We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. However, this does not impact our recommendations. Need a big, smooth curve? This method will do it! Curved lines in any project are both a blessing and a curse. They’re a blessing for the eye of the beholder, but a curse for the poor guy who has to make them. Executing a perfect, fair curve—particularly a large one—isn’t easy. If you cut one freehand, you’re often faced with hours of sanding to true it up. I build custom fireplace mantels, which often require a horizontal front board with an arc that follows the insert below. I can’t afford to use such a slow, inexact method, so I’ve adopted a much more efficient and precise approach using a router. The results are so good that I hardly have to sand at all. Additional Reading: Rout Arches of Any Size Move beyond the world of straight lines: Adding Curves to Your Toolkit The perfect tool for the job: What’s the Best Router for Woodworking?…