# Easy (cheap) soap beveller.



## Inodoro Pereyra

Finally, after a long wait (and some exhausting negotiations), I have my Internet back.  

So now it's time to keep my promise.

Here's a little tutorial on how to make, for next to nothing, your own soap beveller.

Here's what you need:







1. 2 pieces of wood. 
You can use any wood, of any size. Just make sure they're both the same thickness. That'll make your life much easier. I used 2 pieces of 3"x1"x10", so I will cite the measurements for that size wood.

2. 2 short wood screws.

3. a few washers.

4.some glue.

5. the blade.

This is the blade I used.






It's a 1/2" chisel blade for an X-Acto hobby knife. 
Now, don't get too caught up on it. Remember: you're cutting soap, so any blade will work, or any kind of metal you can sharpen to a fairly good edge. Use your imagination.

So now, let's start.

Take one of the pieces of wood, and lay a bead of glue on its edge






Now, take the other piece, and lay it at a 90* angle with the first piece. Make sure the end of the second piece lays flat with the surface of the first one. Clamp them together, and let the glue dry. make sure to wipe off any excess glue that may appear, especially in the inside of the angle.






Again use your imagination. If you don't have a set of c-clamps, some cord, or adhesive tape, or any weight will do the trick.

Now, once the glue is dry (be patient!!!), take a square with a 45* side (you do need this one. sorry)...






Place it on the end of the part as shown, and trace a line, leaving a space of about 1/4" (it's not critical) between the square and the internal apex of the angle.
Now, measure the distance between the end of this mark and the external apex of the angle, as shown.






In my case, using 1" wood, that measurement was 1 7/8".

Now, make a mark on the apex, 4" from the end...






...and draw 2 lines, perpendicular to the apex's edge, starting on that mark.






Now, make a mark on each of these lines, at the distance you measured earlier (1 7/8" in my case) from the apex's edge. Make another mark on the apex's edge, 5 1/2" from the lines, and trace a diagonal between the marks.
Here's what it should look like:






And here's another angle:






NOW'S WHEN THE FUN BEGINS!

Now, take your preferred cutting tool (I used a handsaw, but you can use whatever you're comfortable with), and CAREFULLY trim away the figure you just marked.











Two things are important here:

First: that you follow the lines you just traced carefully.

Second: that the "floor" of the inclined part of the cut (where the blade is gonna sit) is as flat as possible.

Now, take the blade, and fix it to the cut by its SIDES, using the 2 short screws, and as many washers as you may need , to insure that the screws don't show in the inside of your new beveller.
Notice that I installed the blade with the bevelled part facing down, so here's no risk of it pushing the soap bar up as you move it over it.






Now, get your beveller, adjust the blade to your liking, and WATCH YOUR FINGERS!!!   






One last thing: I'm well aware that my English is far from perfect. I attached as many pictures as I could, to make everything as clear as possible. Anyways, if there's *ANYTHING*  you don't understand, feel free to ask *BEFORE* getting hurt. 

PLEASE, BE CAREFUL!!!

Sorry for the long post.


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## Guest

WoW , that looks incredible , way to go ..Very cool idea .Your English is perfectly fine  Thank you for posting this tutorial.

Kitn


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## heartsong

*x*

:shock:  amazing!  i'm showing this to my husband!

thanks so much for posting this!  you must have an engineering background to have come up with this.  

after showing us your idea on rebatching/newbatching you've really topped yourself this time!

i think your english is just fine.  i'm glad you're back in the forum-we miss you when you don't "check in" from time to time! LOL!


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## Inodoro Pereyra

Thanks!   Feels good to be of help.
You're both just too nice.
English is and has been (and probably will be for a long time to come) a big frustration of mine. However, my comment about it was not a complaint (I don't like whiners), but just the acknowledgment of that reality, with the purpose of letting everybody know I'm aware of it, and that any question anybody may have is welcomed as an opportunity to make myself clear.
The last thing I want is for somebody to get hurt just because they felt their question wasn't important, or worse, for fear of making me feel bad.



> amazing! i'm showing this to my husband!



OH my... Now your husband is gonna hate me...   :wink: 



> you must have an engineering background to have come up with this.



