Jointing edges with a hand plane – Square or flat?
user-7611010
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Hello,
I purchased a Stanley NO 7 and started to practise making flat edges. What I’m confused about is am I trying to get and edge square, or perfectly flat in order to joint and edge to another? I’m using S4S stock (ridata pine) right now to make it easier on myself and have accidentally put an edge out of square which I then put back into square after some trial and error. Anyway, i’m also just finding it difficult to figure out at which point is a board ready or flat enough to glue to another. Some boards look perfect but have the smallest of gaps. This is where i’m not sure if clamp pressure will eliminate the tiny gap.
Any thoughts or advice would be helpful. Thanks.
Replies
Your goal is square AND flat. The #7 should bridge undulations and get you flat (provided the iron is set in plane with the sole) , the square part comes with practice.
I agree with the above. Using a shooting board is another method to ensure you are staying square. Any gaps which are present prior to gluing will persist after gluing, although may not manifest for several days. Get the joint perfect and you will never have to worry about it. Easier said than done, I know.
If you pair up the boards you are going to join. Then, plane them together.
When you lay them out, any off square angle should match up... https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/hand-plane-butt-joint-edges/
But, the goal is always to plane square and flat. Those kind of edges always glue up better.
If there is a gap, and you crank the clamps down, the joint will always be under tension. Sometimes this works and everything's fine... Sometimes not so much. I always try for no gap.
Assuming your bench is reasonably flat, lay your workpiece on another flat board but overhanging it by a half inch or so, then turn your plane on its side and plane the edge of your workpiece.
You will need to make sure your blade is parallel to the sole of your plane.
This way, you get the benefits of a shooting board without actually making it!
Keep test fitting the two boards together that you want to glue together. Mark the high points on one piece with a pencil mark and plane those spots until the pencil marks are gone. Test fit again and repeat until there is little or no gap. A very small gap in the center is okay and even recommended for a spring joint. Size the boards with glue and let it dry before clamping them together. Then, glue them up and clamp. I don't know about the pine you are using, but some woods resist glue up until being sized. I had decent glue ups with sweet gum after sizing.
Another thing to make sure of is that your last passes with the plane should be "full" passes. In other words your shaving should be full width and full length. That will insure there are no a gaps left behind.
Get flat then get square.
You need that flat reference face to work from first. ** Edit: to clarify I mean flattening a face*** As far as small gaps go it depends how small were talking. Depending on where the gaps are it could be fine. If it's in the middle and so long as it's not these gaping gaps, that's good. And actually often times you want a teeny gap through the middle to create a spring joint to ensure the ends are nice and tight on glue up. Gaps on the ends? Get back to work because that's no good.
What's more important than some small gaps which you can pull together easily (if they're truly small) is that the edges are SQUARE! If you're off then the glue up is going to suffer and be a real pain in the ass.
Ref FiveBirdsCustom advise to plane the two boards together you will need to flip one board end over end before gluing.
I have always aimed for flat and square, then take a shaving 2" from one end and stopping 2" from the other end, repeat this @ 4" finishing with one full length shaving. This will give a minute gap in the middle which will compensate for the ends drying out.
I found clamping a board at 90 degrees to the side of the plane works wonders in keeping the plane square :)
My only advice is; remember the board has 2 long edges. If 1 side is bellied, the opposing side will be crowned.
Oh, the language I use I picked up young. You might hear different woodworking words for the same thing.
Anyhow, I check both edges before beginning. That way I don't have to kick myself in the ass later.
Either/or, good luck.
Mikaol
I agree on shooting for flat and square. I do not get the idea of flipping a board end over end as that breaks the geometry you are after. This may be a question of terms as to "end over end".
The following pics show a very exaggerated, un-square gang-jointing result. You would be shooting for flat and square as discussed by others but, let's say one fails dramatically. Gang jointing will still result in a good fit as long as the deviation is not too much. Too much angle and your edges will not react to clamping pressure the way you want them too, eh?
The last pic shows one board flipped end for end in the way I think about it which loses the gain of gang-jointing your stock. I may be confused as to what is being said.
Gang jointing can work, however there are still lots of problems that can arise, and will in fact be doubled if they occur. If you get a bit of a valley happening in the middle, it will be doubled in size because now both boards are in tandem meaning they'll both be bellied. It's a good method if you're just doing a few small boards, but it's better in my opinion to practice getting your edges flat and square individually rather than ganging up boards and trying to compensate.
I would never use this method when making a large table or something like that, but for small panels sure it works.
Having learned to do this by trial and error, a couple things help. It's useful to separate out face flattening from edge jointing as they are really two different things and were traditionally done by similar but different plane setups.
face planing I easier as it is generally more forgiving of errors but less forgiving of surface imperfections: tearout and plane tracks.
for edge jointing, One thing that helps tremendously is putting a slight symmetric camber on the plane iron. you shift the plane laterally side to side to taper the shaving side to side. Gang planing also helps and just leaves you with hollow and crown to correct on an edge.
Happy New Year Everyone.
GeeDuBee was absolutely regarding flipping one of the boards end for end. What was I thinking, you can tell I never use this method.
Also, start planing on the far end and work back.
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