Tools Needed to Dimension Rough Lumber

[Steve Friedman]

Hi,

When I learned to hand carve wooden bowls two year ago, I built a workbench with the top made out of 4 sandwiched layers of 3/4" birch plywood. I would like to replace it with a hardwood top, but I want to dimension the rough lumber with hand tools. My question is what tools I need to make the bench top from rough lumber without power tools.

I know that I can probably buy a top for less money than it will cost for the tools, but I also want to use this as an opportunity to learn how to dimension rough lumber for future projects.

I'm not starting completely from scratch, as I do have 3 Lie-Nielsen planes - low angle block, #4, and scrub. Here's what I think I need (other than a glue and clamps), but would appreciate any suggestions:

1. A marking gauge
2. A straight edge that is longer than the bench will be
3. A large try square
4. A rip saw (I have used an inexpensive Ryoba, but somehow think that western saws might work better trying to rip and crosscut 8/4 or thicker lumber.
5. A crosscut saw.
6. A Jointer to flatten the boards. I was debating between wood (ECE Primus) and metal (LV Bevel Up)
7. Something to square and flatten the edges. I was thinking of building a shooting board, but wonder whether the LV Jointer Fence would make that unnecessary. If I do build a shooting board, I was thinking of getting the LV Low Angle Jack. I have seen the LN Miter Plane, but it is very expensive and I think the Low Angle Jack would be much more useful in other things.

Thanks for your help,

Steve

[Andrew Homan]

Steve,

You won't really need a straightedge that is that long -- that would be extremely expensive.

You will also use your jointer to work on the edges. If you meant "ends" (rather than edges), then the jointer will do just fine for those, too. So if you are really looking for the minimum kit to get your workbench done, you really could do it with a jointer.
I think that you will find that a standard #7 jointer will do the job nicely. I noticed that it is not on your list, but a good option is an old Stanley #7. You can add an aftermarket blade and/or chipbreaker if necessary.

Good luck,
Andy

[mike holden]

Steve,
I agree with Andrew, a straight edge the length of the top is unnecessary.

What I dont see in your list, and would recommend is winding sticks. Make your own.

Remember that all you are doing is four squaring a board. Dont make it more difficult than it is.

You will work up a sweat, but it will go faster than you think, and you will be proud of it when you are done.

Take pictures and let us applaud your efforts.

Mike

[Larry Marshall]

You seem to equate a shooting board with a jointer plane, suggesting that one can substitute for the other. A shooting board is a fixture used to direct a plane (which could be your jointer plane) when squaring up the ENDS of boards. A jointer plane is used to flatten long-grain edges of boards.

If you're going to size your boards to width as well as to length and thickness, you'll also need a long marking gauge to set the width prior to cutting.

If you're going to be taking 4/4 lumber down to 3/4" or less, you may also want a scrub plane. In any case, you need at least a standard jack plane. I'd also recommend that you buy Chris Schwarz's Handplane Essentials as he steps you through the process and explains the need for these tools.

Cheers --- Larry

[Tim Edwards]

I've just completed the same project - mostly by hand. I ripped the 8/4 hard maple on my table saw. 100 bf of hard maple is a lot of tough lumber to rip by hand. I planed it all by hand, though. Believe me, that was plenty of a workout without the ripping operation!

I found the most useful plane prior to glue-up was a jointer. I just have a cheap Indian model, but it works well after tuning. I was able to joint 8ft boards flat to within a couple of thousandths with it. I also have a HNT Gordon wooden trying plane. But I couldn't get it going as well as the metal jointer. Probably just operator error, though. After glue-up I turned to a Vertias low-angle jack and low angle smoother, both with a 50deg blade. They worked flawlessly and it really was a pleasure using them. The 25deg blade did produce a little tear-out on this lumber.

[David Keller NC]

Steve - While a large try square will be useful, you could also really use a small (and I do mean small - 3" on the long side) square. While it's theoretically possible to square the edge of a board with a jointer and jointer fence, my experience has been that this isn't "automatic". It's better to hone the iron in the jointer with a slight curve, and then learn to square the edge to the face by using the small square to check your progress.

You might wish to purchase and watch "Rough to Ready" with Rob Cosman. While I don't necessarily agree with his use of a scrub plane to do the initial prep (a fore-plane length is much better, IMO), his procedure is correct, and it's easier to learn than reading through a description in a book.

[Jim Koepke]

A straight edge is nice, but a string pulled tight is much cheaper.

I have often thought of buying a joiner gauge. Not for use, but for resale. I have seen them cheap and have seen them sell for a lot. Learning to square a piece without one is a skill that is worth developing.

You can make a long shooting board to help with four squaring wood. By the time you finish making one and the bench to mount it, you will likely be pretty good at squaring up wood and joining straight edges and you won't need it.

The miter plane is a good specialty plane if you do a lot of angled joining and need a special shooting plane. It is not really a good multi-purpose plane like a BU Jack would be. My intention is to buy a BU Jack mostly for shooting end grain. I am finding that many of my bevel down bench planes make good end grain shooters with a comfortable handle. So, the BU Jack better be good for more than just shooting end grain or I may have to spend the money on something else.

So unless you have money to burn, and if you do I have a great fire place, the Joiner or Jack will do more for you in the long run than a miter plane.

For shooting end grain, I have been using a #5-1/2 and a #6 for the bigger boards and they have been doing very well. My hopes are that the BU Jack will be a little better.

For a large square, a framing square is an inexpensive way to go on this. Other than that, having squares of different sizes is convenient.

jim

[Steve Friedman]

Wow, lots of good information, thanks.

