Edge Jointing Problems
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Hi everyone
Making the coffee table, I’m trying to edge joint the boards.
I’ve planed so much that I’ve taken like 10cm off the total width and I still can’t get them to fit well! I’m going to be using timber dogs and not clamps because I don’t have any.
Do you have any tips on how to get these edges straight? I’m not out by a little amount theres a huge gap like 3-5mm or something. I try to plane the high bits then the gap just moves to a different location and then I end up taking too much off.
16 March 2015 at 2:23 pm #125637Photos would be helpful. That said, taking a blind stab, I can offer a few suggestions:
1) Snap a chalk line on the boards, or draw a straight line with a pencil. That should give you something to work to.
2) Make sure your joints are square. If your joint is not square, it’s very difficult to get a good joint.
3) Make long passes. If you work too much in one area, you are pretty much guaranteed to hollow it out, especially with a short soled plane. If you have a particularly bad high spot, take a few passes there, elongating them as you go, then take a full length cut. You should be able to get a shaving off the whole edge in one pass. The thinner the shaving, the closer your joint should be.
4) Check your plane. The sole should be flat, and the plane should only be lightly set. I don’t know how familiar you are with planes, but I have seen people in my technical school classes attempting to set the blade very very deep. Back it off until it takes nothing, and advance the blade very slowly, a tiny fraction of a turn, until it starts to take a cut. If your blade is not razor sharp, it’s also impossible to get fine shavings. The blade will simply ride over the surface unless it is set so deep as to give it no choice but to cut.
5) Don’t trust the plane to make a perfectly flat joint on it’s own. By it’s very nature, it wants to make a slightly concave cut, as the blade sits below the sole. It’s also very easy to make a convex edge, if your body mechanics and use of the plane aren’t right on. The plane is a tool, not a machine, and you have to engage your brain and your body and bring it to task. I know that’s vague, but I guess my point is to check what you’re doing.
Planing long joints is not easy, but it is achievable. Work slowly and carefully, and be mindful of how the plane is performing. Practice jointing some less critical wood, and try to work out the issue that way.
I hope you can make sense of this, because it’s mostly a ramble. Good luck!
16 March 2015 at 4:51 pm #125639some great advice there from @mooncabbage you could also try ganging up the two edges to be joined and planing them together this should help if you are out of square
I had similar issue with my my first long joints, ended up taking it slow, sighting down the length to pick out dips and humps, i worked in shorter sections, before working out long strokes along the length. It is frustrating, and yes you do lose some width, but the feeling of ‘getting it’ finally is a good one.
BrianWell this is a bummer… I’m starting to get the joints to improve slightly though they are far from perfect. However they are now too narrow so I’m going to have to get new boards :/
This time I’ll get them to cut a little bit off the sides to make sure they are perfectly straight so theres less chance of me messing it up lol
18 March 2015 at 3:59 am #125649Sounds like now you have some boards to keep practicing on. Not so bad. Have you watched Paul’s video on edge jointing?
Perhaps you would do better with a jack plane or a jointer plane. I picked up a wooden jointer plane for about $40 and now, after a couple hours of work to tune it up, it is a joy to use. I set it very shallow for edge joining. I echo the previous suggestion that you take off very thin shavings.
8 June 2015 at 2:00 am #127570I always had a similar problem until I started to put two boards at once in the vice. Make sure your planing with the grain for both boards. Like Joel mentioned, the video about edge jointing covers it. If the boards have gaps when you put them in the vice together, use a clamp to close the gap. Make sure the clamp is low enough so you don’t hit it with the plane.
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