A paire of winding sticks!

[David Gendron]

Good day Creekers.

I made my self a set of winding sticks 24" long, to upgrade my short one that are about 16". Wood is Mahogany and Maple with an BLO finish!

[Mike Henderson]

You were smarter in making your winding sticks than I was. I used a strip of ebony - but when used against a dark background, it's hard to see the edge. It would have been better if I had used a very light wood - but maybe that would be difficult to see the edge against a light background.

Anyway, scrap cherry with an ebony strip.

Mike

[David Gilbert]

I built my winding sticks by buying a piece of 48" x 3/4" x 3/4" aluminum angle iron from Lowes. I cut it in half, filed off the sharp edges and painted one piece black. I think the total cost was about $8.

They work great. As far as I can tell they are very flat and don't seem to be effected by changes in humidity (wink, wink!). After I had mine built, I heard Chris Schwarz talk about doing the same thing.

Cheers,
David

[Dave Anderson NH]

David, I did the same aluminum angle iron trick about 6 years ago except that I sprayed one black and the other white after drilling a hanging hole in one end of each. They are great to use and the high contrast is helpful for my aging eyes.

[David Gendron]

I do have a set of 36" angle aluminum also but wood feel better!! As for change with moisture, I'm in the Yukon so average relative humidity is about 40% in my basement shop, So not much moved after it settle!

Mike I was thinking about that, I have on wall that is white and one wall that is natural wood... I might put something a bit darker on the white wall, I have to try a few things.

[Derek Cohen]

...Mike I was thinking about that, I have on wall that is white and one wall that is natural wood... I might put something a bit darker on the white wall, I have to try a few things.

Along those lines ..





I made these several years ago and they have served me well. More recently I acquired a couple of machinist levels, and these work as well ... as long as there is enough light.



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Tony Shea]

Was getting ready to make some of wood but the Angle Iron idea is great. I never thought about it and would save me a little time. Thanks.

[David Gendron]

Save you time? You still have to get out of the shop, drive to town, find a parking lot, find the angle iron, stand in line at the cash register, find out the guy in front of you got somthing that don't scan.... finaly you get out of there, back on the road... trafic...
You would have been done with it and you would have builded or practiced hand tools skills!
But to each one his priority
Cheers

Derek, your stuff always look better!

[Jeff Skory]

I noticed that a few sets pictured here all have a large bevel along the tops. What purpose does this serve?

[Mike Henderson]

I noticed that a few sets pictured here all have a large bevel along the tops. What purpose does this serve?

You need a base of a certain size just to stand the sticks up. The top doesn't have to be that wide so most people thin it down for looks. The top could be as thick as the base and it would work fine.

In fact, in a pinch, many people just take straight wood strips and use those. [I used a couple of pieces of MDF one time.]

There's nothing special about the design - you just want to be able to see the upper edge of the far stick right over the front stick, and see if it's aligns. If it doesn't, you have twist in the board (or wind* as some people call it).

Mike

[*Pronounced like "wine with a d" and not like the wind that blows. Or like a "wind up" toy.]

[Jeff Skory]

...The top doesn't have to be that wide so most people thin it down for looks. The top could be as thick as the base and it would work fine.
Mike

Thanks Mike. I made myself a pair about a month ago but they have straight sides. I did make them out of different colored woods for contrast. I must say that the bevel does add a nice touch. ...maybe my next pair.

[David Gendron]

Jeff and Mike, I might be wrong but I think the idea of the taper, is to exposed more surfaces to minimize wood movement?!? I read that, I think, on Shwarz blogs or in one of his magazins!