How to straighten long stock without very big machines?

[Peterthegardener]

For my next project (a door frame on the boat I'm rebuilding) I needed thicker stock than I had in my store. I needed a finished 2"x2.5" so I took pairs of 3" wide oak boards that were reasonably flat and ran them through the thicknesser and glued them up in pairs to give me the desired thickness. The glue-up is about 2.1" x 3". The top and bottom are now straight and smooth, I will use the thicknesser to take it down to 2.0" in due course.

However the edges are my next challenge. Each board has a slightly different bow from the one it is glued to! How do I straighten these glue-ups? They are about 2m long.

Do I draw a straight line, then bandsaw, then try my small jointer (an old ELU with alloy tables much shorter than the stock)?

Can I do something useful with the table saw? (I have a TS200)

Obviously once I have one straight edge I can use the thicknesser to produce a second edge parallel to the first.

I would appreciate your wisdom

 

[PAC1]

You could:
Do one edge all by hand
Take the worst off one edge with your planer and finish that edge by hand
Make a support frame from ply or thicker straight stock to hold your timber and then run it through the thicknesser

 

[custard]

Peter, 2000x50x70mm isn't that big. Shopfitters and site joiners will be straightening larger pieces than that all day long on transportable machines not that different from your Elu. It's more about technique than the size of the planer tables.

But in any event, it's also not hard to do it with a hand plane (and you don't need a whopping great 08 plane either).

In an nutshell there's two schools of thinking when it comes to getting a straight edge. One school says the timber dimensions dictate the tool or machine size. The second school says "pah!", all you need is a decent straight edge to identify where the bumps and hollows are and then progressively remove the bumps while leaving the hollows untouched. I'm being a bit glib but the most technically demanding woodworking apprenticeships that I'm aware of, all at least recognise the validity of the second approach. Especially as a boatbuilding project like this certainly doesn't need micron level precision as nothing else on a boat is likely to be particularly straight anyway, so the real knack is in fitting the components together.

I'm rambling a bit but the message is do the best you can with the tools at hand, you absolutely do not need any additional kit to achieve this task.

Good luck.

 

[blackrodd]

You should have straightened and squared them before the glue up really, but allowed oversize.
Square the glued pieces in the usual way using the bed and fence over hand, and rig up a workmate type arrangement to help support the ends, if you feel it necessary to do so.
But as its only 2 meters long I would expect even 3x2 oak not to be too heavy overhand and guarded in the usual manner.
Perhaps an assistant could help, around Tea Time is usual!
Regards Rodders

 

[dzj]

Perhaps this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrYjc3G1vgo

 

[RobinBHM]

A router with template trim -although you would need a suitable straight edge.

I'll say track saw........as Im sure it'll be mentioned soon, but I assume if you had one you would be using it.

It is possible to straighten long boards with a short table surfacer. By taking some nibbles off one end and turning the board around and taking a bit of the other, so flattening out the convex shape. Your glued up sections may be a bit heavy for pushing over short tables on your own safely though.

 

[blackrodd]

A good idea, but the total lack of guarding and he even passed his hands over the blade twice towards the end, using that silly pad, all it takes is a sudden knock or bang in the workshop for a disaster.
And a trip to a totally different second hand shop!
Regards Rodders

 

[MusicMan]

You can get long straight edges fairly cheaply, designed for trimming carpets, or for screeding. Not of engineers' accuracy of course, but I have a 2.5 m straight edge from Refina (£40 ish), which I used as a guide for edge-routing and then jointing some 7' slabs of 45 mm yew. Worked fine. Also good for checking the flatness of your bench. Almost as good are the edges of laminate board as pointed out in the video on a table saw sled. But +1 for Rodders' comments on safety!

Keith

 

[Jacob]

You don't need a straight edge.
Decide which is the best face and plane it flat by sitting it on the bench against a stop, if necessary wedging it to stop it rocking but don't clamp it at all or you may be bending it. Check for twist with boning rods and check for bumps and hollows by eye. It's easier if you take out twists first and bumps second. Any sharp plane will do but a long one is good for straightening.
Once flat then decide which is the best edge and plane that square with the best face by checking all along its length with a square and marking the highs with a pencil across the whole face but not quite to the lowest edge. You then plane off these marks but be careful not to go to the unmarked low side. Do this several times until it is square with the best face.
Then plane out any bumps , checking by eye and with a square as you go.

If you are doing two or more you can check them against each other - face to face one way, and then turn end to end

 

[dzj]

A good idea, but the total lack of guarding and he even passed his hands over the blade twice towards the end, using that silly pad, all it takes is a sudden knock or bang in the workshop for a disaster.
And a trip to a totally different second hand shop!
Regards Rodders

They always say that they take off the guards for filming purposes...
And it is a silly pad.
But, if used with the usual safety recommendations, I see no reason why it wouldn't work.

