A Wooden Straightedge

[Stanley Covington]

In a previous thread on Precision Tools in Woodworking (which got way too long and tangled), the subject of ancient methods of creating a straightedge was mentioned. A fascinating discussion also popped up about how making an accurate straightedge, or even a very flat surface, required not two but three pieces. Here is the ancient way precision straightedges were made, using just two pieces of wood, as I was taught it in Japan. Thoughts and comments are appreciated.

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In Japan they call this tool an “awasej jougi” with “awase” meaning to “join together,” and “jougi” meaning “straightedge”. I made this one for fettling the soles of wooden-bodied planes. Unlike a steel rule, it will not dull or chip a plane’s blade. For obvious reasons, it is useful to notch the reference edge where it would meet a plane’s blade, but I have not done that to this one.

I don’t know where this type of tool originated, but I don’t pretend it was Japan. The ones I have seen in the West were joined with two dowels. Mine is joined with two dovetail pins made of a Japanese variety of closed-grained oak called shiragashi (quercus myrsinifolia). And because hinoki is a bit soft, I have glued bamboo wear strips to its edges. This tool is 26 or 27 years old and has seen a lot of use. The wood is unfinished hinoki. If you decide to make one, I do not recommend using the oaks commonly available in the US for the body: too unstable IMO.

Hinoki, aka Japanese Cypress, is a most excellent wood highly prized in Japan. While not germane, it is interesting to note that scientific investigations have revealed that Hinoki develops its maximum strength around 300 years after the tree is felled. This characteristic is thought to be a major factor in the number of truly old shrines and temples remaining in Japan. Hinoki is pure joy to work with handtools, more than any other wood I know.

Another interesting thing about this piece of wood is that it was once a part of one of the 125 buildings that comprise Ise Shrine in Mie Prefecture in Japan.

http://www.isejingu.or.jp/english/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ise_Grand_Shrine

As you may know, some of these buildings are rebuilt every 20 years consistent with Shinto principles of death/renewal. The wood remaining from the dissassembled buildings is called Shingi, （神木）or God’s Wood, and is eagerly sought by the devoted at high prices. I didn’t pay anything for it, though. Here’s the story.

When I was a much younger man with a full head of hair and faith in humankind, I was in a town called Ise Shima near the Grand Ise Shrine. The plan was to see the Shrine (or at least those parts they let the public see) the next morning, but a typhoon passed through during the night. One of the giant trees surrounding the grounds was toppled by the high winds smashing a building to pieces. By the time I arrived early the next morning, the Shrine was closed, and workmen where already busy with chainsaws cutting the boles of trees fallen across the path into segments for removal. Others were cleaning up the debris of the destroyed building. Of course, most of this debris was pieces of shattered hinoki wood, a significant amount of which had been flung outside the grounds by the violent impact and the high winds. While everyone was gawking at the damage, I begged a workman for a piece of the shattered wood from his garbage pile and, with his permission, I wandered off with the biggest piece I could handle and hope to carry back home on the train.

Some people warned me that wood obtained from such a tragedy could only bring bad luck. Later, others accused me of impious behavior for turning God’s Wood into tools and jigs. But I think the wood deserved better than to end its existence in a garbage incinerator in the ignoble company of old newspapers and dried potato peelings. In any case, because of the source of the wood, as well as for sentimental reasons, I tend to treat this tool with unusual respect.

The two dovetail pins ensure the halves lock up very tight. To make the edges straight, the halves are joined, and the edges are shot using a well-tuned plane with the blade at a very fine setting. Because this tool is short at only 400mm long, a dai naoshi plane works well with this hard variety of bamboo. Separating the halves and placing the two edges together reveals major deviations from straight/flat by effectively doubling the error. Finer corrections readily produce a very straight/flat edge. I have never precisely measured the degree of straight/flat this tool is cable of achieving, but it is good enough to tune the sole of a plane. Looking at it last night, it appeared to be few thousandths out of tolerance, probably a result of the bamboo. Perhaps if I had made the tool with the off-edge cut to a curve like Christopher Schwarz recommended recently it would be more stable. It would certainly be more attractive. It's a very utitilitarian, no-nonsense, design.