I especially appreciate the reading recommendations. Tim, I would definitely rip the boards on a table saw if I had one. I could use my circular saw, but I have a hard time getting perpendicular cuts with it. A track saw would be nice, but I would rather spend the $500 on some cool hand tools.

I also get the difference between using a shooting board for the ends and the jointer for the edge. I do have one question - How do I make a shooting board before I have a shooting board?

David, I thought you hone a plane iron with a slight curve to avoid ridges when surface planing, but don't understand how that helps keep the plane square to the face when planing the edge?

[Tim Edwards]

Exactly. The chicken and egg problem. Its hard to make a good workbench without a good workbench!

In my opinion, the advantage of the cambered plane blade is to allow a little more selectivity with respect to where you remove material from the jointed edge. Using a 4" square (and no jointer fence) I jointed my edges by removing material from the outer or inner edges until the edge was squared with the side. Making the edge flat was then a matter of working the plane evenly across the surface once it was squared.

[Steve Friedman]

Maybe this is silly, but are the jointer fences just not accurate enough? It seems that it would be easier to use some sort of guide to keep perpendicular, but then I have never tried.

[Larry Williams]

...You might wish to purchase and watch "Rough to Ready" with Rob Cosman. While I don't necessarily agree with his use of a scrub plane to do the initial prep (a fore-plane length is much better, IMO), his procedure is correct, and it's easier to learn than reading through a description in a book.

David,

I disagree. There is the scrub plane aberration but there's more. I think Steve would be much better served by the use of a simple shop-made straight edge and winding sticks than burnishing his bench with his stock. The video also seems to treat getting the stock to a uniform predetermined thickness as a disconnected and incidental issue when it's the ultimate goal of stock preparation. One only gets all their stock for a project to the desired dimension when they start out with that as their main objective.

[David Keller NC]

David,

I disagree. There is the scrub plane aberration but there's more. I think Steve would be much better served by the use of a simple shop-made straight edge and winding sticks than burnishing his bench with his stock. The video also seems to treat getting the stock to a uniform predetermined thickness as a disconnected and incidental issue when it's the ultimate goal of stock preparation. One only gets all their stock for a project to the desired dimension when they start out with that as their main objective.

I don't disagree with you on the "burnishing" trick. It's clever, but pretty useless if you're trying to 4-square an 8' long board. Like most other references, I tend to remember the things that are useful to me and forget the rest.

There is a description of the essentials in Hayward's "Carpentry for Beginners" regarding flattening one face, squaring the edges and ends to that face, then planing the opposite face parallel to the first one. But some of the folks that I've referred this section to find it difficult to visualize the text description, hence the recommendation for the video. Heck, he can always sell it for darn near what he pays for it if he doesn't like it.

[Bob Easton]

...
David, I thought you hone a plane iron with a slight curve to avoid ridges when surface planing, but don't understand how that helps keep the plane square to the face when planing the edge?

I'm not David, but I'll try to help with the curved iron idea. The curved edge of the iron we're talking about is not like the smoothing plane that just has the corners softened. This is an iron with a constant radius across its edge, something on the order of an 8 inch radius. I keep two sets of irons for some of my planes, one radiused, one straight. By the way, sharpening that radiused edge is done by "rocking" the sharpening jig from side to side. A little practice, and it works out.

When jointing with a plane that has no fence, you should take frequent measurements of edge squareness ... using that small square that someone else recommended. When you find that one side is higher than the other, position the plane so that its center, the high part of the curve, rides along the high edge. That takes more off of that side of the edge, usually bringing the whole edge back to square in a couple of passes.

It's easy to master this approach because most of us have an innate ability to sense levelness when handling tools (or to know that I always lean 4 degrees to the right and must compensate). Once mastered, you'll be glad you didn't spend the extra bucks for either a plane fence or a sticking board setup.

Finish up with the plane nicely centered on the now square edge. The very slight concavity that remains does no harm at all when gluing up.

[David Keller NC]

David, I thought you hone a plane iron with a slight curve to avoid ridges when surface planing, but don't understand how that helps keep the plane square to the face when planing the edge?

This is sort fo tough to explain in a forum-text situation, but what a curved iron allows you to do is to adjust the thickness of the shaving from one side or the other on the edge of a board by simply shifting the plane from side to side as you run it down the length of the piece being planed. By shifting the position of the plane (with a curved iron), you can correct an edge that is out of square in one direction on one end of the board, but out of square in the other direction at the opposite end (i.e., the edge is "twisted").

[Steve Friedman]

Thanks.

You're right, I assumed the radiused edge was the same as softening the edges of a smooth plane.

So, it sounds like I really need 2 blades for the Jointer - one for flattening he face and the "curved" one for the edges. The real question is how many feet I will have to joint before I actually feel the curve.

I may get a wooden jointer, but if not, my first choice would be the LV BU Jointer. If so, do you recommend getting a higher bevel angle blade for the one I'm going to put a curve onto?

Steve

[David Keller NC]

So, it sounds like I really need 2 blades for the Jointer - one for flattening he face and the "curved" one for the edges. The real question is how many feet I will have to joint before I actually feel the curve.
Steve

Steve - I would not personally recommend putting an 8" radius curve on a jointer plane blade - that's in the range of curvature of a scrub or fore plane blade, and is meant to hog off a lot of material and leave behind a really rough surface.

I would recommend simply curving the jointer plane blade with just a bit more curvature than you might with a smoothing plane. In my case, the radius is such that the two corners of the iron are about 1/64" back from a straight line. In other words, probably about a 40 or 60 inch radius equivalent.

I use this blade for both edge jointing as described above, and flattening and smoothing the face of a board after a fore plane has done the rough work.