The router will be much less effort, especially if there are more than two posts. I'd stick with the quarter inch. The smaller the roundover, the more susceptible is to dents and damage. Just my opinion. 1/16th, to me, doesn't make much difference. Aesthetically, I'd prefer the 1/4 inch.Thanks that makes sense. Since I just want to take off a little bit off the edge, probably only use a 1/8" or even just 1/16" round-over radius. Maybe the safest thing to do is to just hand sand the edges down.
You bet. You might want to install a wide plywood or clear acrylic base to make it easier to hold the router in position. The Ryobe should do just fine for a quarter inch or smaller roundover. I mentioned the grain direction because construction grade lumber splinters pretty easily. Send a picture, I'm interested in pergolas and I'd like to see it.Thanks Tom, I have two routers a pretty heavy Freud plunge router and a lighter Ryobi R163G router. I'm used to making horizontal runs, but I'm concerned about an 8' vertical run specially with the heavier router. I'll try the Ryobi and see how it does.
Over the years I've built two pergolas and in each case I routed a 1/4" round- over AFTER assembly. the unrouted top and bottom in my opinion enhanced to look. In both cases I used our very hard Jarrah, in the first one the posts were rough sawn and the second the timber was bought ready milled and if there was any chip-out on either, I didn't notice it.Thanks Ross and Tom, happy to join a nice friendly woodworking forum. Nice find Tom, I just ordered one of these to work on my patio cover column edges !!!
That's why I bought mine too. Putting up some lattice around the south end of my patio to provide shade for my wife's plants, and to keep the summer afternoon sun out of our eyes. The edge treatment will hopefully add a bit to the appearance. The lattice is redwood but the 2x is all pine, which will be painted. Not sure what to finish the redwood with. The sun is nasty here and I'm not excited about refinishing it every couple of years.Thanks Ross and Tom, happy to join a nice friendly woodworking forum. Nice find Tom, I just ordered one of these to work on my patio cover column edges !!!