Steel Straight Edge

[glenn bradley]

I'll assume you mean a straight edge and not a yardstick. If this is for nachine setup the Veritas is nice but I believe it max's out at 36" which is what I have. It's about $60. Once you add that extra foot the price really jumps. If you just want an edge guide the paper-hangers rule would work.

[David Weaver]

I'm guessing you don't do a lot of hand work, or you don't adopt the method of doing the basic dimensioning with power tools and the final fitting with hand tools?

I agree that if you're going to do most of your work by dimensioning with machines and then sanding for final finish, there's nowhere you're going to use it.

If you're going to hand plane for flatness and you want true flatness or to create a minute hollow, you're not going to be able to tell with a cheap straight edge.

I don't think this is a matter of "everyone needs one" or "nobody needs one". It's a matter of how accurate do you want to be, and to assume that nobody needs to be more accurate than a few hundredths of an inch in flatness or straightness or fine, but the next person may come along and tell you that anything nicer than caveman level with machine marks serves no purpose because it's not functional to make accuracy any better than "not quite falling apart".

You choose your level of accuracy, I'll choose mine, but when it comes to someone who is starting out woodworking wanting accuracy, don't steer them away from it because that's your preference - especially if they're going to be building one or two pieces a year and precision is their preference. Just the same as you wouldn't steer them toward it if they told you they wanted to do everything with machine and "good enough for the eye" was their preference.

[David Weaver]

A normal 4' level is as straight an edge as any woodworker would ever need. You can buy one at any HD or Lowes. Just look them over, hold one against the other in case there is a dog in the pile.

What are you planning to make? Are you planning to do hand work and try to create a hollow several thousandths deep in each board you hand joint? You're going to have trouble doing fine work with one of those HD or Lowes straight edges. One may be fine, the next may not.

If you're fettling a large jointer hand plane, how are you going to be able to tell if the bottom is flat? If the bottom is 0.005" hollow or convex because your reference surface isn't as flat as you think it is, you're going to be stuck with a plane that doesn't perform like it should or could.

The question is "what are you doing?". If you're pulling a jointed board off of a machine jointer and checking to make sure you didn't taper the ends, a cheap straight edge is fine.

If you're trying to put a hollow of several thousandths of an inch over the edge of an exotic hardwood board 3 and a half feet long, the cheap straight edge isn't going to tell you what you're doing.

I tried several cheap straight edges for hand work before I bit the bullet and bought the right thing for the job, and I was only convinced after a machinist buddy let me use a 4 foot starrett for the job.

A $60 veritas edge is fine, too - it doesn't take starrett - but contesting that a fine straight edge is a waste of money in every case is not true.

[Jeff Norri]

I use the Lee valley (Veritas) Straught edge



The reference edge is machined flat to within 0.003" over the entire length. Good enough for me. the 60" version is about $70.

[Gary Keedwell]

Fortunately, measuring arbor runout and other unnecessary fussing with your machines thinking it'll improve your work is a stage we all went through and you'll grow out of. Trusting your eyes and hands working with wood beats anything Starrett sells for machinists hands down.

Well, that is your opinion and I respect that. Alot depends on your applicacation of said straightedge. If your just building things like a carpenter, sure, a $20 piece of aluminumm extrusion may suffice.
But if your going to do fine woodworking where everybody can see your joints....
Years ago I had a jointer that would not mill a straight edge. I paid big money for a 4' level at the Borg. I came home every nite from work and fiddled & diddled with that jointer till I was almost ready for the "funny farm." After my delivery of my Starrett straightedge, 2 weeks later, it took me all of 5 minutes to find my problem.(Outfeed table was dipping but didn't show on "expensive level").
I now use my straight-edge as the "Standard" in my shop to which I check all my other tools and occasionally the wood itself.
There is a "feeling" that I have ...just knowing it is there when I need it. I even made a special box to protect it.
Gary

[Dan Barr]

For what its worth, i agree that to have the starrett is something that keeps me from going to the funny farm as well. I have an aluminum extrusion that is plenty accurate for woodworking in general, but just not good enough for setting up the jointer. close, but not good enough.

I had the same problem actually. my infeed had a slight dip and without the starrett i could not compensate for it. with the aluminum edge, i just kept getting a slight convex or concave surface and could never tweak the little bit that i needed. (.001-.003 max; nothing to worry about really) i put the starrett on there and PRESTO! i was able to get perfect straight edges over and over again.

I only paid 147.00 for my 36" starrett straight edge, but, over the long run its more than worth it. I had to argue with myself for a few days before i could let myself buy it. i really didnt think spending that much money on a straight edge would ever be justified. but i found that i use it more than i thought i would and feel much more comfortable with the purchase now.

