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A small wood plane
Issue: Issue 4.11
Posted Date: 6/17/2003
Michael Dresdner & Rob Johnstone
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Q. I do a lot of woodworking with small projects, and I am looking for a special wood plane designed to take the edge off lumber. It is small and only 2 or 3" long. When you run it down the edge of a board it eases the corner (like a roundover bit in a router). I had one of these years ago, but it's hard to even look for one because I don't even know what to call it.
A. Michael Dresdner: "What you seek comes in both plane format and in a hand-held edge tool. Sometimes called a round molding plane or easing plane, the more common iteration is a smaller-handled gizmo called a cornering tool. In the old days, cheap, stamped metal versions were given away free by many companies as premiums. I used to have several with advertising on them. For a good quality cornering tool in hand-held or plane format, check out leevalley.com. Do a search for "planes" under the woodworking button, and then click on "molding planes." Two versions of cornering tools and one plane format tool will pop up."
A. Rob Johnstone: "They are called radii planes. You can find them at rockler.com or any number of catalogs. Most have replaceable blades and work best on long straight edges. For curved edges I prefer a router bit (sometimes called a roundover bit) with a bearing to guide it."