My tool has one fault that would be easy to correct, but which I have neglected to undertake for sentimental reasons: The bamboo wear strips are too wide and do not let light pass as easily as narrower edges would. If you decide to make one, I suggest you use very stable wood, and saw the two halves from the same piece of wood and located immediately adjacent to each other.

While it would serve, I don’t use this tool as winding sticks. I use two framing squares instead.

[Kees Heiden]

Very nice story :)

I made my windingsticks in the same manner, but without that nifty dovetail connector.

[Chris Griggs]

This is great Stanley! Mine don't connect... I've been wanting to make another pair anyway so next time I'll join them with dowels or dovetail - would definitley make truing easier than trying to get them aligned in the vise by feel. Thanks for posting. I love shop made tools.




When I was a much younger man with faith in humankind.

I think what is most impressive is that you made these before the age of 12 (I'm assuming you lost your faith in human kind at the same age as me ;))

[Charlie Stanford]

The technique of using three straightedges is described in this book:

"Wayne R. Moore's "Foundations of Mechanical Accuracy", Moore Special Tool Co., 1970. This fascinating book describes how reference tools and machines with accuracies on the order of millionths of an inch are built."

http://www.scribd.com/doc/71698017/Foundations-of-Mechanical-Accuracy

[Stanley Covington]

The technique of using three straightedges is described in this book:

"Wayne R. Moore's "Foundations of Mechanical Accuracy", Moore Special Tool Co., 1970. This fascinating book describes how reference tools and machines with accuracies on the order of millionths of an inch are built."

http://www.scribd.com/doc/71698017/Foundations-of-Mechanical-Accuracy

Charlie:

Thanks! A wonderful book, but I was unable to download it from the link you gave. This one worked for me. http://pdfspider.com/go/Megashares/pdf/497696/download/

Also, this webpage I found has some documents I think George Wilson referred to in another post.

http://www.circuitousroot.com/artifice/machine-shop/surface-finishing/hand-scraping/index.html

[Chris Griggs]

Also....cool marking knife!

[Charlie Stanford]

Charlie:

Thanks! A wonderful book, but I was unable to download it from the link you gave. This one worked for me. http://pdfspider.com/go/Megashares/pdf/497696/download/

Also, this webpage I found has some documents I think George Wilson referred to in another post.

http://www.circuitousroot.com/artifice/machine-shop/surface-finishing/hand-scraping/index.html

Thanks, the link I provided to Scribd. does require a day subscription.

Chas.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Also....cool marking knife!

I was thinking the same thing!

[george wilson]

Likely good enough for wood working. Still not the best way to get real precision. I can't recommend using real soft woods for a precision tool,though,for obvious reasons.

I agree about oak. I have a 19th.C. carpentry book that states: "Never guarantee an oak door."

[Paul Saffold]

Stanley, thanks for the very interesting story. And thanks to those who posted the links. I have used the 3 board method as it was described in " Care and Repair of Shop Machines" by John White from Taunton Press when tuning my 6" jointer.
Paul

[Stanley Covington]

I think what is most impressive is that you made these before the age of 12 (I'm assuming you lost your faith in human kind at the same age as me ;))

The Japanese saying that describes my youth best goes 少年老い易く学 成り難し, which roughly translates to ; "The boy grows old so easily, but learns with such difficulty."

Stan

[Stanley Covington]

Likely good enough for wood working. Still not the best way to get real precision. I can't recommend using real soft woods for a precision tool,though,for obvious reasons.

I agree about oak. I have a 19th.C. carpentry book that states: "Never guarantee an oak door."

Can you recommend an efficient way to make a 3-piece joined straightedge?

The bamboo really helps overcome the shortcomings of softwood. Tough stuff. Higher tensile strength than A36 steel. More resistant to crushing/denting than hickory. Makes a very durable floor, especially for those who like to wear high heels.

What a coincidence. I built a series of expensive custom doors from American white oak and red oak for a customer in Las Vegas years ago. Customer Satisfaction was impossible. Never again will I make an Oak door, or for that matter, anything from Oak that requires serious stability. And red oak especially is such an ugly wood, IMO.

[Stanley Covington]

Stanley, thanks for the very interesting story. And thanks to those who posted the links. I have used the 3 board method as it was described in " Care and Repair of Shop Machines" by John White from Taunton Press when tuning my 6" jointer.
Paul

Paul:

Did you go so far as to combine the 3 boards (I assume they are wood) into a single tool that would fit into a toolchest? George and Charlie have really piqued my interest. I would love to see some examples.

