Sanding fretwork and project

[karen12]

This candle stand is my first project and needs lots of sanding to get it looking right. My questions is do I round off the outside edges to make it look better and if I do that should I round off the inside edges as well or do you leave the inside edges as is?.

On the pattern piece it will b 3/8 wood. It calls for 1/2 wood and I was wondering if I can taper the tree leaving the middle 3/8 and taper to the edge leaving 1/8 or a little more and then rounding off the edges of the deer and the ring for the mini clock?

On most projects do you leave the fretwork edges as is?
Thanks Karen
Hope those pics I tried to upload are there cuz I still get confused how to find the right place to do it. It says they are uploaded but I don't see them here . Geesh too much to remember lol

[DukeNukem]

I normally sand all of the wood faces before attaching the pattern, this way there's a lot less sanding when it's cut, as for rounding the edges you'll find that most of the time you'll get a slightly rounded edge anyway hope this helps.Jerry

[Bill Wilson]

It really depends on the project, but for most fretwork I generally leave the edges alone, especially the more complex projects. My general rule of thumb is that I will slightly ease the outside edges on pieces that will be handled. In other words, it's more of a tactile thing than an appearance thing. I like soft edges on wood where my hands are going to be in contact with it, so I'll focus on that. Inside edges that don't see regular hand contact, I leave them the way they came off the saw.

[ubgoofy2003]

Karen, my personal opinion on the sanding is, I like a smooth edge. I only hand sand the outside edges a small amount, just to round over a bit. I think it is mostly a personal touch. Your choice. Good Luck

[karen12]

Thanks for your input. I think I will round off the candle stand but I still don't know if I should try tapering the tree down to an 1/8 on the edges of the pine tree. I was thinking it might make it look kind of like 3D.