This thread got me to thinking!.....Uh, oh......
Out of curiosity, Jamie......Do you consider the rounded bead more aesthetically appealing than a squared bead? I had been doing the squared bead for about the past ten years, because I thought it was distinctive, and nobody else seemed to be doing it that way.....like this purple heart bowl shown below. To my mind, I was thinking the squared bead looked better than the rounded bead......but, it could be my personal perspective isn't in tune with how others perceive it........
Now, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm missing out by not doing the rounded bead, like this curly maple bowl that's out in my shop right now. To me, it doesn't make much difference, because either way is just as easy to do for me. I'd like to have pleasing shapes for my customers, and if there is a difference in preference, I'd like to satisfy that interest.......
To tell the truth, I hadn't planned on making the rounded bead anymore, because I'd been happy with the squared bead look.....but, because of this thread, I decided to go back to making the rounded bead once again.
The last time I made the rounded bead, I was doing it with a 1/2" R/N scraper w/ground bur. My whole process of prepping scrapers has undergone a host of changes in the past five years......and, as a result, I did this curly maple bead with the R/N 1/2" raised bur scraper. I did have to make the initial bead a little taller than I do for the squared bead, because the initial prep for the final finished bead makes it necessary to take a little more off the overall height than the former.
ko