router bit needed-shallow bullnose

What you want is called a fingernail profile by some vendors.fingernail or oval edge. For example https://www.eagleamerica.com/product/v161-0805/bull-nose-router-bits

Tom,
Thank you so much for that information. I knew it must have a name. Fingernail--who knew!

Wildwood said:

Elden, I use shallow bullnoses on the edges of all my cutting boards, by using only the top portion of an appropriately sized round-over bit, on a router table, and flipping the piece over for a second cut, as per the diagram attached.

Click to expand...

I think I'll try that technique and see if I can get it to work. I held my 1/2 round over bit (largest round over I have) up to the profile and it seemed a little off, but I'll try it. If not, it looks like the fingernail bit Tom suggested is what I need.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

ecozort said:

Tom,
Thank you so much for that information. I knew it must have a name. Fingernail--who knew!

Click to expand...

I’ve been learning to use routers for over 20 years and I find many profile names non-intuitive if not counter intuitive. Worse, there is not even consistency among brands or sellers. Roundover, corner round, etc. Several years ago @harrysin showed several different types of bits that would all create a roundover profile.

https://www.magnate.net/SearchResults.asp?searching=Y&sort=13&search=Finger+nail&show=40&page=1 Quite often rare profiles can be found at Magnate. The link leads to more finger nail sizes an variations than I have seen anywhere else.

If at all possible, once you find a suitable bit profile, if you end up forming the bullnose from two partial roundovers, make the cut using a router table and fence with the fence set flush with the bearing on the bit. This makes it easy to cut one side, flip the piece then cut the other side to produce a smooth curve. If you rely solely on the bearing to control the depth, you may end up with a step after the second pass as the bearing will be running on material that has been profiled, producing a deeper cut.

It is quite likely that the original profile would have been created using a single pass with a spindle moulder rather than a router, and you probably will never achieve an exact match using a router. Its also likely that the profile changed a little each time the spindle moulder knives were sharpened or reset on the production line, so there would be a degree of variation in the profile between batches of product.