Can I use he poplar I have to make a straight edge?

[Tony Wilkins]

I have Jim Toplin's The New Traditional Woodworker book. The first project in it is to make a straight edge. All I have is some poplar that I got for another project. I know it's probably not the ideal wood (too soft?) but would it be ok to use? If not then what would you suggest I get?

Also, I don't have a long jointing or trying plane yet; all I have is a little wooden coffin smoother, a 48mm japanese kanna, and a #5 bailey with the blade cambered. Is there anything I can do with my meager plane collection to get the straight edge straight? If so what tricks can I use?

TIA,
Tony

[Chuck Nickerson]

Go ahead and make the straightedge from the poplar. It's good practice and you can recheck it each day for 'straight'.
Making the straightedge is about skill acqusition as much as about getting a straightedge.

If the piece isn't stable over time, make another.

[Richard Line]

I made this straightedge in one of Jim's classes, and I use it quite a bit. Its about 3 ft. long. There is a secret to getting it straight, and it is not having a great jointing plane.

If the blade on your #5 isn't radically cambered, it should be fairly good for making the straightedge. A rough rule of thumb, with many exceptions, is that a plane can joint a piece twice its length. So, your #5 should be able to do something like 28 - 30 inches of jointing. This is not the secret.

The secret is to joint 2 pieces at the same time, placing them against each other and jointing their common edges. Then put them edge to edge to check for being straight/flat (i.e. no light showing between them). As you test them, mark the areas where light shows and adjust your planning to take down the high spots. That is the way we had to do in the class, and we had nice long LV jointers to use.

Once you've got that great straight edge, save the other piece (the gauge piece) to use to check for straight over time. If you need to touch it up, use the same process.

As for using poplar, use the straightest grain you have and it should hold up pretty well. As I use my straight edge, it doesn't get banged around and is holding up well. I would think the poplar would work well also.

Making the straight edge is a good exercise, builds skills and confidence, or at least it did for me.

[Dwight Beebe]

I have Jim Toplin's The New Traditional Woodworker book. The first project in it is to make a straight edge. All I have is some poplar that I got for another project. I know it's probably not the ideal wood (too soft?) but would it be ok to use? If not then what would you suggest I get?

Also, I don't have a long jointing or trying plane yet; all I have is a little wooden coffin smoother, a 48mm japanese kanna, and a #5 bailey with the blade cambered. Is there anything I can do with my meager plane collection to get the straight edge straight? If so what tricks can I use?

TIA,
Tony

Hi Tony,

I just started that series of projects. I was fortunate enough to have a piece of cherry from another project. I had to resaw the piece, first sharpening the saw, but that's another story. I'm of the school where I can easily get my knickers in a twist about the littlest thing. What worked for me, was to simply get going. I like Jim's book for his practical and nonchalant approach (measuring in hand's breadths). I finished the piece about a week ago and haven't been back in the shop since. Sigh. But just do it. I think I'm going to make another one, but this is a fun, simple, skill-building project and you should use the wood at hand. As has been said, if it doesn't come out, well...make another.

Have fun,

Dwight

[Jim Matthews]

I can't find it at the moment - there's a short YouTube video detailing the Japanese version of the straight edge - it's two sided, with the grain in opposition.

This keeps the seasonal movement in balance, to keep bow and twist to a minimum. One piece has a pair of keyhole slots, the other has a pair of scews mounted to fit the slots.
They "rest" back to back. When their long edges are held up to the light, you can see light coming through a gap larger than 4 thousandths of an inch (certainly smaller than I can read on a graduated ruler).

Jim's variant is considerably longer than the version I saw. I would more likely use a painter's straightedge for longer runs, as my shop is humid.

In practice, that level of precision only matters to me at the joints.
I have LOTS of boards that join perfectly, but are far from flat in their center.

[Kenneth Speed]

"Tony wrote. " ...The first project in it is to make a straight edge. All I have is some poplar that I got for another project. I know it's probably not the ideal wood (too soft?) but would it be ok to use? If not then what would you suggest I get?

Also, I don't have a long jointing or trying plane yet; all I have is a little wooden coffin smoother, a 48mm japanese kanna, and a #5 bailey with the blade cambered. Is there anything I can do with my meager plane collection to get the straight edge straight? If so what tricks can I use?"

