squaring small pieces of wood

[Dean Lapinel]

I'm in the middle of a project that calls for many 6" long X 1 1/2" X 1 1/2" blocks of a variety of woods. Everything started out nicely square but wood movement and something I did wrong left me with slightly out of square blocks. Sorry... but I started with 8/4 rough lumber so the jointer, planer and tablesaw (all set properly) were used. Now I'm back in my comfort zone but I have one concern since these blocks need to be near perfect (chaos style end grain cutting board).

What is the best approach to squaring these smaller blocks. I was going to use my shooting board but realized that holding the small end to the fence without a clamp wouldn't work out very well. I don't have a clamping system for my shooting board.

Advice for an approach that has worked well for others would be appreciated.

[Patrick Chase]

I'm in the middle of a project that calls for many 6" long X 1 1/2" X 1 1/2" blocks of a variety of woods. Everything started out nicely square but wood movement and something I did wrong left me with slightly out of square blocks. Sorry... but I started with 8/4 rough lumber so the jointer, planer and tablesaw (all set properly) were used. Now I'm back in my comfort zone but I have one concern since these blocks need to be near perfect (chaos style end grain cutting board).

What is the best approach to squaring these smaller blocks. I was going to use my shooting board but realized that holding the small end to the fence without a clamp wouldn't work out very well. I don't have a clamping system for my shooting board.

Advice for an approach that has worked well for others would be appreciated.

There is a shooting board variation for long grain work that's sometimes described as a "jointing board". LV describes it a bit in the instructions for their shooting plane (second to last page). Depending on just how large a number "many" is you might consider making a custom jointing board with an integral depth stop so that it cuts to the right thicknes, though obviously you can only use that on two of the four faces from each piece.

[Russ Kupiec]

Can you glue up strips of contrasting material and then crosscut rows? This would limit your squarenes errors to the four outside edges of the final grid.

[Jim Koepke]

0Are the blocks all out of square equally?

If this is the case you may be able to glue them together in a way to cancel out the non-squareness.

Other than that a shooting board is likely going to be your friend. Even without a clamp.

jtk

[Ted Martens]

To get the first two sides square, clamp/screw a guide board to your shooting board.
ShootBoardGuide.jpg

Then, make something like this to make the other two sides parallel -
PegJig.jpg
This particular one makes 25/64" square pegs for Greene & Greene work, but you can use the concept to make squared parts of any size. The workpiece fits into the slot, and the plane rides on the two 25/64" pieces glued to the base piece. The two rails are just there to guide the plane.

[Dean Lapinel]

Can you glue up strips of contrasting material and then crosscut rows? This would limit your squarenes errors to the four outside edges of the final grid.

Good idea but the fit is poor in a subtle but random manner. I could probably glue up the whole project but I would then have to fill the small gaps. I don't want to do that. I could glue it up then rip each joint, then glue again but that would be my last resort.

0Are the blocks all out of square equally?

If this is the case you may be able to glue them together in a way to cancel out the non-squareness.

Other than that a shooting board is likely going to be your friend. Even without a clamp.

jtk

Not equally. I made a mistake of rushing into this project and I forgot to check the moisture content of the Mahogany, Hard White Maple, Black Walnut and Padauk (occasional accent)before I started sowood movement and internal stressors are what got me (I think). The fit is good in about 70% of the blocks but I have a lot of random blocks (four cutting boards).

To get the first two sides square, clamp/screw a guide board to your shooting board.
ShootBoardGuide.jpg

Then, make something like this to make the other two sides parallel -
PegJig.jpg
This particular one makes 25/64" square pegs for Greene & Greene work, but you can use the concept to make squared parts of any size. The workpiece fits into the slot, and the plane rides on the two 25/64" pieces glued to the base piece. The two rails are just there to guide the plane.

I'm going to use this approach. Thanks!!

There is a shooting board variation for long grain work that's sometimes described as a "jointing board". LV describes it a bit in the instructions for their shooting plane (second to last page). Depending on just how large a number "many" is you might consider making a custom jointing board with an integral depth stop so that it cuts to the right thickness, though obviously you can only use that on two of the four faces from each piece.

Great idea but not for this project. My Veritas low angle plane has trouble with some of these hardwoods end grain. Dulls fast and it's not heavy enough. Based on your note I finally decided to go ahead and get the Veritas beast and the track. Unfortunately it's not available until sometime after Jan 30th. For now I'll use Ted Martens' idea. The end grain needs to be very close on one side so tune up on any piece that's off will get on my old and inefficient shooting board/LA plane.


Thanks everyone!!! Have a Happy New Year!
Dean