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Andrew Gibson
01-01-2011, 9:31 AM
Yesterday I was out doing some woodworking, and between gluing up panels I had some down time. I looked over at the cutoff pile and it hit me, those two pieces of cherry are perfect for a pair of winding sticks.

They are roughly 1 1/4" x 2" x 24". I started by inlaying a strip of scrap walnut into the first stick for contrast, then I looked over and there is that little scrap of curly maple that is the perfect size for the other stick. Anyway they ended up being my last project completed in 2010, and I am sure they will serve me well in the year to come.

http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk294/handyandy3459/100_1383.jpg

So what was your last completed project of 2010?
Dan Andrews
01-02-2011, 8:34 PM
I have heard the term winding stick before, but what the heck are they used for? Your winding sticks sure look nice.
Andrew Gibson
01-03-2011, 10:02 AM
Hi Dan. Winding sticks are used when surfacing wood by hand.
As you know lumber basically is never flat when you buy it. When you scrub plane a board you take the sticks and put one at either end of the board and then crouch down and sight across the tops of the sticks. If one corner is high or low you will be able to see it because the top edges of the two sticks will not be parallel. You also move then back and forth down the board to check the middle of a board to make sure there are no humps or shallow spots in the board. Once you know where the high spots are you can then plane them away to bring the board to flat and true.

The walnut and maple strips on the top edges of mine add contrast so that when sighting across the tops of the sticks it is easy to see of there is any difference or they are in parallel.

I hope that makes sense, it would only take a couple minuets to demonstrate how this works in person. I was surprised with how easy it was to get a board flat and true by hand the first time i did it.

Ooh the winding sticks also serve as straight edges. It is important to keep the top and bottom edges of the sticks straight and parallel so as not to throw off their "reading"