Rounded box corners

[jeffrey bailey]

Most of my woodworking is making boxes. It's easy, I enjoy it and there is so many different things you can do with them. My question is, what would be the best way to round the corners on a box. I know the end grain will be a factor. Just looking for input.

[Doug Hepler]

Jeffrey

When you say "round the corners" what do you envision? Easing the sharp edges, a radius equal to the wall thickness? How big are the boxes and how thick are the walls?

Doug

[Jason Lester]

I've used a roundover bit in a router before. I've also used a block plane roughly to give an aged look.

[Jim Finn]

I make hundreds of cedar boxes every year. They are 6"x8"x2" using 3/8" stock. I round over the edges with a stationary belt sander. Easy peezy.

[Vince Shriver]

...or do you mean a rounded corner, like a quarter of a 2" radius circle joining two perpendicular sides?

[John Lankers]

You could try the router table but it can be risky (tearout), try it on scraps first.
An edge sander would be my tool of choice followed by hand sanding, I sometimes use an abrasive pad on my 1/4 sheet sander using a light hand for the final touch.

[Larry Frank]

I have used a router bit and with a Freud Quadra-cut have no tear out.

[Earl McLain]

I make a reference mark on the top of the corners with a penny or nickel then use my disk sander to rough it in. Finish by hand.

earl

[jeffrey bailey]

The box I'm working on has box joints. The front and back is curly maple and the sides are purpleheart. Both are half inch thick. I would like to round the edges to the same thickness. I'm a little concerned about what the end grain will look like.

[Doug Hepler]

Jeffrey

I would try a roundover bit in a router, probably on a router table instead of handheld. Tearout could be a major issue, but you can prevent that if you clamp waste blocks at each end (actually, just the trailing end). Use blocks that are thick enough to be stiff (probably 3/4" maple will be fine), line them up with the corners, and clamp them as close to the ends as you can, still leaving enough clearance that the bit cannot strike the clamp. The idea is that the pressure of the waste blocks will hold the edges in place to be cut cleanly instead of being pushed away from the cutter.

You can do the same operation with a hollow plane, if you have one, but it has to be very sharp to cut endgrain cleanly.

You really should practice this with scrap before you try it on your box.

I have relieved the corners of many box joints with a hollow plane, or even a straight plane, followed by hand sanding, but never to the extent you have in mind.

Doug

[lowell holmes]

I would cut a board, round the ends and experiment until I found what I was looking for. Good wood and a sharp hand plane might be an option.

[Stan Calow]

I've done this with roundover bits on box-jointed jewelry boxes, in maple and in cherry. The end grain does show up with a bit of contrast, but so do non-rounded box joints.

[lowell holmes]

Jeffrey

I would try a roundover bit in a router, probably on a router table instead of handheld. Tearout could be a major issue, but you can prevent that if you clamp waste blocks at each end (actually, just the trailing end). Use blocks that are thick enough to be stiff (probably 3/4" maple will be fine), line them up with the corners, and clamp them as close to the ends as you can, still leaving enough clearance that the bit cannot strike the clamp. The idea is that the pressure of the waste blocks will hold the edges in place to be cut cleanly instead of being pushed away from the cutter.

You can do the same operation with a hollow plane, if you have one, but it has to be very sharp to cut endgrain cleanly.

You really should practice this with scrap before you try it on your box.

I have relieved the corners of many box joints with a hollow plane, or even a straight plane, followed by hand sanding, but never to the extent you have in mind.

Doug

You might try moistening the end grain prior to rounding over to provide a smoother cut with the roundover bit.

[jeffrey bailey]

Thanks for all the advice. I think I have decided to leave this one alone and try it on another one in the future.