Hey guys,

I have a question regarding routering. First how many use a router to round there edges?
Second if you are routering a 1 inch thick plug and you want as much bevel as possible do you start with lets say a 1/4" bit than 3/8" bit and then the 1/2" or go right to the 1/2'.

That is a lot of material to remove at once and routers can be a bit scary.

Thanks for the input guys.

oh yeah, I just got back from scoring a sweet delta14" 3/4 hp band saw on the cheap Damn that thing was heavy!!

MS

it's an matter of creating a jig that holds your piece immobilized

belt sanders in a vice
or barrel sanders are safer but your doing it by eye ,

I am a bit confused what you are asking as you use the term round over and then bevel

are you beveling so it's 8 sides? or rounding over so it's a dowel?

the problem with rounding over a 1" square is the bearing ends up riding on a part of the curve and gives you less than a dowel in the end.

Your best bet is to chamfer(bevel) the corners off. That can be done at least 3 ways, table saw, band saw or a router with a chamfering bit.

I did some a few years ago with a router which were similar to hand carves, I just cheated and used the router to round over the tops and bottoms.

I used a router table witha fence and I just moved the fences back and took multiple passes till I had it curved over the way I wanted. If you don't have a router table I am sure you could do what you suggested using progressively larger bits so none have to remove a huge amount of material.

I go right to 1/2" roundover all the time right to the finish depth with no problem.
If I suspect the type of wood may splinter or something, I don't do the first pass flush(hold it up a bit) then do a cleanup pass. You can also run it backwards a bit doing a climbcut, but for roughing out plugs that is getting a bit overkill.

if you are doing short pieces, then use a router table with a fence and a pushstick, that's the safest way