How to Square Boards that have already been jointed and cut on the table saw
I am fairly new to woodworking and still learning techniques, etc. I am in the process of making an end-grain cutting board out of cherry. I jointed the original board then ran it through the thickness planer. I then cut the required board dimensions on my table saw (boards are 2 1/16″ wide x 20″ long). I must have done something wrong because when I put the cut boards together prior to gluing I noticed that in some areas there is a gap that is about 1/32″. The boards are 1 7/8″ thick so if I start gluing them I don’t think the clamp will be able to pull the gaps tight. My plan was to glue these boards, let them set then cut them again on the table saw in a perpendicular direction to the original cut so that I can turn the newly cut boards end grain up and then glue them again. I’ve attached pictures and would appreciate any advice on how to close the gaps (before I go ahead with the first gluing).
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It looks like your tablesaw blade might not be at 90 degrees. If this is the case you can turn every other board over and the errors will cancel each other out. When you glue it up it may do a little ramp-slide, so make allowance to keep the boards aligned on the faces.
Thank you...I appreciate the advice. I will try doing this to close the gaps. I will also check to see if my blade is at 90 degrees...thanks again.
You need to check two things.
1. Is the board flat?
2. Are the pieces square?
If the board is not flat on one face, then the problem probably lies with your jointer - the tables are not coplanar. You can also reproduce this with a fence that is not parallel to the tablesaw blade but you have to try quite hard...
If the pieces are not square, then this could be the jointer fence or table saw blade not being at 90 degrees to the table.
My money is on the jointer tables not being coplanar here.
PS: Good on you for having a proper tape measure with a sensible (metric) scale!
Check whether the board is flat or not and are the pieces in square shape?
You really need to learn how to square these boards with a handplane. It takes a bit of practice but is a lifelong skill and will be forever useful. Any machine will leave marks on the timber being processed (apart from any inaccuracies they may introduce) and you will always want to remove these - unless they are intended as decoration.
There are dozens of how-tos around the web and in books. Edging and squaring a board is probably the most fundamental thing in woodworking.
Update: Thank you for all your advice. I checked my jointer and the tables are coplaner. It looks like my issue was with the table saw. I have the Dewalt 10" Compact Job Site table saw with a 40T blade. I looked at the wood and the issue was mostly with the sides that were cut with the table saw (burn marks and slightly uneven cuts with slight rocking). I plan on changing to a Diablo 60T blade (or a similar good blade). I will also have to check my fence. I really appreciated all the advice...especially the advice on learning how to square boards using a hand plane. I took the boards to a someone who has woodworking experience and he squared the pieces for me. I am a beginner and here is so much to learn. Thank you again.
You didn't say so I'll just throw it out there . . . After cutting on the table saw did you again joint the boards on the edges that were run through the saw?
Also, using a 60 tooth blade if you are ripping won't get rid of burn marks. It will likely create more. 60-tooth blades aren't made for ripping; only crosscutting and maybe work with sheet goods.
A 40-tooth blade might be OK for ripping as long as the wood isn't too thick or too hard. I doubt you could rip cherry without burn marks and some slight imperfections on the ripped edge.
Again, if you did rejoint them after cutting, sorry to waste your time. I just couldn't tell from the post.
Never wasting my time. Any and all advice/suggestions/“did you...?” only helps me learn. You are correct...I did not joint the pieces after cutting them on the table saw. The pieces are approx 1 7/8” thick and 2” wide. When I brought the wood to someone with experience who helped he noticed that there was a slight “rocking” on some of the pieces. He put them in his jointer but only jointed the middle section first before running the whole piece over the jointer. That seemed to take the “rocking/slight bow” out of the wood. It looked like all the rocking was on the side that was cut on the table saw. After he did that the pieces look much tighter (although there is still about a 1/64 gap in 1-2 areas but I think the clamps will fix that when gluing.
Clamps are unlikely to bring them together unless the gaps are on the ends. Even then 1/64 is a lot even though it may seem small.
Should I joint one of the edges until the 1/64" gap is gone or is there something else that I should do? The gaps are more towards the ends of the pieces.
You could first try clamping all parts together without glue to determine whether you can close the gaps. However, even if you can close them up with clamps, those specific joints would be significantly stressed and, over time, are likely to fail.
If it were me, I would joint the edges perfectly flat and smooth so that no gaps exist even if it means that a couple of the parts are a tiny bit narrower than the rest. Maybe place them so that the narrower boards are balanced across the cutting board if it is noticeable.
Thank you, I hadn't considered the significant stress on those joint even with a 1/64" gap. I will joint the edges perfectly flat before I glue them. I don't mind if some of the boards are narrower...once they are end-grain up, in the next step, it might give the cutting board a random pattern that will look nice. This little end-grain cutting board project has been quite a learning experience.
A 1/64" gap on wood that thick could be a problem. Depends somewhat on the wood you're using (I think I missed that, someone said cherry). But do your best to get it flat. Have you thought about splining the joints? That will help make it much stronger than just gluing it. I've done that on thick oak and had really good success. But the pieces weren't that long. And since you're end-cutting them, the splines may look kinda cool anyway, especially if you use another color wood.
Just thinking out loud here...
Thank you for the advice/suggestion ChipSawdust. Yes, the wood is Cherry. The board end up being 1 7/8" thick (dimensions are 14.25" x 18.0"). I went back and jointed each of the piece that were not fitting tightly. It took a really long time and a friend showed me how to joint just the middle section then to joint the whole side afterwards in case there was a slight bow on the sides. I did that and finally got all the pieces to fit tightly (without loosing a lot in the width/length of the final piece). I noticed a very small area along one of the sides of the cutting board that still had about a 1/64" gap that was about 1 1/4" long (see attached pictures...the white streak is actually part of the grain), but it doesn't go right through from top to bottom. Unfortunately, I didn't notice it until after I glued the board pieces together end-grain up. I used Howard Cutting Board mineral oil and Howard Butcher Block Conditioner on the board and I'm hoping for the best...not sure what to do at this point. Chalking it up to experience...Thanks for the suggestion about splining the joints. Being new to woodworking, I never heard of that term before. I looked it up on YouTube to learn how to do that for future projects. Thanks again...
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