# Roundover Bits



## cgquartermaster (Feb 3, 2014)

I recently received a set of router bits and am now making trial cuts to learn how to use them. I made a few cuts with the roundover and feel I didn't have the depth set correctly. The first cut seemed to be a fairly nice roundover but the top of the wood was cut leaving a lip on it. I moved the bit closer to the base plate but I didn't get much a roundover. Now I am confused as to how to correctly set the depth for a roundover bit.


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## Semipro (Mar 22, 2013)

Jim 
Each round over bit has a difference radius you need to determine what profile you're looking for, 1/4". 1/2" etc.


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## TWheels (May 26, 2006)

Do you have roundover bits or beading bits? Both have bearings. The bearing on a roundover bit is flush with the cutting edge while the bearing on a beading bit is slightly recessed, so the beading bit leaves a lip.


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## TWheels (May 26, 2006)

mftha said:


> Do you have roundover bits or beading bits? Both have bearings. The bearing on a roundover bit is flush with the cutting edge while the bearing on a beading bit is slightly recessed, so the beading bit leaves a lip.


I went back to edit this post to read "…flush with *flutes* while…" and to add that the flutes needed to be made flush with the router table insert/router base plate. John shows a picture of roundover profiles of properly set roundover bits. Can You describe or show pictures of the profiles you are now getting?

I ran afoul of the new 30 minute time limit for editing posts, by a few minutes, so expect many more posts riddled with typos from me and many more posts correcting earlier posts, of which this post is one example.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

cgquartermaster said:


> The first cut seemed to be a fairly nice roundover but the top of the wood was cut leaving a lip on it. I moved the bit closer to the base plate but I didn't get much a roundover. Now I am confused as to how to correctly set the depth for a roundover bit.


Don't despair. For one thing, it rarely makes much difference with edge profiles whether they are "perfect" or not. They are just for looks so if it looks good it is by definition "perfect". If you want to get the full roundover you need to set it so that it is on the verge of leaving a fillet (the flat vertical lip at the top). Since wood isn't perfectly flat and because it is hard to hold the router perfectly flat, you will often leave occasional ridges where the fillet making part of the bit will temporarily make contact. This usually sands off with a few sanding strokes so it is not a big deal.

If I'm trying to get the full radius I set my router by eye and then make a test cut or two to fine tune the height adjustment.


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## katy01 (Apr 26, 2013)

*re:round-over bits*

The size of the fillet--the vertical edge above the rounded part--is set by the height of the bit.

How much round-over is set by the fence distance.

Experiment with both parameters to see what effect you want.


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## Tom King (Jan 22, 2014)

Depth is critical, and with some routers you have to keep the same part of the router facing the cut all the time. I keep several palm routers with roundover bits, so I can just grab whichever one I want to use, and out of habit keep the same side into the cut. Some router bases aren't perfectly square to the collet-especially with the little routers.


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