How do you bevel soap? Share your method.

[IrishLass]

Hi folks! As isg mentioned in here in this post, an accident occurred while trimming down the "Beginner's Learn to Soap Online" thread in order to turn it into a sticky, and all the posts in regard to beveling unintentionally got deleted.

So, without much further ado, I am starting this here new thread for folks to contribute their beveling know-how.

I guess I'll start things off since I'm right here:

I get asked quite often by folks how I get such nicely rounded/sculptured edges on my soap. My secret is this- I use a Japanese woodworking tool. The particular one that I have is a 1/8" & 1/4" radius plane made by Kakuri. Believe it or not, I actually bought it from LotionCrafter several years ago. They billed it as being the "Best Ever Soap Beveler". Sadly they no longer sell it, but you can find them here, as well as at Lee Valley Tools.

Here is what the underbelly of my radius plane looks like:

Looking head on towards the dual blades, what my soap sees (if it had eyes) as it makes its way to the blades. I prefer using the smaller groove on the left side when I bevel my soap.:

This is how I angle the beveller when bevelling each edge of my soap. I lay the edge right in the groove:

Continued in the next post (I've exceeded my quota for the amount of images allowed in one post).....................

 

[IrishLass]

Continuing on:

Dragging my soap across the blade. The groove makes it easy to maintain the angle as I drag my soap across:

Done! My finished, rounded edges:

IrishLass

 

[Kittish]

I love those neat, smooth edges. Messy edges on soap (my own more than other people's, but still) turns out to be something that makes me twitch and I've been trying to find a method I really like for beveling.

Do you have to sharpen the blade ever? How difficult is it to clean? I wind up with little soap crumbs everywhere when I bevel mine. I keep a silicone pastry brush handy to help remove them.

Right now I've mostly settled on using a small knife for my bevels. I used to be a floral designer, and my old flower knife has been kicking around in my junk drawer for years, so it's been cleaned up and sharpened and put back into service. I tried a vegetable peeler, but wasn't really happy with the results I got from that. I also tried the beveling set up built into the bottom of my miter box, but ick, horrible results. It doesn't plane worth a hoot, either, so I actually just took the blade off entirely.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Thanks for starting this thread, Irish! I saved the first bits from the previous thread that got the discussion going -- I thought it was pretty interesting and I'm happy to see it got its own home.

Originally Posted by Zany_in_CO
Beginner's Learn to Soap online:
Chamfered Edging on Soap
http://soapteacher.blogspot.com/2011/04/chamfered-edging-on-soap.html

Originally Posted by Earlene
Zany, that's a nice compilation of links you've got there. I had never seen the one by 'Soap Teacher' about 'Chamfered edging on Soap'. What an interesting story she had to tell about men complaining about sharp edges on soap. So funny!

I know, Earlene, my hubby said the same thing! I've since learned to wash my soap and run a washcloth around the edges just to soften them a little. I only do this for our personal stash. I like sharp edges for my cigarband wrap.

 

[IrishLass]

Do you have to sharpen the blade ever? How difficult is it to clean? I wind up with little soap crumbs everywhere when I bevel mine. I keep a silicone pastry brush handy to help remove them.

Believe it or not, I've never had the need to sharpen my blade to date, and I've been using it to bevel my batches for at least 8 years or so.

It's a really well-crafted tool. The completely adjustable blade is carbon steel (I have directions for how to sharpen it if the need should ever arise), and the body is made of solid white oak, which is an extremely strong, long-lasting hardwood. To give you an idea of how strong & long-lasting, it's the same wood that the USS Constitution , aka 'Old Ironsides' (which is still afloat and sail-worthy) was built with over 200 years ago. The ship got its nickname in a battle during the war of 1812 when cannon balls that were fired directly at its broadsides by a British ship from barely 50 yards away kept bouncing right off without doing any damage.

RE: cleaning it: Bits of soap do indeed get stuck in its nooks, but wooden toothpicks are my best friend when it comes to getting them all cleaned out.

Thanks for starting this thread, Irish!

You're welcome!


IrishLass

 

[Steve85569]

I've got a router.
A short piece of 1 by lumber and a smallish piece of stainless.

This has my wheels turning towards a home built planer!

 

[earlene]

Now I am on the look out for chamfer planes, IrishLass. Didn't I read somewhere that you said Harbor Fleet also has the same plane or one like it? Was that you? Anyway, my husband loves going to Harbor Freight, so we might just check it out and see what we can find.

 

[NsMar42111]

I used a potato peeler for hundreds of bars. Just received a bevel/planer off etsy that came with my soap cutter order...much faster than the peeler!

Love the woodworking tool look though...hrm!

 

[SoapTrey]

I ordered this one off aliexpress.com for $9.99 free ship

beveler

It took a couple of weeks to get to me, but it was quicker than I expected and it works really well, might be much quicker for some of you. It is fully adjustable and both planes and bevels. I think it's the same one you see on ebay, etsy or the like.

 

[SusanP]

Do you go through the beveled twice to get the inset rounded look?

 

[lucycat]

I still use a potato peel but only the ones from Pampered Chef. They swivel and are stainless. The two things make a very fast action as well as a very small bevel which I like.

 

[IrishLass]

Do you go through the beveled twice to get the inset rounded look?

Nope- just once is all it takes.


IrishLass