I also use it as the standard in the shop for lots of things and that makes the difference.

However, I do agree with Bob Smalser to a large extent. trusting my hands and my experience is plenty good enough. I know that i can produce quality pieces, edges, joints, etc without the starrett or anything else that meets that exacting of a standard. Its only personal preference that really drove me to get the thing.

If youre just as persnickety as me and/or dont mind the cost, then by all means, go ahead and get one. If you know it's not necessary and your happy with the work you can do on your own, dont even think twice about it.

v/r

dan

[Rob Will]

I still like having a really nice straight edge. If you want to take a big machine tool apart for maintenance, it's nice to be able to use something with a crisp machined edge to check against when you go back together. No I'm not in need of sub-thousandth accuracy, in fact, more ofen than not I just use a bright light behind the straight edge to see if the table is flat. The very square machined edge of the Starrett works best. My aluminum level is sometimes too wide and those less expensive rulers are a bit floppy.

Yes, 90% of woodworking is in hand and eye skills, design, wood selection, etc. Having said that, if my jointer tables are out of paralell and all I have to do is turn a screw to get back on track, why not? If my table saw needs a shim on one corner, why not? At least when something does not fit, I'll know it was my screw up and not the machine.

In one way of looking at this, when a beginner takes the time to better understand machines and dial them in, he becomes more confident. He might make that next joint fit just a little better, or make the next wide glue-up just a bit flatter. In time, the beginner and his shop machines become one. He understands thier limitations and hopefully his own. The trusty old straight edge now just hangs on the wall - waiting to mediate the next dispute between man and machine.

Rob

[Gary Keedwell]

A lot of people thing you don't need precision in woodworking but when they run their fingers across a surface and feel a mismatch they sand or scrap it out. That mismatch may only be 0.002" to 0.004". They are working closer than they realize

Gary

[Dixon Peer]

For woodworking, absolutely. For machine setup, such as jointer alignment, no. Most "normal" 4' levels are not straight enough for that task, even before you drop them. You truely need to check the edge first as described in Jay's reply before you depend upon it...

It's truly

[Paul B. Cresti]

Looking for a source for a 4' steel straight edge. Spendy aren't they.

Mark,
Not sure what you need the steel edge for but if all you require is straight edge for setting something up or other needs AND it does not require to be steel...make yourself one on your slider out of 3/4 mdf. I needed to realign my jointer bed some time ago and tormented myself on whether or not to waste all that money on steel edge (starret, bridge city, Mcmaster,etc...) Instead I listened to another fellow ww'r and ripped a 6ft x 6" wide straight edge out of 3/4" MDF on my slider....it worked perfectly!

[Gary Keedwell]

Mark,
Not sure what you need the steel edge for but if all you require is straight edge for setting something up or other needs AND it does not require to be steel...make your one yourself on your slider out of 3/4 mdf. I needed to realign my jointer bed some time ago and tormented myself on whether or not to waste all that money on steel edge (starret, bridge city, Mcmaster,etc...) Instead I listened to another fellow ww'r and ripped a 6ft x 6" wide straight edge out of 3/4" MDF on my slider....it worked perfectly!

That's funny ... I have the opposite problem : I have a straightedge and don't know if I want to waste all that money on a slider.

Gary

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

While your at the MSC site, do a search for Pre-Hardened Ground Flat Stock. A 36" x 3" x 1/4" piece is $77. Lots of other sizes also.

Brian

That is a nice balance between easiest, best, & cheapest as solutions go - so long as you bear in mind that the grinders use magnetic chucks that will pull the stock down against a bow or warp in the steel. When the mag is released the stock will spring back. So trusting them it should be entered into with just a pinch of salt until you figure out whether that occurred to your steel bar. Even if it did, it is correctable using a mild steel bar and some lapping compound

[Gary Keedwell]

That is probably the easiest best & cheapest solution I have heard of.

Be careful of the specs. before you buy stock like that. It is possible to have it ground to within say .001 for the whole length, but that doesn't guarantee straightness. There is a world of difference between ground parallel and ground straight. There is a different methods for grinding parallel and grinding straight. One is more involved, hence the price difference.

Gary

[Dave Lehnert]

I've never needed such an expensive straight edge in my 20 years of woodworking. I just use a standard steel yard stick from Sears.
Anytime I think I may need an expensive tool I think back to my uncle and how he could do woodworking like no other. All he owned was a hand saw, hammer and a folding ruler. I would give anything to be a woodworker like that.

[Jim Becker]

Dave, the one thing that some folks want a very accurate straight edge for isn't to do anything with wood, per se...it's to do machine setup and maintenance, particularly with regard to table alignment on tools like the jointer.