# How to roundover corners?



## secutanudu (Oct 13, 2011)

I am just planning to roundover the edges of my first end-grain cutting board. I have never used a router before other than on a few scrap pieces.

How do I know how far to set the depth on the router to get a nice roundover? I plan to use 1/4" on top, 1/8" on the bottom.

Thanks!


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

Practice on scrap wood. 

Rout your end grain first, then your long grain. :smile:


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## secutanudu (Oct 13, 2011)

Well it's an end grain board...so the whole thing is long grain, pointing up and down.


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

secutanudu said:


> Well it's an end grain board...so the whole thing is long grain, pointing up and down.



Yep. I missed that, use a backer board to prevent tearout. 

Shallow cuts.


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## secutanudu (Oct 13, 2011)

mdntrdr said:


> Yep. I missed that, use a backer board to prevent tearout. :smile:


Pardon my ignorance...
What's that?


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

secutanudu said:


> Pardon my ignorance...
> What's that?



A piece of wood clamped the the edge where the router bit will exit will keep the last fibers from tearing out. :smile:


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## secutanudu (Oct 13, 2011)

Ah, gotcha. So a sacrificial piece of wood to make the edge of my board no longer the edge


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

secutanudu said:


> Ah, gotcha. So a sacrificial piece of wood to make the edge of my board no longer the edge



:thumbsup:


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## jschaben (Apr 1, 2010)

secutanudu said:


> Ah, gotcha. So a sacrificial piece of wood to make the edge of my board no longer the edge


I dunno how ya gonna do that easily on a square item. You don't really need to worry much about tearout anyway as your router will take care of it as you go along. See the routing diagram. 1/4 and 1/8" radius are pretty light anyway.
For bit depth, just set it so a sraight edge held on the base just misses the little beading lip on the cutter.


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## Flattop (Nov 10, 2011)

secutanudu said:


> I am just planning to roundover the edges of my first end-grain cutting board. I have never used a router before other than on a few scrap pieces.
> 
> How do I know how far to set the depth on the router to get a nice roundover? I plan to use 1/4" on top, 1/8" on the bottom.
> 
> Thanks!


Start shallow and increase the cutting depth each pass until you get the desired round over. Watch out for tear out at the end of the end grain pass. You might want to make a simple jig with 90 degree wood stops same thickness as your cutting board. Rotate the board each pass cutting toward your stops. If you cut too deep on your round over you'll get a ledge or step up to the surface. That can be sanded out if you don't go too deep. Hope this is helpful. Be safe!


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