How can I make a single bead?

[Swingman]

I'd forgotten about that trick ... it's a good one!

[Bay Area Dave]

elegant solution! I was envisioning spending lots of time with a round file! :)

dave

Andy D snip

[Conan the Librarian]

Count me in the scratch stock camp. You can make one from an old wooden marking gage and some scraper stock. Back out the pin and cut a vertical kerf in the end of the beam of the gage.

Then drill two holes; one all the way through the beam for bolting the kerf closed at the end of the arm, and the other for inserting a flat-bottomed machine screw to hold the stock in place (this hole only goes as far as the depth of the kerf).

The stock is made from a hand scraper blade drilled, cut and filed to the desired profile. (Chainsaw files work well for fairing the profile.) You can make up any profile that your heart desires. Also, because the fence on the gage, you have a lot more flexibility than some of the fixed scratch stocks I've seen.

(A picture of the one I made is at:

Chuck Vance

[Lawrence Wasserman]

I have cut similar beads by cutting the sawblade kerfs as you did, then using a rabbet plane and shape the bead by eye. A #75 works well for this (proviede the bead is parallel to the grain, not across it) and it's probably the cheapest rabbet plane available.

[Bay Area Dave]

thanks, Chuck. That picture makes it clear to me (finally) how to make a straight bead. Previous pictures I'd looked at were taken from a different perspective making it hard for me to visualize. I have, however, picked up the proper tool at Sears to fit my molding cutter. I had posted here because I couldn't find my tool catalog at home and incorrectly thought that there wasn't a ONE bead tool available. Your method I shall hold in reserve for when I can't BUY the profile I need.

dave

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