I’m at the stage on my chairs where the joinery is complete and I’m about ready to glue up. Of course, prior to assembly, I want to have all the parts sanded. Sharp edges are not desirable in any work, so all the edges need to be rounded over, too. My question is: In what order should I accomplish these things?
I’m of the opinion that the order should be: sand, round over, sand. No, I didn’t stutter. I typically start sanding at 100 or 120 grit. For a project that will receive an oil finish, like the chairs, I complete the sanding process at 320 or 400. My progression goes: 100, 120, 150, 180, 240, 320, 400. If I were to round over the edges prior to starting the sanding process, I would loose some of my roundover when sanding with the coarse grits. If I waited until the end of the process, I would be resanding very smooth surfaces, a waste of time.
Therefore, I do my roundovers after sanding with 180 grit. I do them by hand-sanding or with a router and roundover bit. There are lots of edges to do on the chairs, so I’ll use a router. The question then arises: What size bit to use?
I not a fan of big roundovers. While the Craftsman look appeals to me, I prefer a more defined edge. On most of my work, 1/8″ roundovers are too big. 1/16″ – 3/32″ looks best to me. And therein lies the problem (until recently). Many manufactureres make a 1/16″ roundover bit, but it’s so small it doesn’t do much for you. Any slight irregularities in the surface negate the cutting action of the bit. A 3/32″ bit? I couldn’t find one. You would think the jump from 1/16″ to 1/8″ is too big to ignore without an intermediate size, but it didn’t exist where I looked.
I mentioned the problem to my chair class, and one of my students looked around on the web and found that Whiteside does indeed make the bit. Thanks Ed! Here’s a photo of the little gem.
I know it doesn’t look like much, but this little bit is huge to me.
