Evaluate my process

[Curtis Niedermier]

There is another thread going about gluing up a panel for a tabletop. I didn't want to hijack that thread, so I thought I'd start my own on a similar type of project.

I'm making a cabinet, and to build it, I needed to glue up five panels (top, bottom, left side, right side and a divider within). All panels are two boards glued together edge-to-edge. All white oak.

Some of my boards were a little funky, with some twists, cups, bows...you name it. So here's my process of getting to a flat, square panel with parallel sides.

I feel like I'm not doing this as efficiently as I could, so I'm hoping someone can point out where I can clean up my process. If not, then I'll keep doing it as I've been. I just know that to get to this point has taken more hours than I'd like to admit in public.

1. I cut the boards to rough length so I could negate some of the twist. Then I flattened one face of each board. For the first few, I tried to get them 100 percent perfectly flat with a scrub plane, jack plane, jointer plane program. Then I was sweaty and tired, and I decided for the remaining boards to get them "pretty flat," because I knew I'd be flattening the glued-up panel later and I was losing my patience.

2. Next I used the jointer plane to joint the glue-up edge of each board square and straight.

3. I glued the panels. Each panel is two boards, and I situated the flat side of each board "up" and the rough side "down." I didn't flatten the back side. I figured I'd get to that after the panels were glued.

4. Once the glue was solid, I re-flattened the "flat side" of the panels. They were pretty flat, but even a tiny bit of misalignment at the joint meant I had to work across the grain, then diagonally and finally with the grain to get back to flat. At that point, I was sweaty again.

5. Next I jointed one edge of the panel. Then I ripped the panel to final width. I did this because I wanted to mark my final thickness on both sides. I use this mark to make sure that when I flatten the opposite face, both faces are parallel. Is there a better way to do this?

6. Using my thickness marks as a guide, I did my best to flatten the back face of the panel while keeping the two faces parallel. It wasn't much fun because on a couple of the panels I had to remove a lot of material.

Any suggestions on how to handle this more efficiently? Also, any tricks for how to flatten a panel that is high in the middle? I had to deal with this on a few boards and panels. The plane likes to ride up and over the high spot.

[Mark Philippi]

I think your process looks ok but the work is time comsuming and exhausting. I have reached the age that the same problems hindered me. In my case the answer was to replace the scrub plane with a Makita electric plane. It may be politically incorrent but it makes my shop time more productive and my life easier.

[Federico Mena Quintero]

Your process is fine. I think you can shorten it by simply not flattening each board individually in the beginning; just match-plane pairs of boards that will be glued to each other.

I recently helped a friend make a crib for his firstborn, and it has two big panels on either end, about 85x70 cm each.. Each panel was three boards. We didn't flatten anything initially; just match-planed the boards, glued them, and then flattened/thicknessed the whole big thing as from your step 4. We used cauls when doing the glue-up; this keeps the boards flat and avoids a mega-cup across the panel.

It still is a lot of hard work But when you end up with a nice, square panel, it's totally worth it.

[Pedro Reyes]

Curtis,

I think I pretty much follow the same process, except with the exceptions others like Federico have mentioned. Unless a board is completely twisted, I don't get individual boards flattened. If I can set each individual board on a relatively flat surface without rocking, I use it as is to glue up a panel.

1- Chose boards
2- Cut to rough length
3- If I had to pick a board that is too cupped or twisted, I knock the problem spots with a heavily cambered plane (in my case a 5-1/4, sometimes even a 40) followed by a jack sometimes (5-1/2, or a 5) but not flatten to straight edge and winding sticks "perfection" (I do use the term lightly) using a jointer.
4- Edge joint boards in pairs, glue up.
5- Rip to rough width
6- Flatten to straight edge and winding sticks "perfection". Usually here I only need a jack for a little bit then a jointer, hardly ever do I need a heavily cambered plane or a scrub.
7.- Joint 1 edge to 90 checking with square, the other edge just jointed to "eyeball 90" to remove saw marks and get a nice surface to mark a thickness line.
8.- Mark with gauge, plane to thickness

Pedro

[Curt Putnam]

I'm certainly no expert (more of a beginner) but I agree with Federico & Pedro. Get one face of each pair flat enough to not rock on a flat surface, joint the edges to be glued and glue 'em up using cauls. That way you only have to flatten to "perfection" once - and done.

Curtis

[Tony Wilkins]

Greetings from the other thread You're process #1 sounds like where I was going astray. Good luck.

[Roy Lindberry]

Your process looks good. Others have said that you probably don't need to do as much work pre-glue up, and I agree.

As for flattening a convex board...make it a concave board. Take material out from the center with a fore plane and work to the edges. You don't need to create the Grand Canyon, but take just enough out to make it concave, feathering it to the edges. It will be much easier to flatten.

[Winton Applegate]

Making up a panel

Ohhhhhh no, no, no

Thas not the way to do it.