Stan

[David Weaver]

And red oak especially is such an ugly wood, IMO.

Here in the area where every third tree is a huge red oak tree......I agree. For some reason, everyone here had stuff made of that horrible open pored nastiness 20 years ago. When I worked at a cabinet factory, they had cherry, maple, oak, hickory....the oak was probably 80% of the orders. Just awful! The doors from the others (maybe with the exception of hickory) looked SO much better. I don't know what the upcharge would've been but it would've been worth it whatever it was.

There are still a lot of folks around here who are partial to the open grain in oak, not people who have ever worked much wood, but folks who grew up liking that look for some reason.

[Mel Fulks]

I once dissuaded the owner of a local hotel franchise from using red oak to redo the place by casually remarking that all the electric chairs are made of red oak .In places without 4 star ratings .

[Zach Dillinger]

Red Oak was the scourge of the 1990s. I hate the stuff, both to look at and to work with.

[Stanley Covington]

Also....cool marking knife!

Thanks. It really isn't a marking knife, but what they call a kiridashi kogatana here in Japan, basically a general purpose woodworking knife. It was made by a Blacksmith named Kinsaburo Usui working in Yoita (Niigata Prefecture) that went by the professional name of San Dai Sukemaru (Sukemaru the Third). He passed away 4 years ago, but I am told his son, who specializes in making chisels from HS steel and other unusual materials, has picked up his Father's mantle as Sukemaru the Fourth.

Sukemaru is famous for his "Ayu Fish" knives. I have one that was given to me as a present, but the edge is too short for my tastes. Besides, I feel silly doing serious woodworking with a tool that looks like a little black fish. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/smilies/redface.gif

This knife is almost always on my benchtop nowadays, and I have been using it recently to whittle a handle for a new hammer.

Not certain, but I think it's made of Hitachi White Paper steel. I cuts really well, holds a pretty good edge, and I like the longer length of the cutting edge. And it fits my hand better than any knife I have used previously. The shape is quite unusual.

This one is shaped in careful imitation of a sword tang that has been shortened from the longer tachi to a katana, complete with the right cross-section, the groove, and the filework (opposite side from the one seen in the photo). A play on the "swords into plowshares" theme, I suppose. I have become quite fond of it during the last couple of years since I bought it from an old rundown hardware store going out of business in Tokyo.

If you are interested in seeing a few more pics, let me know.



Stan

[george wilson]

And yet,if you read up on bamboo laminated flooring,it is not rated well for wear resistance.

[Prashun Patel]

Around my neck of the woods, all the hospitals were redone around the mid 80's and have formica surfaces with red oak banding and trim. The darn stuff looks as 'good' as the day it was put in. May be ugly - but it takes a beating.

I also find it unappealing, but also have a visceral reaction to it because it reminds me of death and doctors!

[daniel lane]

Stan,

Nice story, nice awasej jougi. You've inspired me with the dovetail connection, I think I'll try that myself! I, too, also like the kiridashi kogatana. I use a Blue Spruce marking knife a lot, but I do find myself wishing for something a little sturdier for general work, I'll have to see if I can find something similar.


May be ugly - but it takes a beating.

It is for this reason, plus the fact is was cheap around here, that I've used it in the tool chest I'm building. Personally, I've never liked oak, but it wears a heck of a lot better than pine!


daniel

P.S. Used it in the tool chest. The chest is not made of oak.

[Stanley Covington]

And yet,if you read up on bamboo laminated flooring,it is not rated well for wear resistance.

Unless things have changed a lot since I last had bamboo floors installed on a jobsite, bamboo is tougher than almost all the traditional hardwoods used for flooring, not including Ipe and some of the other tropical hardwoods. But looking now at the information available on the web in English, vs. my recollection of actual and legally binding submittal documentation I received back in the day (2004?), it would appear the American flooring manufacturers are pushing back pretty hard in the comparison charts. I do recall that bamboo flooring does not hold up well if you let it remain wet. I also recall that the spec on the glue was absolutely critical to achieving warranted durability. But none of the Clients I worked with have complained, and they included hotels and schools. Can you point me at this information that indicates laminated bamboo has poor wear properties?

