I am making drawer fronts and want the edges to be completely rounded over. The wood is 3/4". Now, I have a 3/8" radius bit that I found this morning but haven't had a chance to try as I had to get to work (damn job always gets in the way). Will that do it or do I need to stop on the way home and pick up something else?

I mean, 3/8 is the radius, so 3/4 would be the diameter... does that make sense?

-Jim

On 7/13/2011 2:25 PM, jtpr wrote:
I am making drawer fronts and want the edges to be completely rounded over. The wood is 3/4". Now, I have a 3/8" radius bit that I found this morning but haven't had a chance to try as I had to get to work (damn job always gets in the way). Will that do it or do I need to stop on the way home and pick up something else?

I mean, 3/8 is the radius, so 3/4 would be the diameter... does that make sense?

-Jim



It all depends on the look you are after. That bit will begin the curve
3/8" from the edge of the front and end up down half the thickness of
the board. IMHO that is about as strong of a round over that you would
ever want to use on a drawer edge. Keep in mind that the larger the
radius the wider the gab between the drawer and fac4e frame will appear
if you are going for flush mount drawers.

See a.b.p.w. for a drawing of 4, 3/4" thick x 6" x 14" drawer fronts.
Each group of 4 has a 1/8" gap between drawer front sides.

The top left uses a 1/8" round over, the top right has a 1/4" round
over, and the bottom left has your 3/8" round over.

On Jul 13, 3:25*pm, jtpr wrote:

I am making drawer fronts and want the edges to be completely rounded over. *The wood is 3/4". *Now, I have a 3/8" radius bit that I found this morning but haven't had a chance to try as I had to get to work (damn job always gets in the way). *Will that do it or do I need to stop on the way home and pick up something else?

I mean, 3/8 is the radius, so 3/4 would be the diameter... *does that make sense?

The 3/8" bit run down the board on one side will leave a 3/8" flat on
the edge of a 3/4" board.
The 3/8" bit run down the board on both sides will leave a fully
rounded bullnose edge on a 3/4" board.

It's all a matter of taste, and the look you're going for. A 3/4"
radius bit run in one pass would make the drawer fronts look kind of
'puffy', and calls a lot more attention to the drawer fronts. There's
also a fair bit more end grain visible, so finishing may be more
tricky depending on the wood and how you plan to finish the piece.
I'm not trying to talk you out of anything, just bringing up some
talking points.

As an alternative you could use the 3/8" roundover on one edge, and
then rabbet the back of the drawer front 3/8" so the drawer front is a
partial overlay and the rest is recessed into the drawer opening.
That's a totally different look, but I'm not clear what your intention
is.

R

On Wed, 13 Jul 2011 12:25:48 -0700, jtpr wrote:

I am making drawer fronts and want the edges to be completely rounded
over. The wood is 3/4". Now, I have a 3/8" radius bit that I found
this morning but haven't had a chance to try as I had to get to work
(damn job always gets in the way).

One of the problems with a 3/8" bit on 3/4" material is that after the
1st pass there's almost no material left for the bearing to rest on
during the second pass. Not a problem if you use a fence, but can be if
you're depending on the bearing.

--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw

In article , wrote:
I am making drawer fronts and want the edges to be completely rounded over.
The wood is 3/4". Now, I have a 3/8" radius bit that I found this morning
but haven't had a chance to try as I had to get to work (damn job always
gets in the way). Will that do it or do I need to stop on the way home and
pick up something else?

I mean, 3/8 is the radius, so 3/4 would be the diameter... does that make
sense?

Other posters have pointed out several drawbacks with this approach; I agree
with them, and won't repeat their arguments here. Instead, I'll suggest that
you condider this as an alternative:

http://www.grizzly.
com/products/Door-Lip-Bit-1-2-Shank-1-5-16-Cutter-Dia-/C1333

Or, if you have a shaper available,
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Shap...3-4-Bore/C2103

On 7/13/2011 2:25 PM, jtpr wrote:
I am making drawer fronts and want the edges to be completely rounded over. The wood is 3/4". Now, I have a 3/8" radius bit that I found this morning but haven't had a chance to try as I had to get to work (damn job always gets in the way). Will that do it or do I need to stop on the way home and pick up something else?

I mean, 3/8 is the radius, so 3/4 would be the diameter... does that make sense?


You've received good advice all around. That said, let me ask what type
doors are they?

I ask because "inset" doors, with a round over edge profile, can be very
attractive. AAMOF, Sam Maloof, IIRC, was responsible for a "Hollywood"
style cabinet where the doors were inset with rounded over edges which
became very popular.

When I built my office "Texas Tansu" a few years ago, I used a 3/8"
round over bit on 3/4" doors to get that Maloof, rounded edge look:

http://www.e-woodshop.net/images/StackedTansu16.JPG

Although a 3/8" round over bit was used, if you look at the profile on
the desk trim, it appears to be a full round over:

http://www.e-woodshop.net/images/StackedTansu12.JPG

Just saying that using a radius bit can, along with some judicious
sanding, appear to be a full round over.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 4/15/2010
KarlC@ (the obvious)

On 7/13/2011 6:17 PM, Swingman wrote:

That said, let me ask what type
doors are they?

That was meant to be "drawer fronts" ... another type of door, if you
think about it.


--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 4/15/2010
KarlC@ (the obvious)

On 7/14/11 12:54 PM, dadiOH wrote:
The 3/8" bit run down the board on both sides will leave a fully
rounded bullnose edge on a 3/4" board.

Oh, were that it were so

IME, pass #2 will cut a bit too deep because the bearing is riding on part
of pass #1 that removed a bit of wood.

The fix is to use a fence, not the bearing. Or, as you said, a bullnose
bit. I'm not overly fond of bullnose bits - on any that captures the entire
profile - because a little vertical jiggle or a less than perfectly flat
board will mess up the profile.


Good advice. I'll add...
Depending on the size of the shelves, it's often easier to clamp a
straight edge to the shelf and run the router by hand. The straight edge
can be the factory edge of another shelf.
Although, as is being discussed in another thread, we can no longer take
for granted that the factory edge of modern plywood will be perfectly
straight or flat.



--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

On 7/14/2011 12:54 PM, dadiOH wrote:

The 3/8" bit run down the board on both sides will leave a fully
rounded bullnose edge on a 3/4" board.

Oh, were that it were so

IME, pass #2 will cut a bit too deep because the bearing is riding on part
of pass #1 that removed a bit of wood.

The fix is to use a fence, not the bearing. Or, as you said, a bullnose
bit. I'm not overly fond of bullnose bits - on any that captures the entire
profile - because a little vertical jiggle or a less than perfectly flat
board will mess up the profile.

I have to do this quite often to make floating tenons (3/16" radius
round over bit for a 3/8" thick tenon), and you're correct about the
fence being essential.

Even then, the only way I've been consistently successful the past
couple of years is after getting a router lift for precision bit height
adjustment ... the combination of the fence and the router lift have
finally made repeatable and desirable results possible.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 4/15/2010
KarlC@ (the obvious)

A picture is worth a million words:

http://www.freudtools.com/p-143-rounding-over-bits.aspx

On 7/13/2011 3:25 PM, jtpr wrote:
I am making drawer fronts and want the edges to be completely rounded over. The wood is 3/4". Now, I have a 3/8" radius bit that I found this morning but haven't had a chance to try as I had to get to work (damn job always gets in the way). Will that do it or do I need to stop on the way home and pick up something else?

I mean, 3/8 is the radius, so 3/4 would be the diameter... does that make sense?

-Jim