Reply To: Getting things Square
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@mark68 you need to watch Paul’s videos. He goes over these things in almost every project. You will need to learn the terminology to ask questions, otherwise it is almost impossible to give help.
An arris is where two planes meet. You could cut yourself on an arris in metal.
Most woodworking pieces have a length and then are wide in one of the other directions and narrow in the other. Think of the vertical part of a door (a stile). It may be 30 inches long and then maybe 2 1/2 wide and 3/4″ thick. We call the wide surface a face and the other one an edge.
So, there are two faces and two edges. We take extra care to make sure one of the faces is flat, straight, and free of twist and, also, make sure one edge is straight, flat, and free of twist. Generally, we make sure these two are perpendicular to each other (square). We call these the reference face and reference edge. Even if you machine your wood perfectly so that all surfaces are flat, straight, and square, you should pick a face to be the reference face and pick an edge to be a reference edge. We put a loopy mark on the reference face that runs towards the reference edge and then put a V like mark on the reference edge.
Every time you put your square on the work, the handle of the square should be on the reference edge or reference face.
Go look at Paul’s earlier videos. These are basics you really need to master. Maybe the tool tote project or the dovetailed boxes? As for getting material flat, look in the tools and techniques videos.