No, just a degree in "Not-enough-money-to-buy-one"


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## Dixie

Oh Thank you Thank you Thank you! I was just fixing to buy one, now my dh can make me one! Yeah!


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## hem06

That's awesome!!  Can you show us the how the bevel looks on the soap?


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## LJA

Wow!!!  Thanks for sharing that!!


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## artisan soaps

..


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## cdwinsby

Inodoro Pereyra,

Fantastic tutorial!! I would love to post it on my Soap Making Essentials website if you are willing. 

PM me if it's ok and don't forget to include your name and any web links so I can credit you with the idea.


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## sudsnbubbles

I love it!! I'm showing it to my husband, too!   Thank you so much!!


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## Inodoro Pereyra

Thanks everybody for your comments. I'm really glad you found this thread useful.  



			
				hem06 said:
			
		

> That's awesome!!  Can you show us the how the bevel looks on the soap?



Of course. Here you go...






Now, a while ago today, when I read your replies, I had an idea (that's 3 ideas in just a few months...I'm gonna have to go to the doctor... :shock: )

So... remember when I said you could use almost anything for a blade?
I took a little piece of sheetmetal...






...Put it on the beveller, in place of the blade...






...and marked the contour of the "V" with a sharpie.






then, I took my drill...






...and made a hole inside the "V".






Now, two things should become apparent on the last 2 pics:

1. The hole does NOT reach the "V" marks. More on that later.

2. Because I *love my fingers*, I attached the little steel piece to a much larger piece of wood before drilling. 
Please, give your fingers the same love and respect I give mine.

So, then, I clipped the side of the hole open...






...and shaped and sharpened the resulting notch.






And finally, after installing it back on the beveller...






...and tweaking it a little...
VOILA...






Round edges anyone?  

About the hole not reaching the "V": because of the sharp angle of attack of the blade, to actually get a round edge the notch in the blade will have to be an ellipse, not a circle. Be ready to spend some time with the file, and have a few bars of soap handy to test your blade while you shape it, until you get the curve you like. Also, feel free to extend the "V" cut on the wood, and make a bigger (wider) blade, if you want a more round edge, more like commercial soap.

Cdwinsby: I'm about to PM you.

By the way: being that so many of you are thinking about asking your hubbies to do the work, you can show them your appreciation for their efforts by giving them a little present. I bought almost all my tools (and I have a lot of them) at my local Harbor Freight Tools. Their tools are very cheap (Chinese),  and really good quality for the price. you can check them out here:

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/common/start.do

Of course, , it's up to you to come up with any other "samples of appreciation"... :wink:


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## polarbearforge

Very nice tutorial.  Thank you very much for sharing it.  Next time I'm out in the shop, I'll be building a couple.

Jamie


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## Bunny

*me clapping hands*  That is awesome! Thank you so much!


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## jenn624

Awesome. Thank you for posting this. I am trying this as soon as possible (I wanna bevel me some soap, and I just cannot master the art of the potato peeler!)


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## Inodoro Pereyra

Thanks guys.  

Of course, I will be expecting pictures of your setups... 8)


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## hem06

How about I just buy one from you?  Just include the round blade and the straight blade, and please, make mine a planer as well.

  

Just kidding.

Sort of.


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## soapbuddy

That's awesome! Thanks for the pics!


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## Lindy

What a fantastic design!  Maybe the mods could move this tutorial to one of the tut sections, or perhaps make it a sticky here so it can be esay to find and refer back to.

Great job!  I love the fact you kept it simply rather than making it far more complicated than it need to be.

I'm looking forward to seeing a pattern/prototype of a planer too.....

Thanks for posting and sharing this with everyone else.

Lindy


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## LJA

I vote for the planer too.  That'll be my next purchase.  :wink:


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## CarmenJean

I've been looking for something like this!!!!  What a fantastic setup!!!  Not sure if I'd fully trust my OH to cut straight though - I might have to do it myself.  But it seems easy enough for even little me to tackle!  Thanks for the tut!! I'm off to raid OH's workshop for some wood.


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## Matt

That is a pretty neat little contraption. But if you want to go cheaper you could probably just use a vegetable peeler, or a cheese slicer. Most of us may have this in a drawer already.


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