How To Edge Joint

[CHJ]

...
I'm retiring soon though, and giving up my Norm-style workshop. I will be working out of a shed at home with only hand tools - well okay, maybe a bandsaw and router table!

I'm kinda looking forward to regressing to my college days and picking up a hand plane again!

..

Welcome back Brad, 'long time no see' hope you enjoy the increased leisure time on the horizon.

 

[David Martin]

Fantastic post Custard. Thanks for the effort you've taken to make such a clear and informative tutorial.

The clamps I use are pretty poor quality so the D-shaped blocks trick is something I've used quite a bit. I usually make these by splitting 1" thick dowel rod in half with the band saw and chopping to 3" lengths. I always seem to need to make more each time I need them though... I think there are wood eating faeries living in my garage :roll:

 

[Democritus]

Custard, can you please comment on a technique I use that you have not mentioned?
What I do is to put 2 boards side by side in the vice, and plane the 2 together. Then if I don't plane at exactly 90 degrees it doesn't matter because the error on one board has an exactly compensating error on the other board. I still try to plane at 90 degrees but don't worry too much about it, so long as I am somewhere near. I find this quicker, partly because I don't spend time getting to exactly 90 degrees and partly because I plane 2 boards at the same time.

The late, great, Charles Hayward recommended this technique for edge jointing. When jointing 3 or more boards, you had to ensure the mating planed surfaces were marked very carefully, or you could end up in a real mess.
This was largely, of course, in the days when most such joints were hand planed, certainly by amateur cabinet makers.
Great thread, Custard.
D.

 

[Hornbeam]

Putting 2 boards back to back and planing them together can work but if you have a cambered blade you will get a slight misalignment. Generally works Ok for thin boards but not for thicker ones
Ian

 

[Democritus]

Ian, I think you’re right, but I have successfully edged jointed boards for cabinet tops, carcass sides etc, up to about 3/4 inch thick using this method, sometimes simply rubbed, sometimes dowelled. I found it easier with the thicker boards than the thin. I have never done it with anything thicker than about 3/4 inch, but I can see that it might be problematic.
I have always been an amateur cabinet maker, using mainly hand tool methods, but I haven’t done any cabinet work for nearly ten years because I no longer have the energy to hand plane large boards etc anymore. I have taken up woodturning instead, where the energy is supplied by the lathe.
D.