# Using the full curve of a 3/8” Roundover Bit on Pine in One Pass, OK? (1/4 inch shank, Makita Cordless Palm Router)



## Eph610 (11 mo ago)

Hello,

I am new to woodworking and routing.

This morning I put a full 3/8 inch roundover bit on 6 feet of pine x 4 using one of those carbide tipped Ryobi roundover bits that come in their kit *(in a single pass). *I went fairly slow and smooth. All went well.

However, it occurred to me that perhaps 3/8 roundover is too much material to take off in a single pass?

Is there such a thing as taking off a rounded corner in multiple passes?

What do you think?

Thanks in advance.

3/8” roundover bit used in one pass on pine.












Full 3/8 radius cut on both sides of 3/4” board makes a semi circle. Nice.


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## John Smith_ (Jan 10, 2020)

always test your methods with the materials and tools that you use.
what may work for me, may not work for you. (and vice versa).
testing and practice will make you more confident, secure, and proficient in your procedures.
(splinters, smoke, burn marks, and rough cuts are some of the indicators that you are doing something wrong).


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Eph610 said:


> Is there such a thing as taking off a rounded corner in multiple passes?


I don't work with softwoods like Pine but in Walnut, Maple, Cherry, Purpleheart, etc. I usually do it in at least two steps, often three just to make certain the final pass is a very light cleanup and leaves a really nice edge.


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## Eph610 (11 mo ago)

difalkner said:


> … I usually do it in at least two steps, often three just to make certain the final pass is a very light cleanup and leaves a really nice edge.


Thanks for your contribution. Useful advice for furniture etc. 

My primary objective was to minimize splinter hazards from a long board that I am using to mount my cordless tools 18v lithium batteries on to. I am more concerned that perhaps a single pass of 3/8” roundover bit would dull the bit or wear out the router motor prematurely?


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## Eph610 (11 mo ago)

John Smith_ said:


> …(splinters, smoke, burn marks, and rough cuts are some of the indicators that you are doing something wrong).


Thanks for the clues. I remember my first router project had a few burn marks. It took me a few days to realize it occurred where I slowed down my feed rate real low for no reason. 🙂


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Pine is pretty soft and forgiving. But I tend to do multiple passes, about 1/8th per pass. For such a small roundover, I'd probably tape a thin strip to the edge and make one pass, remove the strip the bearing rides on, than do a final pass. I do use some pine, but on hard woods I stick to the 1/8th rule. I also prefer to do almost all routing on a table. One thing about pine is that you do get pitch transfer to the cutters. So I need to clean them once in a while. I've thought about the cordless router, but then I have to replace batteries on my 18v DeWalt tools. My oxygen machine batteries are $300. Two DeWalt 18v batteries are painfully expensive.


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## Eph610 (11 mo ago)

DesertRatTom said:


> Pine is pretty soft and forgiving. But I tend to do multiple passes, about 1/8th per pass. For such a small roundover, I'd probably tape a thin strip to the edge and make one pass, remove the strip the bearing rides on, than do a final pass…


rather than use and thin strip on the edge, can the same be accomplished sequentially trimming a piece first with a 1/8 , then 1/4, and finally a 3/8 roundover bit for example?

Also, I purchased my Makita cordless brushless router at Home Depot for $130. (I could have done a Home Depot promotion kit hack and purchased a 4maH Makita for $65 had I returned the promotional Makita multitool that came free with the battery).

I own a new corded DWP611 Dewalt Palm router, but once you hear the sweet purring of the Makita cordless brushless router, you won’t used the Dewalt. I bought the corded Dewalt palm router to make wood signs tho. as long as I use double hearing protection, I should be OK. But yes, I highly recommend the Makita cordless. It has a plunge base option that feels professional quality.

This Makita cordless kit I put together includes a plunge base, tilt base, sign making base and bit depth gage - both from Eric Rhoten, and a bushing adapter for the plunge base. Finally a large Makita systainer case and Kaizen foam custom insert. About $400 altogether.

I call it “Retail Therapy”. Cheaper than a few sessions with a therapist - and MUCH more productive.


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## JIMMIEM (Apr 4, 2010)

Start with the bit raised so that you only take a small amount. Then lower the bit in each successive pass until you reach the maximum depth. This has the same effect as using several different bits of increasing larger sizes.


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## Eph610 (11 mo ago)

JIMMIEM said:


> ...lower the bit in each successive pass until you reach the maximum depth...


Thank you so much for this tip. I will adopt it going forward. Thank you.


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## Terry Q (Mar 2, 2017)

I’m late to the party, but using a 3/8 round over bit will probably take off no more than 1/8 inch at the deepest part of the cut. I see no reason to not remove the material in one pass on most woods that behave well. I do it frequently with no issue.

I just needed to do 3/8 round-over on hickory for 1/4 round trim. The Hickory did not behave well so I had to reverse cut it, but I was still able to do it in one pass.


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## iains2007 (Oct 18, 2021)

Eph610 said:


> rather than use and thin strip on the edge, can the same be accomplished sequentially trimming a piece first with a 1/8 , then 1/4, and finally a 3/8 roundover bit for example?
> 
> Also, I purchased my Makita cordless brushless router at Home Depot for $130. (I could have done a Home Depot promotion kit hack and purchased a 4maH Makita for $65 had I returned the promotional Makita multitool that came free with the battery).
> 
> ...


This is to Eph 610 about your tool shown in the picture, hi I live in the UK and I'm a bit curious, I have Trend T11 1/2" router(we don't really go by HP here) a 2000w router(not really relevant), and I have a router from a manufacturer going by the name of Katsu, I have the corded version but it is possible to buy the cordless version, your picture shows a cordless Makita router which looks exactly the same as the Katsu model, well in the UK anyway, apart from the name, my point is I probably paid less than a quarter of the price you did for something that I think came out of the same factory albeit under a different name, the instruction manual says that all Makita accessories will fit the router, might be an idea for you guys in the states to check out this brand name, it could save you money


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## murasakikitty (Dec 9, 2021)

I recently routed 3/8" round over on dozen pieces of 8 feet pine boards with no problem. Not all "pine" is created equal, some are harder than other, but all are soft wood and should not be a problem.


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## Eph610 (11 mo ago)

murasakikitty said:


> I recently routed 3/8" round over on dozen pieces of 8 feet pine boards with no problem.


Thanks for your input.


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## Eph610 (11 mo ago)

iains2007 said:


> I have a router from a manufacturer going by the name of Katsu…


Yes, I was vaguely aware of that Katsu (Makita clone) router and accessories. It is possible they were made during “the night shift” of the same plant the Makita are made during the day. The Katsu accessories look good.


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## iains2007 (Oct 18, 2021)

Eph610 said:


> Yes, I was vaguely aware of that Katsu (Makita clone) router and accessories. It is possible they were made during “the night shift” of the same plant the Makita are made during the day. The Katsu accessories look good.


I think it may be either a separate division within Makita or possibly "testing the water" in launching a new range or company, certainly in the UK there is a company which supplies these tools and they are sold on Amazon UK, I have been tempted to buy the cordless tool, the price is around £100 roughly $125, there are a couple of different battery capacities 2.0ah and 4.0ah but never having used a battery router I wonder what they're like, is it worth it, how much usage do you get out of a battery, as I said I have a 1/2" router which I use most of the time, a cordless one is more of an indulgence


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