 

[Jacob]

Those pads are really dangerous. Look how close his fingers are to the blade.

 

[Monkey Mark]

Perhaps this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrYjc3G1vgo

Izzy Swan does something similar here, but with more adjustments if I remember correctly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryaL6buKmyo

 

[Jacob]

Perhaps this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrYjc3G1vgo

Izzy Swan does something similar here, but with more adjustments if I remember correctly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryaL6buKmyo

Ditto - That misshaped push stick is really dangerous. Look how close his fingers are to the blade.
With two proper push sticks he would have better control, have fingers well away from the blade and would not have to reach past the blade to push the work out.

 

[MusicMan]

No, you don't need a straight edge, as Jacob says, but they can make the job quicker and simpler. I don't need a table saw but don't get between me and my Wadkin!

Keith

 

[Jacob]

No, you don't need a straight edge, as Jacob says, but they can make the job quicker and simpler. ....

I don't think they do speed things up. You can see straight with eyes alone and it's a useful skill to develop - hold a piece up a bit to the light etc. But if you really do need a straight edge there is a much better alternative - a strong torch with a focussed light beam - you shine it along/across the surface and it shows up every defect.
If you rely on straight edges you are going to need sets of them for different sizes, and to transport them to jobs. I use a long spirit level sometimes, as it's occasionally handy as a straight edge but more use as a spirit level.

 

[MusicMan]

Jacob, I am not arguing with the way you work, for your situation, and your techniques are very useful. But when you get older, eyes don't focus or accommodate so well, spectacles distort straight lines, and you don't work on site. Nor, actually, do you have the physical stamina for a lot of heavy planing, but you can guide a router. So they may not speed things up for you, but they do for me.

I have one 2.5 m carpet-layer straight edge and one 600 mm precision engineers straight edge which I use for checking machine beds, surface plates etc. I find them invaluable. That's enough with, as you say, occasional use of a spirit level. The torch trick is neat, but would not suffice on, say, machined cast iron beds or tables, since the light source size is too large to give sufficient precision.

There isn't only one solution that fits all.

Keith

 

[Jacob]

Jacob, I am not arguing with the way you work, for your situation, and your techniques are very useful. But when you get older, eyes don't focus or accommodate so well, spectacles distort straight lines, and you don't work on site. Nor, actually, do you have the physical stamina for a lot of heavy planing, but you can guide a router. So they may not speed things up for you, but they do for me.

I'm 70, very short sighted, with varifocals, not to mention deaf and feeble in body and soul!
I'm only suggesting hand planing because for the job as described "without very big machines" it looks like the least trouble. OK fiddling about with little machines is another one.
I've got one actual straight edge (3ft) which on of my kids left here. It's vaguely useful sometimes.

PS I sometimes use a length of mfc shelf for a straight edge.

 

[blackrodd]

A good idea, but the total lack of guarding and he even passed his hands over the blade twice towards the end, using that silly pad, all it takes is a sudden knock or bang in the workshop for a disaster.
And a trip to a totally different second hand shop!
Regards Rodders

They always say that they take off the guards for filming purposes...
And it is a silly pad.
But, if used with the usual safety recommendations, I see no reason why it wouldn't work.

For some reason some folks cannot understand the simple basics of safety, in this instance the saw bench
user is passing his hands over the running saw blade, with a very silly pad between his hand and a saw blade
If for any number of reasons that timber flies out, his hand is gone too.
Guarding and push sticks, 15" or 18"long, and DON'T push hard or heave INTO the saw blade.
If you're hand is NOT in harms way, It's difficult to have an accident!

What safety recommendations would you use in this situation?
Regards Rodders

 

[MusicMan]

Jacob

Well you're a young man. I'm 75! I did try varifocals and hated them, they distorted much too much as well as gave me a headache. Fair point about "without very big machines" though. Dunno about your body, but your soul doesn't strike me as feeble in the least !

Rodders, I couldn't agree more. Whilst this chap is quite interesting and innovative, the thought of loads of people following his unsafe methods is scary. As you say, it is not that hard to use a saw safely. Ah well, Darwin awards get more and more competitive. I think you covered the basic recommendations.

Keith

 

[dzj]

What safety recommendations would you use in this situation?
Regards Rodders

I think the jig he made is safe enough.
As for the pad he uses, I assume it passed the H&S requirements, but still I wouldn't use it.
Keeping your hands away from the blade is always the best policy, so I'd go with pushsticks.
(Although I personally don't use them when ripping wider stock)
There's probably a couple dozen things to consider when using a table saw, but apart from the mentioned pushstick,
a blade guard, riving knife and a sharp blade should be at the top of the list.