[David Weaver]

In an office where I used to work, the trouble with it was that high heels put instant dents in it. The hardness of the outer layer on it must be much different than it is with the internal parts. IT was laminated like a bowling alley, but obviously much thinner.

A couple of floors down from where I am, same thing. High heel dents everywhere.

[Stanley Covington]

I, too, also like the kiridashi kogatana. I use a Blue Spruce marking knife a lot, but I do find myself wishing for something a little sturdier for general work, I'll have to see if I can find something similar.

As you can see in the photo, the kiridashi has a hollow on one side similar to a Japanese plane or chisel blade, so its relatively quick and easy to sharpen a good tool to a very sharp edge. I couldn't work without one. If you plan to get into making Japanese-style cabinets, furniture, and joinery, you really need right and left handed knives for some of the detail work. Also, the knife in the pic is a premium quality, heavy-duty, fancy-dancy model, and so a bit pricey ($175-$200 bucks?) if you bought it on the open market nowadays. But thinner plain-Jane ones can cut just as well, if they are well made, and will be a lot cheaper.

Stan

[Jim Koepke]

Stan,

Thanks for posting this.

It has been an enjoyable and educational read.

Those knives are also a kettle of fun.

jtk

[Russell Sansom]

I don't want to hijack Stanley's thread, but since it came up, this seems to be good place to say this. I've suppressed it and I think it would be nice to get if off my woodworking chest:

I have made a set of three 6 foot straight edges using the rotating comparison method. From an engineer's point of view it's especially interesting that one can boot strap a straightedge without an external reference! The method is not self-evident but appears to be well-known among machinists. It's almost trivial in steel, but wood adds a couple twists.

I have been tempted to publish the adventure here, but I was never ready for the "wood moves XXX eights of an inch, so don't be ridiculous" and "Don't be ridiculous" posts by people who haven't tried it. I love to work to high precision ( I have been a harpsichord / clavichord maker where it is compulsory ) and this was one of the most satisfying high-precision things I've ever done in wood. I steered clear of the fascinating recent thread on precision because my experience is obviously different from many of you and I have no need to enter a disagreement on this forum which I generally find so agreeable.

I fear many people here will not like this, but I was able to achieve a flatness better than .001" I used the "master" (they are all the same...I picked one and put the other two away ) within hours to map the flatness of a Delta 8" jointer bed and my bench. I assumed the straight edge would move considerably in a hurry, so I used it immediately after finishing it. it was still flat the next day. They're hanging in the shop and I haven't checked where they have warped to in the preceding year, but I assume they have moved considerably in that time.

This kind of thing is probably almost no ones cup of tea, but it was fascinating to see it work out. If you try it, I would suggest 2-footers first to work out the details. Six feet is quite a handful.
russ

[Jim Koepke]

This kind of thing is probably almost no ones cup of tea, but it was fascinating to see it work out. If you try it, I would suggest 2-footers first to work out the details. Six feet is quite a handful.
russ

This and the other thread have inspired me to put the making of some straight edges on my "Round Tuit" list. There are a few pieces of about 2' long in my shop that might be just the thing for a project like this.

jtk

[Mel Fulks]

I agree ,made 8 footer,5 footer,and 3 footer more than 20years ago. I used tempered Masonite and white laminate. Have used them to straighten out several jointers "adjusted" out of adjustment by nuts with plywood rippings. I 'm sure NASA has straight edges of higher quality,but I'm also sure that any jointer factory adjusted with mine would not need to become a project for the buyer.

[Stanley Covington]

Stan,

Thanks for posting this.

It has been an enjoyable and educational read.

Those knives are also a kettle of fun.

jtk

I'll try to put up some pictures of my various knives tomorrow.

Stan

[Chris Griggs]

Thanks. It really isn't a marking knife, but what they call a kiridashi kogatana here in Japan, basically a general purpose woodworking knife. It was made by a Blacksmith named Kinsaburo Usui working in Yoita (Niigata Prefecture) that went by the professional name of San Dai Sukemaru (Sukemaru the Third). He passed away 4 years ago, but I am told his son, who specializes in making chisels from HS steel and other unusual materials, has picked up his Father's mantle as Sukemaru the Fourth.

Sukemaru is famous for his "Ayu Fish" knives. I have one that was given to me as a present, but the edge is too short for my tastes. Besides, I feel silly doing serious woodworking with a tool that looks like a little black fish. :o

This knife is almost always on my benchtop nowadays, and I have been using it recently to whittle a handle for a new hammer.

