Bed posts not square - need help!

[Scott Huff]

I'm making a bed for my son that has 3-3/4" square posts. I had to glue 5 boards face to face for each post. When I ran the posts thru the jointer after glue-up, I tried my best to keep the flat surface of the posts against the fence, but I failed to get the jointed edges square. I didn't realize this until after I had already run them thru the planer. They are off by about 1/32" or so from one edge to the next. Any thoughts of how I could fix this? Should I just leave them alone?

[Doug Shepard]

I think you'll probably need to square them up. 1/32" magnified by the length of the side rails might cause you some problems mating the other end of the rails up to their posts. Is it the weight of the posts that's making it difficult to keep the face up against the jointer fence? Might be the perfect opportunity to convince the LOML why you should buy the new Lee Valley bevel-up jointer plane and fence to square them up with hand tools.:D

[Todd Burch]

Scott, if you mortise (assuming you will mortise and tenon) the face that is out of plane, there's no need to redo it and the rails won't go awry. That's because an on-plane face (the opposite face) will register for the mortiser. You can reference any of the other three sides and you'll be fine.

Todd

[Scott Huff]

Doug,
Not exactly sure why I was unable to keep the posts against the fence. They're heavy, but not so heavy that I couldn't maneuver them. I put a lot of pressure towards the fence to keep the posts square, but they somehow shifted on me. I think I'll need some practice w/a hand plane before I try it on one of these posts! :)

Todd,
Great picture. That's exactly what happened, except when I ran them thru the planer, it created the same effect, but opposite, on the other side. I already mortised the footboard posts. I didn't notice my problem until doing both of them. I put off doing the headboard posts until I can figure out how to move forward.

By the way, the mortises for the head/footboards are on the edges. The bedrail fasteners will go on one of the faces.

[Keith Weber]

Hey Todd,

What program did you use to whip up that diagram? I'm thinking of adding a CAD program to my computer so that I can get a better idea of the final 3D look of my furniture designs before the final product.

Keith

[Gary Herrmann]

You may also want to verify that your jointer fence is square to the table and that the tables are parallel. Jointing boards that are more than twice (?) as long as the bed of your jointer can also be difficult. Advice that may be a bit too late at this point, but something to look out for next time. Good luck.

[Mike Vermeil]

Scott,

With long heavy posts like that, here is my technique for squaring:

1) joint one edge,
2) plane to desired thickness with jointed edge facing down on planer bed,
3) rip one of the unfinished edges on table saw with either jointed or planed edge facing down on saw table (make sure TS blade is 90 degrees to the table),
4) plane final edge with table sawn edge facing down on planer bed, and
5) plane table sawn edge to final thickness.

In step #3, the weight of the post along with proper technique will keep the jointed/planed edge down flat on the saw table producing a newly cut surface 90 degrees to both the jointed & planed edges.

Hope this helps.

[Scott Huff]

Mike,
I wasn't considering the tablesaw because the blade will not cut the full 3-3/4" thickness. You have a good point, though, w/one jointed edge, I should be able to make a perfect 90 degree cut w/the tablesaw.
What I'm thinking of doing is just using as much tablesaw blade as I can to square up one edge as best I can, then flip it over, run it through again, then run the other side thru the planer, as you suggested. I'll give it a try when I get some spare time to start back into it again. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Dave Richards]

Keith, Todd used SketchUp for that drawing. He's a wiz (he's even presenting at the 3D Base Camp in Boulder which starts today. He might be a bit busy which is why I took the liberty of answering your question.) with it but it is a very simple drawing program and very handy for the woodworker. It's not really CAD but it can be used to make drawings for the shop as well as the 3D views that make it easy to show others what you are doing.

[Michael Gabbay]

Scott - Last year I was working on a replacement bottom rail for the front porch. It was a 10' long 12/4 piece of mahagony. I managed to joint it on my 6" jointer to get one face flat then ran it through the planer like Mike suggested and then ripped it on my saw the way you mentioned (cut then flip). It worked very nicely and only required minor clean up with a #5.

If the piece is off only on 2 sides (top and bottom) then I'd run it through the jointer again taking 1/64" cuts just to knock off the high edge.

my 2 cents...

Mike

[Scott Huff]

Thanks for all the the help, guys. I ended up running the posts thru the tablesaw, then flipped them over for another run, then ran them thru the jointer, then planer, then had to re-surface the other two sides to make everything squared up and equal. I lost 1/8" in thickness, but gained perfect squareness - a trade-off I don't mind.

Here are some pictures of my son, Skyler, helping me clean out one of the mortises on one of the posts. This will be his bed when I'm done.

[Todd Burch]

Scott, those photos make it all worth it. ;) Who cares about the bed... - you're spending quality time with your son that you'll treasure for the rest of your life.

Todd