Jointer Fence for edge planing

[Jules Dominguez]

I have difficulty keeping the edge of a board perpendicular to the face when planing, if I take much wood off. Does anyone have a technique to recommend, other than a shooting board? Has anyone used the Veritas Jointer Fence for that purpose, and if so, with what results?

[Steve Wargo]

Wrap your finger under the sole of the plane and use your knuckle as a fence. Just glide it along the outside of the board. It take a little practice, but it is certainly less cumbersome than a fence. You can also make your own fence with a scrap piece of wood and a rabbet cut along one edge. Then use rare earth magnets to attach it to the side of your plane. The rabbet will allow the fence to set in past the sides of the plane where there is no mouth. Hope this helps.

[Dan Forman]

While you are doing what Steve suggested, apply downward pressure with your thumb directly to the sole of the plane rather than gripping the knob. This gives you a lower center of gravity, and you are less prone to tilt one way or the other.

In addition to that, you can take both boards you want to join, face clamp them together, and plane both edges to be joined in one pass. Any deviation from square in one will be made up by an equal but opposite deviation in the other. This will only work if the combined width is less than the width of your blade. Doubling the width of your work surface lends greater stability to the plane as well as the cancelling feature.

Dan

[Tim Sproul]

I have difficulty keeping the edge of a board perpendicular to the face when planing, if I take much wood off.

In addition to that, you can take both boards you want to join, face clamp them together, and plane both edges to be joined in one pass. Any deviation from square in one will be made up by an equal but opposite deviation in the other.

This only works if the edges are straight as well. They need not be exactly square but they have to be flat. If Jules is having a hard time keeping an edge perpendicular, he is also likely to introduce twist while edge jointing.

Make sure your plane is taking even thickness shavings. Plane a piece until you get full length shavings. Are the shavings equal thickness across the width? If not, readjust the iron. Is your jointer plane long and wide and heavy enough? I enjoy using a couple Knight planes....32 inches long, 3 1/2 inches wide (3 inch iron) and a hefty 10+ lbs. They pretty much edge joint by themselsves. Which brings up a technique issue. You shouldn't be applying very much down force. Most of the pressure you apply should be to move the plane forward....rely on a sharp iron and the heft of the plane to keep it down on the wood. If you apply a good amount of down force, it is hard to keep that consistent throughout the entire stroke and this will often lead to problems with edge jointing, IME. Concentrate on keeping the plane moving at a consistent speed and keeping it steady throughout the stroke.

If worse comes to worst, I've sometimes ripped a board with the bandsaw or tablesaw and then cleaned up with a plane.

[Peter Mc Mahon]

Hi Jules. This is a very typical problem. The basic advice has already been given, which is too keep your leading hand down low with your thumb on top of the plane and your hand riding against the wood. Much easier to "keep your balance" this way. The other technique though, is after you are getting full length full width shavings, check the edge with a square and with winding sticks. To make any corrections, skew your blade to take a heavier cut on the high side of the wood and almost nothing on the low side. Take light cuts until you get a complete width shaving. This is what you need to do if your cut is not square. All the other advice is how not to go out of square. Lastly, David Charlesworth suggests cambering your blade and using the camber in place of skewing the blade. {Move the blade to the left or right to use the high spot of the blade}. Hope this helps you. Peter

[Steve Cox]

All great advice so far, much of which I'll have to try soon. On your other question, I have the Veritas fence and it works well. I have used it on a #4, #5, #5 1/2, and a #6 so far and it adjusts well to all. It is not a panacea though. It is easier to joint square using it but your plane still has to be tuned up and it has some techniques and a learning curve all its' own. That being said I'd rather have it than not.

[Jules Dominguez]

Thanks to all of you. I don't think I could have gotten such good and to-the-point recommendations if I had read a book on the subject. I'll hold off on the fence unless and until I prove to myself that I can't keep a 90 degree edge following your recommendations. And if I do, I'll keep in mind the two Steve's words of wisdom about making my own and it having it's own learning curve.

[Dan Forman]

Jules---David Charlesworth has a couple of very good videos on plane technique, along with one on sharpending. They are available through Lie-Nielsen or the Crftsman Studio, and I'm sure a few other places as well.


Dan

[Robert Tarr]

Here is another option that I am offering due to your comment about "take much wood off." I am guilty of using a scrub plane to get things close before reaching for the jointer plane. While you could always saw close to the line and then true up with a jointer, sometimes I find it easier to hit it with a scrub (especially on long/heavy boards.) This also forces a good habit of marking out your pieces.

I keep my scrub planes (yes, planes) as sharp as my smoothers and they get used on just about every project that a jack and or jointer come out for. Once you start really using a scrub, you find that it makes thing go much much faster.....think of it as the 80 grit...you skip it and you will spend much more time with 120.

Robert

P.S. If you are edge jointing boards for, say a table top, then just do the two mating boards together in the vice at the same time (with the face sides in towards each other) and then it doesn't matter! You can have have a wobbly hand and a pitch of 45 degrees, but it will be a consistent variation on both boards and they will fit together like magic. This isn't an excuse to practice bad technique, but is an easy way to make sure that your joint closes tight.

[Jules Dominguez]

Robert, starting with a scrub plane for edge planing certainly hadn't occurred to me, but I can see how it would help when you're starting with a really rough edge. Right now I don't have a scrub plane or a long plane that I would want to convert to a scrub, but I'll sure keep the idea in mind.
My jointer plane is a Record No. 07, 21 3/4" long with a 2 1/2" blade. It feels pretty hefty to me, but certainly not in the class of a Knight, Tim.
I knew immediately after reading some of your posts that the advice would help me a lot. I use too much downward pressure, I keep the front hand on the knob rather than the sole. I've actually resorted to skewing the blade at times in the past, Peter, but I thought I was "cheating" when I did it. Hell, it worked, so why not...
What I need to do next when I have some shop time is to try some of these things, maybe get the the Charlsworth videos, and even think about upgrading my plane collection. Over the years I've only used planes when I had to, but I'm interested now in doing a lot more of the job with them, and I have a big inventory of rough lumber to work with. So, thanks again, all.