Expert: Jamie Yocono - 10/18/2007

Question
Hi Jamie,

Your answer to Briana answered all of my questions but one regarding finishing wooden shelves. I would like to soften the current 90 degree sharp edges so they are slightly rounded (1-2mm)-- is that called beveled in wood? Is this effect done by hand or machine? I don't know if you've worked with plyboo -- it's gorgeous -- but it is a type of plywood so that top surface is at the edge is delicate because it can splinter lengthwise. Any advice?

Answer
Hi Laura,

No, I haven't worked with plyboo, but I've been hearing many good things about it.  I need to ask my lumber guys about it on my next visit.

Anyway, glad my past answer helped you. I'll try to shed some light about breaking a sharp edge.

There are many ways to break an edge for a softer feel. Some people simply wrap a piece of sandpaper around a small block of wood, and sand the edge slightly. You can do this at a 45 degree, which will create a very small chamfer. Or you can use that same wooden block, just very slightly rounding over the edge, eliminating the splintery part.

You could also put either a chamfer bit or a small roundover bit in your router, and set it so that it barely cuts anything. This is a quick and easy way to break the edge, especially if you have a lot of lineal feet of edge to deal with.

Then again, there are some hand held tools that will do this- check out these links:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10197
http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=3900
http://www.constantines.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=492

One of these tools will probably work, but honestly, unless you have 800' feet of edge to "break", you might just want to use a little muscle and sand the edge slightly. It doesn't take much effort. In fact, I'm working on a pretty large dining table right now, and I just broke the edges of the top in about 60 seconds, with just a small scrap of sandpaper.

I hope this helped!

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com