Length of winding sticks

[Tony Wilkins]

Just ripped 27" of beech off of a wider board. I'm broken and need to take a break after that lol. Times like this I wish my bandsaw was put together (but not enough to take the time to do it). I'll gauge 1/4" off opposite sides and mark and cut the diagonal off that a là Paul Sellers video later.

need to decide whether to make a full length inlay or the inset target inlays on each side. I think the two smaller pieces would be easier. I also had a bookmark for one that had a half moon cutout on each end that looked promising.

[Lasse Hilbrandt]

I will soon be making some winding sticks too, I have som bone from a Giraf for the white markers, its almost completely white

[Bill Houghton]

I will soon be making some winding sticks too, I have som bone from a Giraf for the white markers, its almost completely white

Did you trap the giraffe there in Denmark?

[Daniel Rode]

The thing to remember about winding sticks is that they are dead simple. 2 boards with parallel edges is all that is required. They don't even need to match in height.

I have a 18" set I made from walnut with maple inlay on the corners of the rear stick. The maple makes it super easy to see. 18" is a good fit for me because my bench is small and up against the wall. For 6"-8" wide stock, they're perfect but they are a little short for wider stock. I have a 24" set on my to-do list.

I'm not sure how I got along without winding sticks.

[Lasse Hilbrandt]

Did you trap the giraffe there in Denmark?

No, I got it from the Danish brewery Albani, where they make the Giraf Beer. The leg bones are some of the few parts too big for making the beer, so they waste it.

giraf(1).png

[Tony Wilkins]

Not sure I've ever seen beer made out of giraffe before. I bet the squeezing machine is rather tall!

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I have long thought that I should have two or maybe even three sets of different lengths. I figured 12", 24", and 36" (or something like that).

[Jim Davis]

I wouldn't devote shop space to a dedicated pair of winding sticks. All that is needed is parallelism and straightness. There is always something available, such as the levels mentioned above. No need to keep junker levels for this though. Good ones work perfectly well. So do off-cuts and other scraps.

[Zach Dillinger]

The simplicity of winding sticks is not representative of their importance in the hand tool shop. I think making a pair is a great exercise, and making them a bit fancy is just fine. My own pair is made from walnut, the back stick has a piece of extremely curly maple inlaid into it to provide contrast. I have thought about making a longer pair for checking assemblies, as things like chairs can make them tough to balance.

[Derek Cohen]

You know, I did not know the length of my winding sticks. They just seemed a useful length for the pieces I flatten. I've just measured them - 24" inches.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Bill Houghton]

I wouldn't devote shop space to a dedicated pair of winding sticks. All that is needed is parallelism and straightness. There is always something available, such as the levels mentioned above. No need to keep junker levels for this though. Good ones work perfectly well. So do off-cuts and other scraps.

That's true. I chose to spend $2 on a couple of junker levels because I had visions of my good Sands two foot level falling off the edge of a board and hitting the floor. With the junker levels, I don't worry as much.