Small beads – 1/4”, 3/16” and 1/8” – are ideal for creating shadow lines and transitions between flat boards. The classic example is with tongue-and-groove backboards. If you add a bead on the face of every board with a tongue, the back will look finished, instead of something that has oddly spaced cracks.
But beads aren’t just decorative. They also protect corners. If I have an arris (a mid-falutin’ word for “corner”) that is vulnerable to damage, a bead can strengthen it.
Shown above is a classic example: These runners in this tool chest are going to get a lot of wear, and their corners are going to get whacked by tools and wood. By beading each corner, it is much less likely to splinter in service.
The beads also look nice.
And now that I have three beading plane sizes, I can even scale my beads – wider ones at the bottom and smaller ones at the top. Joy! Nerd!
— Christopher Schwarz
How are the beads stronger than a simple round over of same radius? Just curious. Mike O’Brien Valley Head, AL
Sent from my iPhone 5s
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They are not stronger physically, but they are visually. They also eschew the 1970s California Roundover Look(TM), which created the first great carbide shortage of this fine nation.
And when you use the word in a bar, chicks swoon.
Speaking of shortages….we will undoubtedly now see a run on beading planes.
The shortage is already here. Good luck finding workable beading planes in those sizes unless you live in a place where the beer flows like wine.
Owning beading planes leads to the same behavior described by the adage “To a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” I am equally guilty of this deviant behavior.
One of the first of many valuable things I learned from Leonard Lee (probably 30 years ago) was the word “arris.” It is a wonderful patent-writing word because it unambiguously names the intersection between two surfaces. The more commonly used terms like “edge” and “corner” can be confusing because they can mean more than one element of a structure.
Please include said scaled beads in the Sketchup model. 🙂
Please include said scaled cats in the Sketchup model.
I don’t understand what will ‘run’ on that top runner. It is less than an inch from the top of the chest. Pretty though…
Nothing runs on top of the top runner.
Except for wood pixies, but it’s more of a scurry than a run.
… because it isn’t safe. You have to walk on the top runner.
Really, it should be called a top “walker”, now that you mention it.
I am curious to the top runner’s purpose, it’s existence seems counter to an exercise to squeeze every millimeter of space out of a traveling chest.
It’s visual. This is a fancy chest (you’ll see what I mean by that in a bit).
And the horizontal space in the top tray isn’t an area where one is crunched for space.
Bead the cats. ( At least the one that messed your saws.)
you could bede the cats, but they’d probably ignore you.
I will gladly bead your wife’s cats for you. This will cost you a beading plane. I normally do it for free but you’re adamant about paying for everything so I have to charge. A plane seems like a fair price. Actually it’s a 3.5 hour drive for me each way, you’re getting off cheap. Maybe three planes would be a better price for you to pay. I don’t want anyone to think I’m giving you a discount so that you’ll recommend my services. I can do it Friday if that works for you.
I topped my runners with some strips of rosewood. It looks awesome with brass screws and I can slide the drawers (heavy with tools) with one finger.
OK, this will probably earn me the scorn of the cognoscenti (cue Megan, here) but…..can you practically use a beading plane in place of cock bead molding at door or drawer openings?
I’ve seen it done. Some people use the plane for most of it and finish the corners. Other people plow right through….