On Apr 7, 8:02*am, David Billington
wrote:

In case you didn't see my response to Jim Wilkins, I posted the following.

I've done the same but I was thinking of filing the final smooth curve.
On say a 90 degree corner and holding the piece with each face at about
45 to horizontal what I did originally, as I had never been shown, I
just moved the file forward and rocked it from the near face to the far
face so the contact point travels away form you to create the curve. The
instructor *showed my to start with the file parallel with the far face
and moving the file forward, rock it back, to end the stroke with the
file parallel to the near face, in this way the contact point travels
back towards you during the operation. This instantly gave me a much
better finish and radius and it's the way I've done it ever since.
Bill

You mean filing lengthwise to smooth it after shaping crosswise to the
line?

I'm OK with the rocking motion but I have a hard time keeping the
pressure equal on both sides of the file, especially after the flats
are gone and I can't see the angle of the lines between them to
correct. For the last bit of finish I use my squared-up belt sander
and the same smooth rotation of the part. The sander has a free-hand
area above the backing plate that does an excellent job of smoothing
the sharp edges on either side of the radius curve. The 1" sander I
have doesn't cut to shape as fast as a good coarse file, though.

I can do almost as well with a hand-held angle grinder by rotating the
body of the tool with both hands.

Jim Wilkins