Not certain, but I think it's made of Hitachi White Paper steel. I cuts really well, holds a pretty good edge, and I like the longer length of the cutting edge. And it fits my hand better than any knife I have used previously. The shape is quite unusual.

This one is shaped in careful imitation of a sword tang that has been shortened from the longer tachi to a katana, complete with the right cross-section, the groove, and the filework (opposite side from the one seen in the photo). A play on the "swords into plowshares" theme, I suppose. I have become quite fond of it during the last couple of years since I bought it from an old rundown hardware store going out of business in Tokyo.

If you are interested in seeing a few more pics, let me know.



Stan

Well your just full of interesting tidbits aren't you? Such cool knife, I like it even better now that I know its story. Would love to see a shot of the other side to get the full effect of the Katana shape.

I think anytime someone post a picture of a marking knife you should quote Crocodile Dundee and post a picture of yours....

[george wilson]

Several years ago when we bought flooring,I read that bamboo was too soft in the Consumer's Report(or is it guide?). When I made straight edges of wood for the musical instrument maker's shop in the museum,I used pear wood faced with a boxwood edge.

Pearwood is used in registers for harpsichords since it is a very stable wood. I definitely can't recommend a solid boxwood straight edge because it is so prone to warping. At least,the way we dry it these days,it is. Maracaibo (sp?) is the most stable boxwood I found when making folding rules for the historic area.

David's comments above seem to bear out the flooring issue.

[Bill Houghton]

In an office where I used to work, the trouble with it was that high heels put instant dents in it. The hardness of the outer layer on it must be much different than it is with the internal parts. IT was laminated like a bowling alley, but obviously much thinner.

A couple of floors down from where I am, same thing. High heel dents everywhere.
If you'd just stop wearing those danged stiletto heels, David... (imagine a smiley face here...)

[Fitzhugh Freeman]

Thanks for the information here, as well as sharing your stories!
Odd how the timing works out here sometimes: I was logging in to ask about straight edges and winding sticks. I need them to finally finish flatten the two pieces of the top for my bench (or bench-to-be, if I'm honest). Now I know HOW to make them, but you also pointed out the answer to my other problem: access to stable wood.

Lacking a decent means to resaw, I can't just get a piece of nice stable wood from the local hardwood lumber yard (great selection but no milling offered). The other options are all poor: hard maple, red oak or poplar from BORG, which at least comes in a manageable size for such a project. I'd held off because I'd read up and found those all have poor stability, but you pointed out the obvious: just check when using and re-flatten as needed.

You mention curving the edge. Is that to help it stay straight as it expands/contracts? (I'm assuming you mean the OTHER edge!)

Clearly I need to make a frame saw.
So much of this hobby is about trying to find out how to boot strap, especially when both desire and lack of funds mean you are making all the tools you can...

[David Weaver]

If you'd just stop wearing those danged stiletto heels, David... (imagine a smiley face here...)

The emotional and physical damage from that would be unlimited :)

Fortunately, the fairer types wearing those in my office don't weigh nearly as much as I do, and they are probably also more nimble on the balls of their feet by miles....

... but they sure are hard on the bamboo floors.

[Andrew Hughes]

Hi Fitzhugh,I was reading your post and woods at the Borg.The lowes by me does sometimes have some very nice vg dougfir 1x3.I have found to be very stable.I look for the one that are a bit heavy and fine lines.If they are straight piled in the rack even better.Your profile doesn't list your location if your out here on the west coast come by and I will share some vg fir that I took out of a home restoration.House was built in the twenties.I have more than I need.

[Chris Griggs]

Red Oak was the scourge of the 1990s. I hate the stuff, both to look at and to work with.

Ah Red oak.... that magical wood that's available at everyone home center and thus becomes canvas for so many's first "nice" furniture projects... and of course, lets not forget about the super thick coat of home store poly that really brings out the oaks best!:rolleyes:

This coffee table was my second ever woodworking project. It still sits in our living room, at the time it seemed so fancy compared to the yellow pine I had used previously. I wonder how many of you have a nearly identical first or second build sitting in your home... come on, now that I've bared it all its time for the rest of your to fess up... I know you have something VERY similar!

