Edge-planing boards/squaring stock

[Luke Dupont]

Hi guys,

I had a few questions about edge planing boards by hand that not a lot of people seem to touch on:

1) When you're squaring up stock, do you make a special effort to preserve/establish a consistent width down the entire length of the board? What I mean is, generally, if you measure the width of a board down its length, you'll find that even with dimensioned, pre-planed lumber, it will usually be wider by as much as an inch at one end than the other.

2) If you do correct this, how do you layout the new lines? It almost seems like you need to plane one side flat, and then use a really big marking gauge to mark the other side from the trued edge. Could measure it by hand, of course, but that seems inefficient.

3) This one is a technique question, but: when hand planing the edge of boards, I notice that I tend to create a taper towards the direction that I'm planing. This happens even when I start every pass with a bite into the near edge and continue down with what I perceive to be consistent shavings. This, again, results in edges in width that tapers down unless I specifically layout some lines as reference before-hand so that I can make corrections.

Most people appear to just eye one edge, which would make sense, but don't mention truing up the opposing edge to match, so I'm curious.

[Daniel Rode]

I'm no expert but here's what I do. Most of the time I begin by flattening one face. Once that is flat, it is used as a reference to check the edge for square. The I plane that edge square to the reference face. I now have a reference face and reference edge. I can now use a pin gauge to mark the opposing edge (or face) on all 4 sides. Measuring and marking with a ruler is simply not accurate. Any homemade gauge will do better. I plane down to those marks and, if I've been accurate, I should now have a board that is flat and square on all 4 sides. A pin or a wheel gauge is the best because it makes an impression in the surface. When you get close, a little feather edge will lift up and I can often see the remnants of the mark in the surface I'm planing. One can be very accurate this way.

That process is pretty straight forward but it takes some practice. Moreover, there is a bit more involved in how to plane, mark and check the surfaces. It's simple but not, at first, easy.

[David Eisenhauer]

There are wider marking gauges called panel gauges available from a few of the gauge vendors (LN is one that comes to mind) that are used to mark off a consistent width after straightening one edge. Yes, I establish the overall width of a board with a panel gauge or by running a mark alongside the end of an adjustable square as I run the square along first straightened edge when squaring stock unless it is an individual board of more than one that I am going to edge glue together for a panel. I tend to look at how it makes up to others before establishing the width, however it usually ends up being cut/planned to a non-tapered width for use. To answer your last question, perhaps you are unconsciously pressing "down" more on the plane as you move forward during the stroke rather than pressing "forward", but who knows. If you put a mark on the edge to follow or work to, that should make it better.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Hi guys,

I had a few questions about edge planing boards by hand that not a lot of people seem to touch on:

1) When you're squaring up stock, do you make a special effort to preserve/establish a consistent width down the entire length of the board? What I mean is, generally, if you measure the width of a board down its length, you'll find that even with dimensioned, pre-planed lumber, it will usually be wider by as much as an inch at one end than the other.

2) If you do correct this, how do you layout the new lines? It almost seems like you need to plane one side flat, and then use a really big marking gauge to mark the other side from the trued edge. Could measure it by hand, of course, but that seems inefficient.

3) This one is a technique question, but: when hand planing the edge of boards, I notice that I tend to create a taper towards the direction that I'm planing. This happens even when I start every pass with a bite into the near edge and continue down with what I perceive to be consistent shavings. This, again, results in edges in width that tapers down unless I specifically layout some lines as reference before-hand so that I can make corrections.

Most people appear to just eye one edge, which would make sense, but don't mention truing up the opposing edge to match, so I'm curious.

If you don't get a consistent width, you don't have a four square board, and it can be very difficult to build anything accurately. So yes you need to correct that. I basically do what Daniel Rode has indicated, flattening one face, then referencing an edge off of that, and then using a gage to mark the opposite edge parallel to the reference edge.

I agree with everything Daniel says, except if it is significantly out (you mention an inch) I usually use a pencil and combination square to mark the line roughly parallel to the reference edge. I then rip it roughly square and roughly to dimension, and then plane to the finished dimension. If you have a board that is an inch out, that will be a lot of planing.

[Robert Hazelwood]

Yes, the edges usually need to be parallel. In fact for many purposes I would say it's more important to be parallel than square.

I think you have the basic idea down. The first step is usually to true one face - for this first face, it doesn't need to be parallel to any other face, it just needs to be flat and not twisted. Now true an adjacent edge - again, no need to be parallel to any other surface, just square to the first face, and straight along the length. The opposite face and edge, now, do need to be parallel to the first ones, and this is ensured by planing to a mark from a gauge referenced off the first face and edge.

If you lack a gauge long enough to make the mark, a combination square can help. You can use it to make a knife mark (more tedious than a regular gauge but plenty workable). It's also good for checking parallelism by placing the stock against one end of the reference edge, and sliding the rule out until it's end is flush with the edge you want to check. Now move the stock to the other end of the board (still against the reference edge) and check to see if the end of the rule is still flush with the edge. Your fingertips can detect tiny discrepancies, and you can adjust with the plane until it's perfect.

As for the other issue - inadvertently tapering the board because the shavings are thicker at the end of the stroke - getting the plane to bite at the very beginning of the stroke can sometimes be a challenge. For me it's one sign that I need to sharpen - the blade wants to skip over the first few inches (often leaving marks), even though it will still bite in and take a shaving towards the middle and far end. The other variable is how you are directing the pressure of the plane. One of the harder aspects of learning to plane in my opinion is getting the right pressure at the beginning of the cut. You can also have too much pressure on the toe at the end of the cut- try to place all of the pressure on the heel as the plane is nearing the edge.