Crispness of edges ?

[klkirkman]

A mark of craftmanship in some trades can be the level to which crisp edges are maintained on finished products, yet, on the other hand sharp edges are a challenge for finishes, and suffer damage easily (because they are essentially a stress raiser) and show it.
Does anyone have any references that indicate the extnet to which furniture builders attemptyed to treat this issue, specifically the tools that they used, and whether the standards varied between classes and uses ( i.e., portable/ handled vs displayed) of furniture, and the degree of exposure ( outside edges versus rasied panel edges ) ?

Clearly there can be design fweatures to deal with this problem; bevels for example to increase the included angles of edges.

Edge tools tend to leave crisp edges unless purposefully blunted, and I am of the impression that sandpaper was not widely used.

Karl Kirkman

 

[rococojo]

Hi Karl, I was trained by Taylor & Hobson Ltd, (1851-1992) of Huddersfield, UK, I starting in 1957. The polish shop would not stand for totally sharp edges on cabinetwork-furniture, because of polish cutting through on the sharp edge, so we cabinetmakers had a wooden hand tool in the cabinetshop, 1” thick wood, L shaped with at 90 x 90 inside angle.
Across the top, was a central cut to take a piece of sharpened hacksaw blade, this was secured with wood screws, the shaped edge, was set just enough to take the sharp edge off, so when assembling the piece of furniture, this was run around all sharp edges, then (we used fine sand paper) afterwards, but before sandpaper, a hand full of sharp sand would be applied to a damp cloth and rubbed with the grain.