Never square; I can't joint straight.

[ken hatch]

Luke,

You didn't mention how you shape the plane's iron.

Is it straight, is it straight with relieved corners, or does it have a slight or greater camber?

Most bench plane irons should be sharpened with some camber, very slight for finishing planes, greater for your Jack.

When you set your plane's cambered iron, using a thin test strip, set the iron so the iron disappears into the sole at about the same distance on each side. With a square see which edge of the board you are jointing is "low". Using the plane you just set, place the plane so the edge of the mouth is just outside the low side and take a full length shaving. If done correctly the plane shouldn't remove any wood on the "low" side but because the iron is cambered a thicker shaving should come from the middle of the iron which should be over the "high" side. Check for square and repeat as needed. Once square you should take a finish pass down the middle of the plane.

Please forgive me if that is what you are already doing and it is a different problem.

ken

[Dave Anderson NH]

The one thing that most seem to have missed here is that you are using a #3 plane. For any board of over 18" in length this is way too short when trying to get the edge square. Depending on technique it might also be problematic on pieces down to 12" in length. Except in rare circumstances I would never consider jointing an edge with anything shorter than a #5 and on anything 24"+ I use my #7.

[Paul Phillis]

What does "3/4 board" mean?

For small thin pieces I put a 5 1/2 or 7 stanley plane upside down in the bench vice and move the wood over the blade. When I get close to the line I finish on a shooting board.


A cambered blade will make it easier to get sqaure.


A very sharp blade on a fine smoothing setting as you get close to the line reduces chances of over correcting. It often only takes a swipe or two to correct a boards edge.

These are tips I've picked up.

Paul

[Jim Koepke]

I'm having this problem as well, though I suspect that it's much to do with how I am holding the work than anything. I tend to use my moxon vise to hold boards for edge jointing and I think it has a tendency to make the board lean ever so slightly away from parallel once it's cinched tight. I tend to wind up over-correcting in a couple of different ways and I am probably making more work for myself than I need to. Does anyone have any experience with this? The other option is that I am really genuinely hopeless at this process.

Hi Adam,

I was over at another member's shop and he had a Moxon type set up. I didn't think about it at the time, but I think it was a bit tall for me to plane square. He is a bit taller than me.

There may be a work position that isn't too tall or too low but just right.

One of my most used tools is a 2" machinist's square. This makes it easy to check most work while still in the vise.

jtk

[Adam Stevens2]

Hi Adam,

I was over at another member's shop and he had a Moxon type set up. I didn't think about it at the time, but I think it was a bit tall for me to plane square. He is a bit taller than me.

There may be a work position that isn't too tall or too low but just right.

One of my most used tools is a 2" machinist's square. This makes it easy to check most work while still in the vise.

jtk

Hi Jim,

I do have a 4" double square that I use similarly to check for square. I always find that it's the same side (to my right) that tends to be the high spot. My Not-A-Bench is low enough currently that it's at a comfortable height with the board held in the vise. I've also been experimenting with a very primitive system of clamping a...clamp to the side of the bench and using those clamped clamps as the workholding, but they don't feel as secure - though I think the results have been generally better, and I suspect it's because the piece gets held straighter along the side of the bench. Not sure what mechanism might be pushing the piece out of parallel in the vise though.

[Robert Hazelwood]

Ken mentioned what I've found to be the biggest help- putting a slight camber on the blade. This makes it much easier to correct an out of square edge by shifting the plane towards the high side. I think this is most helpful on a wide jointer plane, but I think it will help with a #3 as well.

I also recommend placing your left hand to the left side of the plane, with your thumb pressing down on the sole behind the front knob (may not be room on a #3, in which case place it in front). Use your fingers as a fence, riding along the side of the piece to keep the plane aligned where you want it laterally.

Lastly, while you are trying to figure this out, take thinner shavings where the force of the plane is easy to manage, and take deliberate strokes. Check squareness after every stroke or two....try to link in your mind how the planing feels compared to the results you're getting. And keep the blade as sharp as you can, don't hesitate to stop and sharpen...results get less predictable as the blade dulls.

[David Carroll]

When I'm jointing boards for panels I clamp them side by side and joint both edges together, any out of square jointing will be canceled out when you glue up and your panel will be flat. For long boards that need a nice square edge, I clamp the board to the bench top with another flat board below it. The work piece edge to be jointed needs to be proud a quarter inch or so of the board below. Then I use a jointer on its side like a huge shooting board. Works like a charm!

David C.

[Brian Holcombe]

Luke, what are you using to check squareness? What are you checking it against?

If you are using the side of the board you may be causing yourself undue grief. If the side of the board is twisted you will be attempting to mimic that twist on the edge of the board. If you are using your square up against a face that has been trued than your going in the right direction. If the face has not been trued then you should be checking for twist with winding sticks.

You can't balance your plane on the edge because your making a convex edge with all of these biased passes. You may want to take a heavy pass and get back to flat, even if it still has wind to it.

[Stanley Covington]

Brian has it right.

You must start with at least one flat face, 2 is better.