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Anyway.... back to straight edges. So what are ya'll opinions of good, non metal materials. George has recommend pear, what about soft maple? Isn't that suppossedly a very very stable wood...?(I may be remembering wrong) if so I bet some QS stock of it would work well. Other woods?

What about plastics or polymers of some kind? Anything in particular that might work well there?

[Russell Sansom]

Genuine mahogany is traditional, I think. Plexiglas planes fairly well but is murder on an edge. I had a draughtsman's Tee that is about 24" X 3" X 1/8" which has held its shape since I inherited it from my Father. Vintage WW II. It was made of Mahogany with tongue and groove 3/8" wide strips of plastic laminated to each edge.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I had some sort of plexi or lexan straightedges from LMI years ago - I should dig 'em out to see how well they've kept true in storage, I really only use them for guides for cutting paper, now, but the big issue I had with 'em was that they had a little too much flex for my tastes. If I was going to make edges with plastic like that, I'd make them like the drafting tools that Russell mentions to stiffen them up.

[Stanley Covington]

Lacking a decent means to resaw, I can't just get a piece of nice stable wood from the local hardwood lumber yard (great selection but no milling offered). The other options are all poor: hard maple, red oak or poplar from BORG, which at least comes in a manageable size for such a project. I'd held off because I'd read up and found those all have poor stability, but you pointed out the obvious: just check when using and re-flatten as needed.

You mention curving the edge. Is that to help it stay straight as it expands/contracts? (I'm assuming you mean the OTHER edge!)


I wouldn't build a dog house of red oak unless the wood was free and I hated the dog.

But I have had good result with hard maple. One problem from buying from big box retailers like HD is the wood has not had a chance to settle down. You might want to let it acclimatize in your shop for a few weeks. You can confirm/track this by numbering each board, entering the number into a logbook, and measuring and noting the moisture content every few days. When the boards are all fairly close in moisture content, and when that average moisture content is close to that of other samples of the same species that have been in your shop for some months, you can glue up your benchtop without worrying about stability. Lots of laminations go a long way to promote stability in any species, BTW.

The theory behind the curved straightedge back is also said to apply to the old coffin-shaped wooden smoothing planes as well, the idea being that wood absorbs/loses moisture from the atmosphere more quickly from endgrain than sidegrain, and therefore, a board of wood expands/shrinks from its ends sooner than its center, producing differential expansion/contraction and harmful distortion. So cutting the back of the straightedge to a curve shape exposes more endgrain and less sidegrain, resulting in less differential expansion/contraction, and reduced warpage. Makes perfect sense. Probably not critical. Any thoughts?

Stan

[Dave Anderson NH]

I'm amazed that all of you are dissing red oak. I use it in my shop all the time and it is one of my most valuable woods. Cut to 16" lengths and easy to split/rive it provides a high heat output in my woodstove.

On the serious side though red oak is my normal choice for the spindles, bows, and armrails of Windsor chairs. It's cheap, plentiful in NH, and works well with hand tools when green. As for any other furniture use....Fahgetaboudit.

[David Weaver]

I'm amazed that all of you are dissing red oak. I use it in my shop all the time and it is one of my most valuable woods. Cut to 16" lengths and easy to split/rive it provides a high heat output in my woodstove.

On the serious side though red oak is my normal choice for the spindles, bows, and armrails of Windsor chairs. It's cheap, plentiful in NH, and works well with hand tools when green. As for any other furniture use....Fahgetaboudit.

We burned a LOT of it. Smells a little like stinky feet when you first open a wet log. Great wood to split by hand, great heat output when dry, doesn't ash up a stove (like hickory) and you can find the trees everywhere. It was my dad's favorite (we cut and hand split 10 cords a year or so when I was younger).

It was our only heat source for a dozen or so years and while we had the trees around to cut, we cut red oak almost exclusively unless something else had bug damage or fell over across the driveway.

I almost forgot how much we appreciated it as firewood.....

[David Weaver]

Ah Red oak.... that magical wood that's available at everyone home center and thus becomes canvas for so many's first "nice" furniture projects... and of course, lets not forget about the super thick coat of home store poly that really brings out the oaks best!:rolleyes:

This coffee table was my second ever woodworking project. It still sits in our living room, at the time it seemed so fancy compared to the yellow pine I had used previously. I wonder how many of you have a nearly identical first or second build sitting in your home... come on, now that I've bared it all its time for the rest of your to fess up... I know you have something VERY similar!

