sanding corners on unfinished furniture?

[Jules Cowan]

Hello I've just bought an unfinished dresser made of Aspen which I intend to sand and stain. The corners which overhang the drawers are quite sharp and I'd like to slightly round and smooth them. Is the best way to do this sanding? If so what gauge sand paper should I use? If not what's the best way to do this?
Thanks

[ozplanit]

Hi,

I just made a bench top and as I have two (soon to be three :D ) kids under 4, it was a requirement to have rounded edges.

So I used my belt sander and a cork block. First I stencilled a curve line to follow with a small round object (I actually used a small bottle top), then I sanded with the belt sander just short of my stencil line and finished off by hand using a cork block.

I used 80 grit on the belt sander and worked my way up the grits when doing it by hand, I think I finished on 320. (i.e. 80 - Belt, 120 - hand, 180 - hand, 240 - hand, 320 - hand)

it seemed to work out fine for me, but please be warned I am a rank amature so this is most probably not the best method :D

have fun

cheers

Dean

[barnsey]

Hi Jules Cowan - Welcome to the board,

Ozplanit has certainly given you something to work with if the edges are flat and square to the top surface. ;)

If the edges of your dresser are moulded or have a fancy profile you would probably find that method very difficult. You would then need to consider using a router to put the profile around your softened corner. Without one carving chisels and a fine rasp might be in order. :rolleyes: :)

Hope this helps

Jamie