You will have a hard time achieving this without a flat, twist-free bench top.

After these conditions are met, mark the line of the desired finished edge on the board.

Then lay the board flat on the bench with a board at least as thick as your planes sidewall underneath, and clamp in place.

Use a longer plane, at least a jack, on its side to shoot the edge. The line you made earlier is clearly in view so you can check your progress, and judge how and where to press.

Stop planing when you reach the line. The edge should now be straight and perfectly square to the faces.

Stan

[Roy Lindberry]

I also recommend placing your left hand to the left side of the plane, with your thumb pressing down on the sole behind the front knob (may not be room on a #3, in which case place it in front). Use your fingers as a fence, riding along the side of the piece to keep the plane aligned where you want it laterally.

This advice is one of the best tips for planing square that I came across in my journey. It works wonders. Also, make sure the work is low enough. If you are planing at chest height, you will likely tilt the plane away. If the work is closer to your center of gravity, you should naturally keep the plane more square.

[ken hatch]

Luke, what are you using to check squareness? What are you checking it against?

If you are using the side of the board you may be causing yourself undue grief. If the side of the board is twisted you will be attempting to mimic that twist on the edge of the board. If you are using your square up against a face that has been trued than your going in the right direction. If the face has not been trued then you should be checking for twist with winding sticks.

You can't balance your plane on the edge because your making a convex edge with all of these biased passes. You may want to take a heavy pass and get back to flat, even if it still has wind to it.

Brian has it right.

You must start with at least one flat face, 2 is better.

You will have a hard time achieving this without a flat, twist-free bench top.

After these conditions are met, mark the line of the desired finished edge on the board.

Then lay the board flat on the bench with a board at least as thick as your planes sidewall underneath, and clamp in place.

Use a longer plane, at least a jack, on its side to shoot the edge. The line you made earlier is clearly in view so you can check your progress, and judge how and where to press.

Stop planing when you reach the line. The edge should now be straight and perfectly square to the faces.

Stan

Head slap.....Typical example of my making assumptions instead, of going back to first principles. I never thought of someone trying to joint an edge without first having a reference face. Remember Bubba..... step one reference surface, step two reference face, step three reference edge.

Thanks guys, I'll remember and use it in my day job because if you are trying to correct a problem, work, woodworking, flying, or life, start with step #1 followed by step #2 and so on. I know better.....and I call myself an "instructor",,,,meh.

ken

[Robert Engel]

What Dave ^ said.

You simply can't joint a board with a #3 plane. Even if you got it square, it wouldn't be flat.

Use at least a 6 or 7/8. You will find with a larger, heavier plane a lot of this problem will correct itself.

Frequent checks (like every 2 strokes) are the key to staying on course.

I find a short winding stick is also quite helpful.

A trick for correcting: keep the edge of the plane flush with the board on the low side this will cause the plane to take a heavier shaving off the high side because the bit of sole outside the blade will limit the shaving a bit.

Of course you have to start with straight, flat stock for optimal results ;-)

[Mike Cherry]

What Dave ^ said.

You simply can't joint a board with a #3 plane. Even if you got it square, it wouldn't be flat.

Use at least a 6 or 7/8. You will find with a larger, heavier plane a lot of this problem will correct itself.

Frequent checks (like every 2 strokes) are the key to staying on course.

I find a short winding stick is also quite helpful.

A trick for correcting: keep the edge of the plane flush with the board on the low side this will cause the plane to take a heavier shaving off the high side because the bit of sole outside the blade will limit the shaving a bit.

Of course you have to start with straight, flat stock for optimal results ;-)

I think what you can joint with a #3 depends on how long the piece is. I'm not gonna bust out a #7 for a 10" piece. I see your point though, a longer plane, when learning, can help make things more stable.

I still struggle with edge squareness from time to time. I think the best advice and technique I've seen here is to camber the blade slightly and let that cambered side ride on the high side of the edge. My practice, right or wrong, is to get a flat face and then joint the edge. When I joint the edge, I'm looking for a full length full width shaving. This shaving tells me that whether I'm square or not, the edge is in one plane. Then I can set about correcting any discrepancies with regards to it being square to the face.

[Prashun Patel]

Mike, after seeing your desk work, I'm reluctant to challenge you! But unless the piece is so small you cannot see it underneath the plane, I like to use a longer plane to joint. The longer toe on a #7 is fantastic. It's a matter of getting comfortable with the ergonomics and balance of the larger planes; I don't subscribe to the philosophy of smaller work, smaller plane. For finding flat, the biggest (as is practical) plane works easiest for me.

[Warren Mickley]

There is no reason one cannot true an edge with a #3 plane. If you need a 22 inch plane to true a 12 inch board, what is might you need for a 48 inch board?

I timed myself truing opposite edges of a 29 inch red oak board. It took about 30 seconds longer with the #3 than with the #7.

The main skills needed for this work are discerning which areas of the surface are too high and then planing only those areas, avoiding planing areas which are too low. Learning to true a surface with a short plane is worthwhile because it will disabuse one of the notion that the plane is doing all the work while the operator does not need skill and judgement.