254344

















Anyway.... back to straight edges. So what are ya'll opinions of good, non metal materials. George has recommend pear, what about soft maple? Isn't that suppossedly a very very stable wood...?(I may be remembering wrong) if so I bet some QS stock of it would work well. Other woods?

What about plastics or polymers of some kind? Anything in particular that might work well there?

Quartersawn walnut. They have it over at hearne$.

[Chris Griggs]

I'm amazed that all of you are dissing red oak. I use it in my shop all the time and it is one of my most valuable woods. Cut to 16" lengths and easy to split/rive it provides a high heat output in my woodstove.

On the serious side though red oak is my normal choice for the spindles, bows, and armrails of Windsor chairs. It's cheap, plentiful in NH, and works well with hand tools when green. As for any other furniture use....Fahgetaboudit.


Quartersawn walnut. They have it over at hearne$.

QS walnut huh. Wouldn't have guessed. I wonder if I might even have some of that around already. Will have to check.


....I actually don't mind red oak for somethings... its cheap and hard, so useful to have around the shop. But I don't think I'll be making another table top out iof it, very soon (read: ever)

[David Weaver]

You could use that table as an excuse to try a pore filler and paint.

[Chris Griggs]

You could use that table as an excuse to try a pore filler and paint.

Not a bad idea. The pore filler would probably fill the tiny gap in the top where I screwed up one of the edge joints. When I made it, I literally put like 10 coats of poly on it to try and fill the pores. I had no idea what I was doing. It makes for decent coffee table though.... its like 24x48" so you can fit a lot of beer and takeout on it... I think my wife likes it so I'm not sure I could get away with painting it...I did luck out at least in that the oak I had was fairly straight so the top isn't covered in ugly cathedrals.

[Jeff Duncan]

I'll add one thought on the bamboo floor discrepancy based on my casually reading up on it over the last few years. Some people don't realize but bamboo is technically a grass and not a wood. Also there are many species, (IIRC in the thousands!), some being very soft, and some being incredibly hard, and everything between. For your average consumer there is no easy way to grade or verify what type of bamboo your getting as it's all sold as "bamboo". Therefore you may have bamboo flooring being made in Japan that's as hard as a rock, and bamboo being made here in the states that's, well.....not so much? Producing very different wear depending on what type of bamboo you have.

good luck,
JeffD

[Jack Curtis]

I've got two 60 year old red oaks shading the house, save me thousands in a/c costs per year. I value each tree at about $10,000. Every now and then a lower branch dies, and I use them for woodworking, often tool handles and the like. Color is very attractive.

[Fitzhugh Freeman]

Hi Fitzhugh,I was reading your post and woods at the Borg.The lowes by me does sometimes have some very nice vg dougfir 1x3.I have found to be very stable.I look for the one that are a bit heavy and fine lines.If they are straight piled in the rack even better.Your profile doesn't list your location if your out here on the west coast come by and I will share some vg fir that I took out of a home restoration.House was built in the twenties.I have more than I need.

Thanks for the offer, afraid I'm too far. I'm up in Berkeley. I wish I could take you up on it.

[george wilson]

Tonkin cane is preferred for fly fishing rods. It was hoarded and highly prized by rod makers when unavailable during the Vietnam war.

[Michael Ray Smith]

After George described the three-piece technique for creating straightedges in an earlier thread, I posted a question on my FB account asking how one might go about making a wooden straightedge with no reference. I wanted to see if anyone would come up with the method. A friend took a shot at describing a method using two pieces and, after a couple of follow up questions from me, came up with the two-piece method you describe . . . . and which I subsequently found described elsewhere. My friend figured it out by drawing on his background in physics and astronomy and his experience in making perfectly flat mirrors.

I now use this technique for my winding sticks. I hold them together with contrasting colored dowels (dark dowels against a lighter colored stick), set in holes drilled all the way through (glued into one stick but obviously not the other), near the "top" edge and equidistant from it. I use the top of the dowels as sighting targets. I'll have to make sure I keep the dowels equidistant from the edge as I true it up over time. . . and eventually I guess I'll need to make a new set when the edge gets down to the dowels. I don't know if the holes affect the stability of the edge, but it seems to be good enough for me, at least for now.

