverb]

I think a rounder bit would be too aggressive. I only want 1/32 or maybe even less.

I generally plane, drawfile, and/or sand, depending on how hard the wood is and how much I want to break the edge.

[Prashun Patel]

I don't use a single method.

Even a 1/8" roundover bit can cause tear out.

If you literally want to just soften the edge a smidge, sandpaper is fine. I do it with a random orbit sander and 220 or 400 grit. Doing ends by hand can cause cross-grain scratches.
Sandpaper is tricky on end grain because you have to sand cross grain.

If you want any kind of visible edge, then whether you use a 1/8" roundover bit, a chamfer bit, or a block plane, there's no getting around having to read your grain. So, just take very very light passes. Usually, any minor tearout is remedied by going in the opposite direction on the next pass.

[Bill Carey]

Best sandpaper holder I've found.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=preppin+w...l_386067rkrv_e

[Randy Heinemann]

Like others have said, sandpaper works well. However, a small hand plane will work also, depending how much working room you have. A few years ago I bought the Lie-Nielsen No. 101 Violin Maker's Plane. It's a tiny plane of the block plane type. It's weight is just right for this work since it's made out of bronze. With its blade set to just trim a little of you can round over a corner ever so slightly with a few passes at slightly different angles. You do, of course, need to watch grain direction. Even a tiny plane with a fine cut will pull up fibers against the grain.

I looked at the Wood River corner easing plane. Your lack of success with it might just be that it is a cheaply made solution for this work. Some of Wood River's tools are actually very good, but others aren't. I have a Wood River block plane and spokeshave, both great tools, but they were more expensive than their basic planes, but still cheaper than Lie-Nielsen or Veritas. A block plane would work also, but standard size are a little cumbersome for this task.

[Phil Mueller]

Sandpaper here too. I do sometimes use the rubber profile sanding forms like these:

94FEF66C-78E2-43F6-99E9-DBFACAEF6DA7.jpg

[michael dilday]

Best sandpaper holder I've found.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=preppin+w...l_386067rkrv_e

Nice Bill.

[glenn bradley]

Best sandpaper holder I've found.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=preppin+w...l_386067rkrv_e

+1. I just grab one when they were on sale here and there and now have a half a dozen. Your corner easing will depend on material, scale of the piece and so forth. For fine work when I want the eased edge to be finish ready I do use a small plane. It is however, one that can be sharpened so that it does the job reliably. I'm not sure I see how the Woodriver product gets sharpened.

Kit-Hut-(189).jpg

For a different take on the 'Slick Plane' , I spent more time trying to make it work than I would have spent doing the easing another way. I felt like the concept was good and it really ought to work. We never saw eye to eye ;-)

[Jim Koepke]

For years my Radi-Plane:

Radi-Plane.jpg

(similar to the Rockler plane) was a hit and mis affair. Now it depends on what kind of easing is desired. For a rounded corner a hollow plane of the appropriate size works great.

For a flat chamfer a block plane or spokeshave is often the first choice. If an equal chamfering is wanted on all corners than over the years a couple of antique chamfer planes have been acquired.

Any of these can have splintering if working against the grain. If the grain is too wild, then a scraper or sandpaper may be your best choice.

jtk