Woodriver corner easing plane

[Chip Sawdust]

I was looking for a rounding bit at Woodcraft and they didn't have one! So the guy sold me this woodriver corner easing plane and I was wondering if anyone has used one. I'm not sure it'll do what I want; I have a ton of corners to ease on the G&G bed frame I'm building. 

https://www.woodcraft.com/products/woodriver-corner-easing-plane

[Chestnut]

Never seen that before. I suppose you don't want to use it in case it doesn't work but i'd say try it on scrap and see how it goes. If they guy sold you a dud that's what returns are for. They should understand.

[Tpt life]

I have several options in various planes for easing or rounding corners. At that price point, I wouldn’t hesitate to try it if you don’t have a better option. 

[Chip Sawdust]

At the moment I was thinking I could lower a 1/4" rounding bit and use that on my router table but the 1/8" is really what I wanted. You're right, at the price point it's no big deal but I could  get a Whiteside bit like I want for another $5  

I'll give it a shot and report back I reckon. 

[pkinneb]

If I had a lot to do I would get the Whiteside bit and use a hand held trim router. 

[Ronn W]

I used a whiteside 1/8" round over bit a lot - usually at the router table prior to assembley.

[Tpt life]

The more I think of this....

How far does the iron project? Chamfer planes with a V sole are notorious for not “rounding” well. Corner “easing” and the images make me suspect this here. 

[Tom King]

I have a toolbox full of small routers with roundover bits.  The 1/8" does get used a lot.  It hits tops, and bottoms of house doors, and many more uses that I can't think of.   I even have one 1/16", which makes more of a noticeable roundover than you might think.  That one gets used on door jambs.  I don't think I use anything larger than 3/8" with the small routers.  Barn posts get 3/4" by a 7518.

That plane looks interesting, but the picture makes it look like a Chamfering plane, rather than a roundover.

[gee-dub]

Like Tom I have 1/16" roundovers, 1/8" - 3/8" in 16ths and random hops up to 1-1/2".  I would order a Whiteside and wait a day or two rather than proceed with an incorrect size for the job or sandpaper both of which create the ultimate sin in roundovers; a soft, ill-defined, doughy look.

[Chip Sawdust]

I didn't get out to the shop today but yeah, the more I think about it the more I'm planning on the router bit *shrug* 

I may keep the plane and try it on bits n pieces rather than all these spindles, stiles and legs. It's a lot... And consistency is key like gee-dub said. Last thing I want after all this effort is a poor finished result because of a tool I'm not used to doing a half-baked job. Ugh

[drzaius]

I don't use a router for eased edges at all anymore. Just a block plane and/or sand paper. Much less noisy, messy, & less chance of screwing something up. And it is just about as fast. I'll be interested in your report on that little easing plane though.

[Pondhockey]

3 minutes ago, drzaius said:

I don't use a router for eased edges at all anymore. Just a block plane and/or sand paper. Much less noisy, messy, & less chance of screwing something up. And it is just about as fast. I'll be interested in your report on that little easing plane though.

I use a block plane (or sand) as well.  But I'm interested in Gee-Dub's comment about a "doughy" look.

 

[Chip Sawdust]

I've already softened the edges with a block plane and it looks OK, but there are 24 spindles and four splines plus the legs and all the cross pièces.  It's a California King size bed so it's 6' wide as well. I've used scrapers as well where the cloud lifts are, and sandpaper where those don't do the whole trick

[gee-dub]

7 hours ago, Pondhockey said:

I use a block plane (or sand) as well.  But I'm interested in Gee-Dub's comment about a "doughy" look.

This is a personal taste thing for me.  Doughy is a term I use to keep myself focused against round overs that are poorly defined.  "Doughy" like cookie dough or Play Dough .  I don't want my round overs to look like they came right off the router table but, I do want them to feel consistent and purposeful. 

This piece was just a joinery study that I made to confirm some dimensions for a dresser pattern that I now use.  Since I was more concerned with the vertical corner joinery, I focused there while the other stuff got only a partial effort.  The fingers and the vertical post here are OK but, the strap detail seems soft and poorly defined. 

The bridal joint "fingers" on this top trim got carelessly worked and show the same  'meh' sort of effort.  This is the prototype where I learned to NEVER let said prototype be seen with finish on it if you don't want it to end up in the house where you will sneer at it every day for years on end 

On this piece you can see the surface intersections are more clearly defined, the round overs start and stop at a more specific point along the arc, the straps cut a definite shadow line that visually terminates what you're looking at and the fingers have definite top, side and front surfaces.

Like I said, I do not want my curves and profiles to look like they came right off a machine.  However, if they start to look a little Salvador-Dali-soft-clock-ish . . . 

. . . I redefine the start and stop of the arc to try to achieve a more purposeful look.

[Chip Sawdust]

Gee-dub I call that a well-illustrated point !

So I tried the corner plane and no, it doesn't do what I want at all. If you have a board where you want to soften its edges, OK. But if you have a spindle (or 24) you want rond corners on, this ain't it. 

I've ordered the rounding bit this morning. Woodcraft is far enough across town I doubt I'll run across to return this thing. I may find a use for it somewhere else. 

[Pondhockey]

Thanks to Gee-Dub;  I agree with the preference for the last example.  For me, part of it at least is the smaller radius.

[Edit:  I should say that all the pieces look like fine work, the softer corners might be very toddler friendly!]

[wdwerker]

I've got a 3/32 radius roundover bit that gives that tiny slight broken corner look without making the "doughy " appearance. It's sold to round the edges on ColorCore laminate which doesn't leave those brown lines. If the corner isn't perfectly flat and straight the bit doesn't cut the full profile but some sanding evens that out easily.