[Frank Drew]

Plex
Genuine mahogany is traditional, I think. Russsell, you're right, and I made two pairs of winding sticks out of well-seasoned Mahogany at least twenty five years ago and they've stayed straight and true.

[george wilson]

Mahogany would work just fine. Make sure you have decent mahogany,not Philippine(not a true mahogany).

[Paul Saffold]

Stan the method that White describes is not really a straightedge, but is a "master bar",a board with 3 points in a straight line. In this case 3 screw heads. The other 2 boards are the same and by checking the 3 boards against each other in a prescribed order one is "determined" to be straight, or as White describes ..."three screw heads along the length of a master bar can be aligned with each other so they are within thousandths of an inch of being in a straight line, creating an inexpensive straight edge whose accuracy rivals a costly machinist's tool."
This being, for me basically a one-time use tool. To use it again it would need to be setup again to verify it's straightness, due to inevitable seasonal movement.
Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I generally avoid threads that go into a second page 'cause by then it's too often a few beating a dead horse.

[Charlie Stanford]

After George described the three-piece technique for creating straightedges in an earlier thread, I posted a question on my FB account asking how one might go about making a wooden straightedge with no reference. I wanted to see if anyone would come up with the method. A friend took a shot at describing a method using two pieces and, after a couple of follow up questions from me, came up with the two-piece method you describe . . . . and which I subsequently found described elsewhere. My friend figured it out by drawing on his background in physics and astronomy and his experience in making perfectly flat mirrors.

I now use this technique for my winding sticks. I hold them together with contrasting colored dowels (dark dowels against a lighter colored stick), set in holes drilled all the way through (glued into one stick but obviously not the other), near the "top" edge and equidistant from it. I use the top of the dowels as sighting targets. I'll have to make sure I keep the dowels equidistant from the edge as I true it up over time. . . and eventually I guess I'll need to make a new set when the edge gets down to the dowels. I don't know if the holes affect the stability of the edge, but it seems to be good enough for me, at least for now.

The three-stick method, in addition to the other link I've already provided, is also detailed in Paul N. Hasluck's The Handyman's Book and is referred to as "Sir J. Whitworth's famous method..." He is of Whitworth screw fame: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Whitworth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Whitworth)

Quote from the Wikipedia link: "Whitworth popularized a method of producing accurate flat surfaces (see Surface plate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_plate)) during the 1830s, using engineer's blue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineer%27s_blue) and scraping (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_scraper) techniques on three trial surfaces. Up until his introduction of the scraping technique, the same three plate method was employed using polishing techniques, giving less accurate results. This led to an explosion of development of precision instruments using these flat surface generation techniques as a basis for further construction of precise shapes."

Here is another quote from the Wikipedia link: "His next innovation, in 1840, was a measuring technique called "end measurements" that used a precision flat plane and measuring screw, both of his own invention. The system, with a precision of one millionth of an inch, was demonstrated at the Great Exhibition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Exhibition) of 1851."

Seemed to know what he was doing.

[Wilbur Pan]

I'll add one thought on the bamboo floor discrepancy based on my casually reading up on it over the last few years. Some people don't realize but bamboo is technically a grass and not a wood. Also there are many species, (IIRC in the thousands!), some being very soft, and some being incredibly hard, and everything between. For your average consumer there is no easy way to grade or verify what type of bamboo your getting as it's all sold as "bamboo". Therefore you may have bamboo flooring being made in Japan that's as hard as a rock, and bamboo being made here in the states that's, well.....not so much? Producing very different wear depending on what type of bamboo you have.

good luck,
JeffD

Not only that, but denting that is observed in bamboo flooring is probably more a reflection of how thin the bamboo lamination is and a failure of the substrate rather than an issue of bamboo itself.

Bamboo cutting boards are nearly indestructable. They are also a more substantial piece of bamboo than the layer that goes onto flooring.

[george wilson]

I don't think the bamboo is any thinner than other materials laminated to a substrate. The only real hard part of bamboo is the outer skin. Haven't tried to get a woman with high heels walking on my cutting board. Or,maybe different species are used for the boards.

The subject of thickness is moot anyway,because you can buy laminated flooring with different thicknesses of the top laminate. The best grade is thicker so it can be re sanded when it wears,instead of having to be replaced.