Best Way To Take off 1/8" End Grain?

[Erich Weidner]

My sawing skills aren't great so I left some extra to clean up with the plane. However this seems like a lot to remove with the jointer plane. But not enough width to handsaw.

Thoughts?

[Jim Koepke]

It depends on the tools at hand.

A bandsaw or a miter box might be the first choice in my shop.

One could scribe a deep line all around with a square and marking knife. Then use a chisel to make a chamfer around the end. Pare down the end with a chisel. Finally remove the excess with a pass or two on a shooting board.

With a low angle jack plane one could just use a shooting board. It might take a few strokes set to as thick of a shaving as possible.

If using a jointer plane, scribe deeply on the exit side and cut a little off to avoid blow out.

[Derek Cohen]

My sawing skills aren't great so I left some extra to clean up with the plane. However this seems like a lot to remove with the jointer plane. But not enough width to handsaw.

Thoughts?

Dimensions?

Context - extending above a joint already glued together, or a loose board?

If above a joint, I might use a flush cut saw, leaving 1mm clear, and then a paring chisel to finish. If a thin loose board, a shooting board works. If a thick loose board, a tablesaw makes the most sense.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Mark Rainey]

Eric, smart to leave some extra - much easier to take off than add on. As Warren says, cut your board to width last. So chamfer the end of the board at the edge that will get cut off to get to exact width. Put the board in the vise end up. Then plane to the scribed line exiting at the chamfer to prevent tear out. 1/8 of an inch should come off quickly. Reduce thickness of cut as you get close to scribed line.

[Erich Weidner]

Dimensions?

Context - extending above a joint already glued together, or a loose board?

Actually, this is a glued up panel 27x18 inches. My first thought was to try planes. The jack plane split the heck out of the end even with the chamfer I put in.
This pic is from before I used the #5 on it. The split is now in the clamps with glue to fix the damage done. Tomorrow, I must try again. But how? Saw?

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[Derek Cohen]

Erich, the first step for me would be to score a knife line around the board. This is (1) more accurate to work to, and (2) will prevent spelching.

Then I would either clamp the board in a vise, or use a shooting board, to plane a shallow chamfer at both ends, working from the outside inwards. In other words, the chamfer would be about 3" long on each side.

The next step would be to plane the centre section away. My preference would be a BU Jack plane here with a low cutting angle. Alternatively, a #5 will work. Get it close to the line. Then finish with a jointer, or shooting board.

I am assuming that the panel is narrow, about 3/4"? If you are concerned about planing square, then use your bench top as a shooting board. Here I am jointing two book matched edges, but the concept is the same. Plane from the outside inward and half way ...

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/OneStepBack_html_m15577872.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[chris carter]

I do this exact thing all the freakin’ time. Just did it a couple days ago! I clamp it in my twin-screw end vise if it will fit. If it’s too big I holdfast it to the front apron of my bench. You could also clamp it to the front of your bench with bar/pipe clamps, a leg vise and deadman, a holdfast in a leg and a milk crate on the floor for support, etc. There are plenty of ways. I don’t bother with champfers. I just grab whatever plane is appropriate and have at it. Usually a bevel up lack, but I have used a regular jack, a smoother, a block, whatever works best. I start at one end and plane about ¾ of the way across, checking for square occasionally, getting close to my knife line at the starting edge. Then I do the same from the other end of the board. This sometimes will leave a very subtle hump in the middle, so I knock that down planing in whatever direction I happen to be standing. Then I’m ALMOST at my line. So I go back to the first end and take it down to the line, then from the other side and take it down to the line, making sure I'm square. Often my last two passes are with a smoother because it's easier than adjusting the depth of cut on a jack. Then I’m done. I do it this way because even with a champfer I’ve been burned too many times only planing in one direction. Also, this is just plain easier for me.

[steven c newman]

Best way for me....Stanley No. 358 Mitrebox....about 8 full strokes of the saw...done......saves setting up the tablesaw, for one quick swipe.

[Derek Cohen]

Best way for me....Stanley No. 358 Mitrebox....about 8 full strokes of the saw...done......saves setting up the tablesaw, for one quick swipe.

You can saw 18" on the mitrebox? Bloody big mitrebox :)

Regards from Perth

Derek

[steven c newman]

Hmmmm...forget one item Derek...it is 1/8" according to the OP....NOT 18".....selective reading, was it?


