Basic question from a new woodworker!

[zaspa]

Dear All,

I've taken up woodworking as a hobby and am about to embark on my first major project - building wine racks for my cellar.

Each bottle will be held on a pair of wooden supports. I'm using 19x19mm planed oak but need to make several hundred of them to attach to the frames.

The planed oak has sharp edges and I need to soften the edges to make them look nicer and also not to scratch the bottle labels.

I'm considering a number of methods - hand sanding, random orbital sander, electric plane but am unsure which will provide me with an efficient method given the quantity involved. Im not a skilled woodworker and have a relatively basic workshop.

I was wondering if one of you kind board members might offer a couple of tips for how you would tackle this if you were me!

Many thanks in advance
Zaspa

 

[Adam9453]

Assuming you haven't cut them down to size yet then I would run the lengths over a round over bit using a router table. Providing you're doing long lengths it's quite effecient.

 

[Droogs]

Hi and welcome to the forum

There are more ways to achieve something in woodworking than ther is to skin a cat. It all depends on what tools you have. Here's a few suggetstions
use a block plane to trim the corners (known as arrises) of each piece
use a block of wood and some sand paper
use a small plate of thin metal (card scrapper) to round over the arrises
hand held electric router with a round over bit of the appropriate size
electric router and bit fitted to a router table with a fence (easily homemade for what you want to do - youtube vids)

someone will be a ong with another dozen ways in a bit I'm sure

Main thing is to round them over while they are all in one longe piece and then saw off the length you need

HTH
droogs

 

[zaspa]

Many thanks to both of you for your quick replies.

I think it sounds as though investing in a router might be the most efficient method given the quantity.

Z

 

[MusicMan]

This tool set is pretty quick, useful and cheap:
http://www.axminster.co.uk/veritas-corn ... wwodSgsAMQ

Two important things about using them: (1) keep them sharp, (2) make sure you are cutting with the grain slope, otherwise it easily tears out. If you don't understand this, try cutting in both directions on a scrap piece and you will soon find out! On each piece of wood, check that the grain is sloping up towards the surface in the direction of cutting.

Of course, routers are very useful tools. For this job you need it fixed in a table. but as zaspa says, this can easily be home made. And use guards and push sticks to ensure you don't get your fingers near the bit.

Sounds like you will have a lot of wine in there. WIP pics please and invite us to the launch party!

 

[Adam9453]

Yes I must stress if you haven't used a router before please get someone to teach you how to use it safely or if not possible then read lots about it and watch videos on YouTube.
Not to frighten you but routers and spindle moulders can be the most dangerous and unforgiving tools in the workshop.
As mentioned above, I would mount the router in a table and use feather boards and push sticks / pads to keep your hands well clear of the cutter.
If you make your own router table please make sure you make sufficient guards to completely cover the cutting bit with just enough access to feed the material in and out.

 

[Ed Bray]

I would get either a Mujingfang Adjustable Chamfer Plane or a cheaper and smaller Mujingfang Japanese Pattern Ebony Rounding Plane (R3mm) or (R6) from Matt at Workshop Heaven.

 

[Rich.ca]

I just picked up a cheap Makita replica mini router and 1/8" roundover bit off ebay for less than £40 soley for the purpose of breaking edges

 

[zaspa]

What an amazing selection of methods! I never would have thought there were so many ways of doing it!

Decisions....

 

[Droogs]

There are lots of "discussions" on all the forums about the best way to do anything, whether it be with hand tools or power tools, some pretty heated. The main thng is to find what works for you, develope your skills and have something at the end of it that you are happy to say "I made that".
It's a broad and fascinating hobby with an almost unlimited set of sub genre that you've stumbled into and very satisfying when you get to grips with it.

happy shavings

 

[Benchwayze]

What an amazing selection of methods! I never would have thought there were so many ways of doing it!

Decisions....

You could even nibble the 'arrises' away with your teeth if you wish! :mrgreen:

Seriously, if you do buy a router, a little trick I learned is to run the machine up in your hands, but without a cutter installed. This will get you used to the torque of a router, how it sounds, and how it feels in your grasp. Once you have felt the 'precession' that results if you tip the router whilst it's running, you'll get a feel for the power of a big router. But like I said, get used to it minus the cutter.

Best of luck.
John

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

I would definitely use a block plane, despite having routers. It's quick quiet and safe. Also it is small, I don't know how much space you have but router tables take up a lot of space. You will have to learn to sharpen it, but the time spent doing that will be well worth it for all your future projects.

 

[david123]

+ 1 for the block plane as long as it is sharp and well adjusted it will take you no time at all. Just remember to plane with the grain and not against it.
.
Good luck

 

[DiscoStu]

Assuming you haven't cut them down to size yet then I would run the lengths over a round over bit using a router table. Providing you're doing long lengths it's quite effecient.

That's what I would do as well.

 

[HexusOdy]

+1 for router and router table

It's the fastest method and repeatable. Repeatable being that you will get the same result every time.

For that amount of timber nothing else is going to get you the exact same result on every length.