To create a very finished look, many soapmakers remove uneven surfaces, edges, and corners from their soap bars. Although some soapmakers prefer the bumps and unevenness that is a hallmark of handmade products, others prefer smooth edges and beveled edges.

There are many ways to smooth your soap. Some people simply use a potato peeler to bevel the edges and a cheese planer to smooth the sides. You can put the scraps generated by this activity to use in hand-milling and “confetti” soaps. Take it easy with these tools, though, or you'll find yourself with a pile of trimmings and no bar!

Again soapmaker/carpenter Jennifer Patella has easy-to-follow instructions to make your own soap planer.

Materials

• 1″ × 4″ board
• 1″ × 6″ board
• 4″ scraper blade with 2 holes (usually found in paint departments)
• 2 small screws
• 8 wood screws

Assembly

1. Cut 2 pieces from the 1″ × 4″ board to a length of 11″ each. (These will be the supporting side pieces.)

2. Cut 2 pieces from the 1″ × 6″ board: 5 ″ × 4″ (Note: A 1″ × 6″ is actually ¾″ × 5½″, so you will cut the 5½″ dimension down to 4″. This will fit the 4″ blade perfectly.) Cut the edges of these two pieces at a 45-degree angle.

3. Attach the 4″ blade to one of the pieces with the 45-degree angle with the two small screws. Make sure you put the edge of the blade just above the wood line so it will rise above the platform slightly.

4. Set the two 45-degree angles facedown and butting next to each other. Remember to leave a small gap for the soap shavings to fall through.

5. Attach the sides to the two top pieces. Make sure you lower the top piece without the blade slightly more than the other at a slant. This will give you a smooth throughput on planing your soap. You can also adjust this to shave more or less soap.

Note: Please keep the planer away from children and pets. The blade can be replaced with a new one as it wears.