Cut to rough length taking into account the grain you want to have in the final panel and the grain you will be willing to let go of.

Plane each board winding stick flat using a scrub across or diagonal to the grain, especially if the wood is hard or 1/8” or up to 1/4” inch in some spots needs to be taken off to get it flat. (if more than 1/4” then bandsaw that off and save the cut offs for other projects.

how to get rid of the convex hump in the board

Where ever you want to take off wood . . . take off wood there (plane only there). Where ever the wood is low (not the convex hump) don't plane there.
Plane ONLY in the area of the hump until it is slightly concave then plane the edges until the plank is smooth and flat.
Strange but true .

Jack plane to take off about all the waves from the scrub maintaining the flatness.

Mark the thickness from the flat side plus a 1/16 or so (or so means if you notice the plank moving more than usual allow for this and add some to your ROUGH thickness). If the edges are too rough you can't see the marks saw them so you can.

Plane to rough thickness using winding sticks and the above planes. If that means using the band saw again then . . . use the bandsaw again.

NOW TAKE NOTE while planing the second side to thickness the plank AND SO the first side can and WILL get out of flat. If a significant amount you will have to go back and forth first side then second side balancing the stresses to get a flat panel that HOPEFULLY will stay flat.

OK
Cut one edge on each straight and square to the face you want to base your measurements off of.
I joint individually for better joint fit up AND some of my planks are too heavy and thick to match plane but I joint individually on under 2 quarter as well.

Glue the panels up vertically. If that does not make sense let me know and I will post photos and articles of some of the best woodworkers doing just that.

Then plane the glue up just as you did the individual planks working your way to final thickness.

Finally, and this is the important part that newbies in their haste to finish their project ignore :
sacrifice a three legged chicken, on Thursday night and only Thursday night while chanting “staples and biscuits are for those other guys give me dovetails and #7 jointer joints“.

None of this will help in the least but it will give you something to do while the glue cures and because you will be too tired and weirded out from it it will keep you from ( in a moment of weakness ) succumbing to the urge to take the panel out of the clamps too early. It also tends to have the side benefit of keeping your wife at a respectful (but hopefully not permanent) distance rather than load you up with honey dos during you moment of inactivity following glue up.

Sweat:

You got to suit up to plane . . .
runner’s shorts
runners top called a singlet ?
and
steel toed flip flops
Nice and cool. If still hot add a tray of ice to the shorts and set up a fan.

[Brian Holcombe]

This stuff is a lot of work, but I'm often surprised at how quickly I can move through a project, dimensioning everything by hand, when I'm really moving and in a rhythm.

Wax your planes, it saves a ton of effort, and use the weight to your advantage. I see people work sometimes and they are fighting the tools, instead use their heft to help them.

In the words of Pai Mei, "It's the wood that should fear your hand, not the other way around".

[Mike Allen1010]

Hi Curtis,

Your process sounds solid and you already gotten a lot of good advice here that will help you fine-tune things.

This stuff is a lot of work, but I'm often surprised at how quickly I can move through a project, dimensioning everything by hand, when I'm really moving and in a rhythm. Wax your planes, it saves a ton of effort, and use the weight to your advantage. I see people work sometimes and they are fighting the tools, instead use their heft to help them. In the words of Pai Mei, "It's the wood that should fear your hand, not the other way around".

I agree with Brian that dimensioning stock/glued up panels with hand tools definitely gets easier with practice. Over time the process that works for you will become rote and you won't have to spend as much mental time and energy thinking about what you're doing. Sort of becomes a meditation.

FWIW, once the panel is glued up, I like to do all the flattening before cutting to final dimensions. Planing cross grain or at a 45° angle with the Jack/Fore plane is a fast way for me to get a flat show surface, but can leave some spelching on the far edge, particularly if you're taking aggressive/thick shavings. That's why prefer to cut to final dimensions after flattening, because it generally removes any of this spelching.

Once you're done with flattening and jointing a face edge, I prefer to cross cut to final length and then use a panel gauge to layout and then rip a parallel edge.

Crosscutting before final ripping to width let's you plane the end grain without worrying about any spelching, as that will be removed in the final rip to parallel width. I prefer to plane end grain of glued up panels with the work held vertically in the face vice, versus flat on the bench with the shooting board. The vertical orientation is easier for me to use gravity/body weight to get nice wispy end grain shavings as you plane to the final layout line.

All the best, Mike

[Tony Wilkins]

In the words of Pai Mei, "It's the wood that should fear your hand, not the other way around".

Need to remember that one.

[Winton Applegate]

spelching on the far edge,

I plane in toward the center from both sides lifting the plane before I run off if I need to prevent that, especially if it is a wide table top etc., it is just easier to reach. Yes it does mean turning the board around on the bench or standing on the other side of the bench. If I am planing across the boards before glue up then no big deal and I belch to my hearts content. I mean spelch.