I wouldn't advocate making a straight edge from poplar, not if your goal is to have a reliable straight edge. Poplar is not very stable and your straight edge is probably going to move with changes in humidity and temperature more than you'd like.

I understand that you want to make the project but you already have a fairly serviceable straightedge in your jack plane. If I'm planing a surface flat I use the plane I'm using held on edge to check for high and low spots. Obviously you can't use your jack plane to substitute for winding sticks.

Your jack plane should be adequate to plane a 30" long straight edge especially using the method of comparing two equal pieces that was suggested. I'd recommend using a guide (clamp a piece of wood to the cheeks of your plane) its very difficult to plane at right angles to a face free hand.

If you don't have a jointer plane and you need a substitute you can contact cement sandpaper to a piece of MDF and put some stiffeners and a handle on top. It'll work until the sandpaper wears out. The thing is, the wood doesn't care. It makes no difference to the wood how you do it, if you have old beat up chisels that are well sharpened they'll probably do as good a job as expensive chisels, although you may need to sharpen them more frequently. A board with a nail in one end and a pencil on the other will scribe an arc almost as well as an expensive set of trammels. My point is that using ingenuity can often save you a lot of money, provide you with tremendous satisfaction, and still get the job done.

Ken

[Michael Ray Smith]

"My point is that using ingenuity can often save you a lot of money, provide you with tremendous satisfaction, and still get the job done.
Ken

Thanks for that reminder, Ken.

[Tony Wilkins]

Decided not to use the poplar and will hopefully make it to the wood yard today or Tuesday. It’s a local place so they have the basics. I know they generally have cherry and walnut as far as straight grained hard woods go.

[Kenneth Speed]

Tony, My apologies. I got off on a tangent and forgot to answer your question. I think most of the harder cabinet woods would be good material for straight edges. If I wasn't trying to make something to impress people, I'd consider ash or maple. Cherry is pretty but you might find it a bit brittle. I'd propably make everything except breakfast out of walnut if i could get good stock. Butternut is too soft( like pine) and stay away from figured stuff because it tends to be less stable. I suppose SA mahogany would be excellent but using it for a tool these days would border on a crime.

[Tony Wilkins]

No problem Kenneth. The local place generally stocks just about 6 woods - poplar, walnut, cherry, white oak, red oak, and yellow pine. Last time they had a bit of pecan. I’m thinking that the oaks would be too ring porous and the poplar and pine would be too soft.

So it looks like walnut or trying to get it on-line. Of course if I get it from the inter-webs then all sort of option would open up including ash or maple. Is it worth it to find a good place on line?

ETA: Went back and re-read the section and he suggests walnut and cherry so I'll probably see what the yard has that fits my needs Probably take the book with me in case I forget again :-/

[george wilson]

The best way to make a straight edge,OR a flat surface historically,was to make 3 pieces and adjust all of them till they all fit perfectly. I think it was Maudslay who had his men make their own master flat plates in this way.

[Gabe Shackle]

This article describes the 3 piece method for creating accurate straight edges.

[Kenneth Speed]

GO TONY!

OK, Good luck! Let us know if you need any help.

Ken

[Dan Racette]

I can't find it at the moment - there's a short YouTube video detailing the Japanese version of the straight edge - it's two sided, with the grain in opposition.

This keeps the seasonal movement in balance, to keep bow and twist to a minimum. One piece has a pair of keyhole slots, the other has a pair of scews mounted to fit the slots.
They "rest" back to back. When their long edges are held up to the light, you can see light coming through a gap larger than 4 thousandths of an inch (certainly smaller than I can read on a graduated ruler).

Jim's variant is considerably longer than the version I saw. I would more likely use a painter's straightedge for longer runs, as my shop is humid.

In practice, that level of precision only matters to me at the joints.
I have LOTS of boards that join perfectly, but are far from flat in their center.

Jim,
Is this the video you are referring to?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDdTaJKQrTE
Dan

[Bob Coleman]

Along the same lines, Chris Schwarz made some wooden ones using the 3 piece method.

http://www.leevalley.com/us/newslett...2/article1.htm