Simple woodworking question
 

I suspect I know the answer, but I want to check.

If you had 2 1"x12" pine boards glued together to give you a thicker board, and then you were going to glue another 2"x1" board to the long edge of the boards.

If the 2 boards weren't perfectly straight before gluing so that after gluing, the long edge is not quite perfect, what would you do to the edge to get the edge to be flat as if it was a single 1.5" thick board, sand, hand plane, something else?

And by hand planer, I meant the old fashioned kind, but I now see that there are power units available. I recently discovered that there's a Harbor Freight store about 3 miles from the house. I've been looking for an excuse to go. A small hand-held power planer for $50 sounds like it might be a decent option.

I would run it thru a jointer. You could also use a table saw.

2.






No wait it's 288!

run it over a jointer a few times, the edge will be flat as a pancake. If you want to thin the board down some, use a planer.

The table saw will leave marks that will have to be sanded out whereas the jointer should leave you a nice finish with little sanding. Beware of cheap planers, they leave chatter marks and are difficult to adjust to make a straight edge from a banana.

Use what you have at your disposal. For instance, I would readily invest in a top quality saw blade for a decent table saw before I would buy a cheap planer.

Thanks for the laugh!

Wish I had a jointer.

I was originally talking about something like...

http://ww.toncan.com/img/woodwork/hand-planer.jpg

I assume when you talk about jointer and planer, you're talking about

http://wheelinhuntms.com/wp-content/...-Functions.jpg
http://www.wisegeek.org/images/how-i...oodworking.jpg

I think this kind of planer looks like a good option at a lower price point
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pro...6a17cf_400.jpg

Herr Oberst (hope I got the spelling right), thanks for your response too, even though it has disappeared now.

Thanks Zeke/Milt. I've got a very inexpensive contractor's table saw with a very moderate fence. I don't think I could do a good job due to my lack of skill and the tool's lack of precision. I do have decent blades for it, I have learned that much from you guys here over the years. Any time I buy a cutting tool, I always buy better quality blades to go with it.

I've been using a quick square clamped to the board and a circular saw to barely shave the ends.

Here's a trick: when you set your fence, bump the far end over a tiny amount so that when the board is fed through, only the front part of the blade cuts and the back part is just missing the work. You won't get those back swirls on the face of the cut and no burn marks either.
Easy to sand out.

Thanks, didn't see your response the first time through.

Thanks, is there a trick to feeding 8' of board through straight? That's where I usually have the most trouble is on a long cut.

How far off is it? How much material do you need to remove?

Zeke, your giving away the farm, telling all the little secrets of the trade.

Wise words, also, never buy cheap equipment, never worth it in the end. There are plenty available used equipment around pre China days when equipment was good.

About 10 yrs ago I picked up a old Rockwell cabinet table saw was missing the square, bfd, for 300 bucks. My jointer is also a Rockwell, both are about 60's vintage. Craig's list has good stuff all the time.

When working in the field had a nice old delta table saw, 8" blade, cuts like a Hamilton watch keeps time, gave it to my daughter. Still have my grandpa's Hamilton pocket watch vintage 1890's, still keeps time like a good watch, just wind it everyday.

easy way to feed 8-10- 12-14' boards thru a table saw is have a table catching the board as it goes thru, better than having another person on the other end, you are controlling the feed. Same way with plywood. Wide table top with extensions and large table is the ticket for happy cutting and a good straight edge guide like a bessimer.

plasma cutter

How much material do you need to remove?[/QUOTE]

Not much, in spots maybe as much as 1/16" or 3/32, but usually much less

I figure the more true I get the edge the better the facing will look, and I'll have to use less filler

Listen to Milt. Table saw. Might not even need to buy a blade.

I agree... table saw. Cant the fence.

As mentioned, an outfeed table or roller. You need to be smooth feeding the work through the saw pressing it against the fence. A lot of production work is done by auto feeders.

Take a dry run with the saw turned off to get your footing and hand movements worked out.

The hand plane is like a mini jointer. You just have to take more time and use your eyes more.

Why not just buy a 2 x 12 plus a 2 x 2 and rip the 2 x 12 into three (reversing the grains) and laminate them all together, and cut down to size? It's what we'd do.

Take it to a cabinetry shop and have them run it through their joiner.

OK, I'm convinced, I've got one roller, but Ill get another so I have one for the feed side and one for the outfeed side. I've got a decent blade, so I think I can stick with that. this will be cheaper than getting a cheap hand planer, and will probably get used more since I have a 12" compund miter.

I'd love to have a planer and jointer and all of the other nice tools of woodworking, but I don't do that much woodwork, and more importantly, I don't have the space to keep it.

Thanks all for all of you suggestions and help.

Yep, I enjoy using them from time to time. It feels like you are a part of the work. It's somehow more satisfying than using a power tool to get it done fast, but that's probably because I've never needed it for a job or for a lot of work.
huh? I would have loved to just use a 2x12, that's what I've essentially made. I'm not getting the rip and reassemble part. Probably not that important anyway since the other stuff is bought and glued.

