You should be able to get a drafting T square or very large plastic triangle for very nominal cost.
Contributor
You should be able to get a drafting T square or very large plastic triangle for very nominal cost.
Contributor
A TS is perhaps not the ideal solution for hand tool enthusiasts.
Mark a line on both sides and then saw as close as you dare. Then use a long plane to get the edge completely flat and square by planing down to the line. A pencil line will work but a knife line is better. It's easier to read as it can be seen from the side or edge as you get near.
-- Dan Rode
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle
Contributor
Use the 3-4-5 right triangle method (assuming you can make an accurate 90 degree angle you should get very close on your first atempt).Originally Posted by Evan Ryan
Last edited by Pat Barry; 04-15-2015 at 2:38 PM.
Contributor
+1 - this is the ideal way to measure 90 degrees.
-- Dan Rode
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle
Contributor
Jim,
Give this a try;
I take a wide 8/4 board, make the bottom and one edge square and perpendicular to one another then clamp it along the baseline. After coping out the waste I will cut the baseline (last 1/16"~ ) all the way through from the show side to the other side. There is zero blow out if the chisel is sharp and the board is clamped tightly to the bench (sacrifice in between).
Just make sure it doesnt move off the line as you chop. I can do this with a paring chisel as well, but actually find it easier to chop.
This is what I use for wide panels. I have a router but I hate the noise.
Last edited by Brian Holcombe; 04-15-2015 at 5:12 PM.
Bumbling forward into the unknown.
+1 to David's suggestion- if you're going the hand tool route, this will be a routine task. Making a large wooden square is a good project to work on your hand tool precision, and will be frequently used. Don't worry about the fractions of degrees of accuracy, David's method of checking square will get you well withn tolerances needed.
When final dimensioning/squaring panels be hand, crosscut and plane the.end grain, before ripping to final width, that way if you have spelching, which you will, you just rip it off- no need for backing board.
For planing the end grain after cross cutting, I like orienting the panel vertically in face vice. IMHO, you don't need a giant shooting board. You'll get great square/straight accuracy with a little practice. It's worth having a bevel up jack plane if only for this job, works like a faint block plane for end grain and easy to quickly sharpen and get back to work.
Great question Christian, dimensioning panels by hand with saw, layout tools and Planes is really much easier than it may appear. Once you have this down, the TS really seems much less essential.
Best, Mike
Member
Thanks for the tip.
The backer board is something I had not employed.
Next big cabinet, I'll try it out.
kudos
Contributor
That and a collection of a gizzillion handsaws!
Guest
I used to do this a lot when I worked with my tools, so here is my two cents.
Make sure both long-grain edges are straight, square and parallel.
Plane one edge, called the "reference edge" straight and square as you can. Mark it with an "R" or an "X" or whatever so you will know it is the Reference Edge.
Next, cut and plane opposite long-grain edge parallel to the Reference Edge. A marking gauge with a blade works best.
Unless you are truing the edges of very long boards, or need to hog a lot of wood, it does not make sense to clamp boards on edge in a vise, and plane them with the plane resting on the thin edge. A quicker and more precise method is clamp the board to be trued to your very flat workbench with a board of uniform thickness sandwiched between the board and benchtop to provide clearance for the sides of the plane. The plane must be trued and adjusted so its side and sole and cutting edge are at precisely 90 degrees. Then, with the plane on its side, run it along the edge of the board to be trued, and plane to your layout line. This method ensures the edge is square, and gives you a lot more control of the cut since you don't need to focus on keeping the plane balanced on a thin edge. In essence, you have used your benchtop as a shooting jig. I used to have a long shooting boards for this purpose, but while they save time, they are not absolutely necessary.
The layout line is easiest to cut to precisely and quickly if it is made with a blade rather than a pin or a pencil.
Next square the ends. This is where a very accurate framing square (or drywall square if you are doing very wide boards) comes in handy for layout, but a 3-4-5 triangle will work with extra time. It is worth the effort to true a framing square if only to save this time time doing such layout.
While both long-grain edges are supposedly straight, square, and parallel now, it is wisest to do your layout only from the reference long-grain edge. Use a knife for the layout. Use the same shooting method I described above. You may need to clamp some waste to the end to prevent grain blowout. When this edge is straight and square and 90 degrees to the reference edge (and the opposite long-grain edge too for that matter), mark this end with an R or X to indicate it is a reference edge.
Repeat for the other end, but don't mark it as a reference edge.
With a bit of practice, and the right tools, this process can be accomplished quickly, confidently, and with high precision.
If you plan to edge-glue boards, you can clamp two of them, one on top of the other, to your benchtop as described above, and plane their edges at the same time to get a perfect fit during glue-up.
Stan
Last edited by Stanley Covington; 05-16-2015 at 8:09 PM.
Member
Funny timing. I'm in the middle of the ATC build myself. Just finished gluing up the dovetailed carcass. I had the same issue with squaring up large panels. At first I used a homemade wooden square, but found it kept moving on me. I eventually wound up clamping a 24" straight edge down with the aid of a square. Tedious but effective. Just took my time making sure my knife lines matched. Then I sawed shy of the line and beveled the knifed edges all around before planing. The bevel made it easy to see what areas needed work without stooping to check my lines.
I'm probably a little late with this, but here are a couple pictures of squaring up/final dimensioning of a large panel. Shop made large square is a fun project to build, is easy to adjust to a high level of accuracy and I use mine all the time.
15.5.jpg
After the reference long edge (with the grain) is established, use the square to mark with the marking knife the cross cut dimensions. Saw to the line and then clamp this on edge vertically against the front of the bench. I have a twin screw front vice and a sliding dead man that makes this pretty easy. For me, planning end grain while it is held vertically, is easier than a large shooting board because the weight of the tools bearing directly on the surface being planed. With a little practice, you can fairly easily get this dead straight/square. A bevel up Jack plane is a great tool for planning the end grain to the layout line and for me a "must-have" tool for this job alone, but any jack or larger plane will do. The extra mass a larger planes helpful in getting square edge on the end grain.
DSC_0029.jpg
You don't have to worry about any spelching, if you rip it to final with after you've plane the end grain square– you will rip off the spelching. A shop made panel gauge is another handy tool for laying out final width parallel to the reference edge. The fence of mine, shown in the picture is really too narrow to prevent any "rocking" of the cutting edge on the end of the beam. Someday I'll get around to making a larger fence.if you're going the Neaanders roof, a large square and panel gauge are for me to fundamental tools I really rely on – and fun projects to make to boot!
6.5.jpg
All the best, Mike
Member
Thanks Mike -- Good stuff!
Contributor
I am bumping this thread because I used this/these method(s) today and it worked terrific. In a simlarly aged thread there was a tip to use a rasp to bevel from the end of the board down to near the knife line, then plane off the bevel with relative abandon and then go slow and careful as you sneak up to the knife line. It is a beautiful thing, I like this much better than building another, bigger shooting board.
FWIW the front face of my bench top, vise leg and front stretcher all lie in the same plane, so no bow introduced with the clamping. Pictured panel is nominal 12 x 36 x 0.75. I will try a 1x2 while I work through the other three panels for this project and maybe send my shooting board to the great dustbin in the sky. I have never liked using a shooting board, I know I have built at least two of them.
20211213_161628[1].jpg20211213_161642[1].jpg
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote