How do you soften edges of ply/MDF furniture?

[farlsborough]

As I prepare for a big (ish) home install, I’d love to know how people knock down the edges of ply/MDF shelving/cabinetry. Going for a simple, clean, straight/modern look so really I want the edges to be as square-looking as possible but not constantly getting dinged.

Alastair at Freebird uses a 2mm arris round-over bit from Wealden. Peter Millard I think just sands lightly (although admittedly this was about doors rather than the shelves/cabinets themselves).

I tried a 1mm arris round-over bit to try and get the smallest radius possible, but I have to admit it was barely worth it, and a couple of strokes of 120grit did the same thing. Wondering whether to try the 2mm but at nearly £20 a pop I’m interested in your opinions!

 

[robgul]

If you want such a small change I'd just hand sand the edges - that's what I did with a kitchen table I made from Birch ply (top is 18mm with 4 rails about 15cm wide all round underneath glued and screwed to look as if it's 36mm ply)

 

[Kayen]

A 2mm round over bit gives the perfect finish imo. I paid £12ish from Amazon - it has 4 cutting edges and gets a lot of use, and still good 6 months on.

 

[D_W]

sanding or router. You can plane MDF to make something like a nice small chamfer if you want something crisp, but it's very abrasive, and you can get the same effect with a small chamfer bit on a trim router (and maybe have someone holding a vacuum near and catch most of it at the source).

I have planed it before, as well as planing corian - you want to be quick at sharpening if you're looking to plane either one (and corian needs to be fine sanded after planing as it sort of scuffs up the surface if planed). The benefit of planing either one, though, is keeping the dust levels way down (not to mention the smell of chemical death that seems to come out of corian when you work it with power tools, though I suppose the special epoxy is even more stinky - until or unless you get a rub on corian and it actually smokes)

 

[Jacob]

Block plane.
Sandpaper - hold a strip at each end and pull it to and fro over the edge like a bath towel on your back.