I've heard about and looked at those fences before. I'd love to have one, but in the case of my saw, I think it would be like putting a $5k suspension under a civic, you could, and it would handle better, but why. I hope to someday have a place with enough room for a shop, and when I do, I will porbably outfit it with a bunch of good gear.

It won't warp if you cut it apart and glue it back together with the grain reversed, and the glue joint will be the strongest part of the plank. You're doing the same thing.

Steve, the most important part of a table saw is the fence, then the blade and table flatness. A blade stabilizer will help a poor blade perform.

Ah, got it. I suspect this may have been a bit warped when I bought it. I usually go through about 1.5-2x as many boards as I buy trying to find straight boards in good shape, but I must have gotten some 8' boards that were just close.

If you really want to play, get a Jack plane and a smooth plane to do the finishing work. After you are done with it, no sanding is needed. Plus, sanding is never require before edge glue up. I don't think I have used either plane in a very long time. There is a great and satisfying feeling in using a hand plane, spoke shave or a cabinet scraper. Thank goodness for power tools.

Steve you can true up the edge of that board on your table saw without issues. A straight edge that run the length of the board (rip up pieces of plywood) is needed. Nail the plywood right on top of the piece you need to cut. nail a long length (4') of straight board on edge to the face of another board 4" wide (a T). Clamp the base or the flat section to the fence and have the edge of the straight board sitting right on top of the blade. Bring your straight edge that you clamped to the fence and dial it in so it sits flat / flush to the side of the blade (I line it up using a try square) making sure you have at least 1 3/4" space for your stock to run through. Rub your straight board that you nailed to the stock against the straight section of the piece above the blade. YOu will produce an exactly flat and straight cut every time. I have true up many boards like that in my early cabinet making career out of a little garage workshop.

Try to buy boards from places that supply cabinet makers instead of places like HOme Depot. The HD stuff isn't always dry. You can ask for Surfaced two sides and usually have one straight edge already done (S2S, straight line).

I've got a decent blade. This is the saw that I have (or very close to it). The fence is crap, at least, that's how it seems to me. I'd love to get something better, but most of the fences that I've seen in the past cost more than I paid for the saw when new.

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pro...f1ec4a_300.jpg

I am a bit tempted to try something else. Looking around I found what looked like a better option called a Shop Fox Fence that is $160 without rails and about another $100 with rails (more $$ at the above link). I'm not sure if I would need rails or not. I'm not sure if my saw has standard rails, and it would be nice to be able to get slightly longer rails so I could cut wider stock.
http://toolsandmore.us/ProductImages...1124/W1720.jpg

I also found a couple of vega fences that sound good, that come with rails that range from $250-350 which is about what I paid for the saw. It seems crazy to put that nice a fence on the saw, but if it helps that much (which I think it might). And I suppose if I ever get a better saw, I could always swap the fence out.
http://ec3.images-amazon.com/images/...CLZZZZZZZ_.gif

I really enjoy woodworking. My dad was always a gearhead. He worked on cars and taught me, but he hated working with wood. His father hated working on cars, but enjoyed working on wood. Unfortunately, I never got to spend enough time with my grandfather when I was older for him to teach me anything so I end up learning the hard way (needing extra wood since I invariably screw some up). Thank goodness for books and the Internet and you folks here.

A very specific front rail is needed. they all clamp onto the front rail only with nothing in the back. They are that strong. those little portable saws are too small to do much. that's not to say they are no good, but extension tables are needed on all three sides. Vega's are good fence. it all depends on how much do you have or want to tie up in the garage?

I am not sure if those fences can be fitted to the Ryobi saw.

a good jointer plane works great and is a learning experience
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1370931636.jpg
longer the better

Learn to use a jack plane before that monster. but a cheap jointer for 350 bucks. It run circles around the Jointer plane. A good jointer plane runs you 150 plus, maybe more? There are so many way to get around that clumsy thing. I love using real fine hand tools, only when I have all day to cut one board and have nothing to do for the next 36 hours. One day I will get back to it. I still use a hand scraper when I actually do work in the shop or in the field.

Absolutely. I've gotten a lot of use out of it, but it's a real pain because it's so small, and I invariably end up working with large pieces at some point.

That's what I've always suspected.

I think the fence on that saw is fine. An longer length of the front rail is needed. They can be purchased for that saw. Build a table around it so tha saw sits in a hole (flush with the table top) making this a much larger saw. it is much safer to work with a larger table then a smaller one. capable of doing much more this way by not spending too much money.

^^^^^^
We usually do it for no extra charge, so long as the customer isn't too fussy going through 500' to buy 50'

Be careful on the saw folks. The little pieces are the ones which can catch you. A smart man can be stupid just for a second.

...and do not pull the stock from the back of saw. it is easy and natural to do with one of those little things because of the small table. Naturally, the operator reaches around and support the work piece and pull from the other side. Lots of guys cut themselves that way.