Rounding a sharp corner

[Stuart Noble]

How would you go about about protecting toddlers from a sharp corner on a worktop? It's one of those kitchen island jobs where either nobody thought to round the overhanging corner or it just came like that. For the time being, plastic corner protectors might do but kids (other people's even) will peel those off if they get bored. I could round the corner with a jigsaw and source some matching edging strip, but that will look like a bodge in a prominent place. I could cut a triangle off the corner, which might be less conspicuous, or I could try and make a feature of it somehow, something in a contrasting hardwood perhaps. Anyone got any ideas? I'd like to strangle the "designer" but that wouldn't solve anything. TIA

[Bob Minchin]

Leave it and let them learn! If every hazard is removed/protected they they will never learn to be aware of their surroundings. Teach them not to run around indoors as well.

[Stuart Noble]

I've no doubt the sprogs in residence will learn to live with it, but visiting kids shouldn't be subjected to an unreasonable hazard, and you can't stop the buggers running around, often with trolleys and all sorts. Laps are fun.

[no_spam]

I put an elliptical'ish curve on the end of mine, blending with the sides at about 20 degrees. It wasn't totally straightforward to do the edging, but it was do-able, looks OK and has survived 8-10 years so far. Alternatively, you could cut a section out of a bright ball and attach it as a protective "feechur".

[Tim Streater]

This is what I had done by Paul who installed our utility room. Everything came from Howdens including the strip, which he applied very well and it hardly shows.

[GB]

Pour encourager les autres?

Maybe get something like this?

Screw it into the underside of the worktop, then remove it when the kids are older.

[Michael Chare]

My father chased me round the kitchen table no doubt to catch me and give me a smack. Our dog came to my rescue, he chased after my father and bit is ankle.

[Sam Plusnet]

To be fair.

"The Designer" was probably afraid of being sued by Apple.

Look what it cost Sansung.

[Bob Minchin]

Of course you can! get some discipline in your house - applies to visitors and occupants alike. I presume they are not allowed to run in school- we used to be for the high jump (or worse!) if we ran anywhere indoors.

[John Rumm]

I would do it with a router and a guide of some form rather than a jigsaw, that way you won't chip out the edges of the laminate, and also ensure you get a perfectly square edge.

One option would be a hard wood lipping. Basically cut off the edge at whatever angle you want square with a circular saw, then fix on a wood "frame" edging with a lose tenon or biscuits or screws covered by wood plugs etc. You can then round the edges as well as radius the corners.

We did it in a mate's kitchen so he could reuse various bits of worktop that did not have the roll edge etc. Looked quite good in the end:

(the colour of the oak was lighter than it appears in the photo - much closer to the beech of the doors etc)

I used the same trick on:

The worktop was just a square slab of MDF. The lipping was softwood (and a half inch deeper than the actual MDF to add the illusion of more substance to the worktop). The corners were mitred with the normal sharp point. Then a radius marked out on each, and it was trimmed round and sanded flush. The edges then routed with a roundover to soften them as well.

Might stop them doing again!

[Brian Gaff]

The 45 degree angle is what I've seen done in houses adapted for the blind, indeed in my sitting room I had this done on some chipboard shelves I kept bashing into. The one snag is that if it is the cheap and cheerful chipboard, one can have a chip coming out if one is not careful, leaving the veneer hanging. Brian

[Stuart Noble]

Thanks to all, especially John for putting up the pics. The resident toddler's head will probably be above the offending corner in 6 months or so but, to me, it just *looks* wrong. Sharp corners in the middle of a room are dangerous and and also vulnerable to knocks etc

[newshound]

I've done that too for the end of a "peninsular" unit, rather than using one of those rather sharp and nasty aluminium extrusions.