How to ease the edges of holes with hand tools?

UKworkshop.co.uk

Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Paddy Roxburgh

Established Member
Joined
19 Jun 2014
Messages
655
Reaction score
33
Location
Enfield Lock
I am just finishing some seats on the front deck of a narrow boat and to lift the boards on the top to access storage I have drilled some 1" holes in the buffalo board they are made from. The edges are rather sharp and I have eased the edges with a roundover bit in an electric router so the holes feel comfortable for a finger. My question is how would I do this task with hand tools? In the past I did all roundovers with a router but now use a plane or spokeshave for concave curves.
Thanks, Paddy
 
As above, or some coarse sandpaper wrapped around a stick. Or just a knife. It's easy to overlook the knife as a woodworking tool as it is such a general purpose item, but every craftsman will have a knife or two about the place.
 
I'd use a half round file because I have one or some sandpaper wrapped round something curved like a piece of dowel or quarter round beading
 
I'd go for knife, used with care as to grain direction. Having tried to deburr and countersink holes with files and rasps, I found I spent a lot of time jiggling around with just the tip-end cutting, and kept jabbing the tip into the sides of the hole. The knife gives much more control over the shape of the finished edge profile, and any remaining 'faceting' can be worked out with coarse abrasive paper wrapped round a finger-end. May not be quite as fast as the router, though (depending on how long it takes to find the right bit, set the router up, run an extension lead to plug it in.....).
 
Back
Top