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These are 1/2" x 6"s....still plenty of room....up to around a 1 x 10, I think....as for that 1/8" trim....
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BTDTGTTS.....and..
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I went from NOT square...to....
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This IS right off the saw.....works for me

So...WHERE did you come up with that 18" measurement, anyway....hmmm?

[Derek Cohen]

So...WHERE did you come up with that 18" measurement, anyway....hmmm?

Well Steven, it helps to read what Erich wrote ...

"Actually, this is a glued up panel 27x18 inches."

Regards from Perth

Derek

[steven c newman]

And...I was going by the OP's original entry to this post...as in "Taking off an 1/8"
For those extra wide panels...that I sometimes need to square up after a glue-up ( see the last project I posted, that Tool Chest) I had a guide fence.....I can use it as a rip fence on the tablesaw, a guide fence for both the hand-held router and the router table.....and can set it up to guide my 6" Skil saw......last time, it was across 16" of a glued up Ash panel.....

[lowell holmes]

I do it on my table saw which has a 10" carbide blade.

[Jim Koepke]

I do it on my table saw which has a 10" carbide blade.

An 18" wide panel is a bit big for many table saws. Besides, Erich may not have a table saw.

My bandsaw is pretty big but 18" is still a bit big for my miter gauge.

It is difficult to arrive at the best solution without all the information.

As an example, if this panel is to be held in a frame it might help to rabbet the sides of the panel to fit the frame. One could even work it into a raised panel to make removal of the excess easier.

If the panel is to retain full thickness on all edges working it with planes from both directions may be the best solution.

If need be it wouldn't be difficult to rig up a one time use shooting board.

jtk

[Thomas Wilson]

An arrangement like Derek’s but clamp a scrap piece on the blow out edge to support it. If you have an end vise and bench dogs, use that with a slightly shorter piece of plywood underneath. Put scraps between dogs and panel. They cushion the dog to prevent marring as well supporting against blow out. Sharpen the plane bleeding sharp. I would use a bevel up jack plane but use what you’ve got. Test sharpness on a scrap sample of end grain. If it is sharp enough, it will cut cleanly without compressing fibers. I think your panel is softwood so this is the ultimate test of sharpening skill. Good luck

[Thomas Wilson]

An 18” panel can cut safely on a typical cabinet table saw. The trick is to turn the miter gauge so it runs backwards in the slot. You would need a fence on the miter gauge and clamp the workpiece to the fence. Be sure that clamp face on the trailing edge is above the bottom face of the workpiece so it won’t catch on the edge of the table.

A big sled would also work if you rigged up some indeed support.

[Erich Weidner]

Thanks all for the suggestions. Initial work with the jointer was going OK, but was slow. I had already chamfered the end to avoid blow out.
Gaining some confidence I switched to my jack plane. That totally blew out the end. I glued it back together and left it in the clamps overnight. Going to have another go at it today.

I originally posted from my phone, so initial post was lacking some details as I am not a fan of typing on my phone.


The work was/ will be clamped to the front of the bench with the face vice and bar clamp.
It is 3/4" pine.
I need to remove between 1/8" and 1/4" of end grain (more to take down on one end vs the other) from an 18" wide x 27" long glued up panel.
This panel will be a top or bottom of a tool cabinet dovetailed to the sides (I'm building this basically like my Dutch tool chest).
I no longer own a table or band saw. I do have a track saw, but wanted to do this project by hand.


Derek, interesting approach, and that picture is a keeper for next time I need to square up a thin board edge. Might be time to break out and finally sharpen my BU planes. Unfortunately, I only have a BU smoother and jointer. And the Veritas BU jointer doesn't have the flat side all along its length as does the smoother and jack. So I guess I'm going to finally break out the BU jointer and plane it clamped to the bench face as Chris suggested. Since I already blew out the one end and repaired it with glue, I guess I'm going to plane in from end to middle from each side and see how that goes.


The real thing I need to do is get better at sawing. Though, I guess I am getting better, because before I would have botched the cut such that I wouldn't have had so much end grain to clean up. :) (Well, at least not the whole length).

[Erich Weidner]

Well the maiden voyage of my Veritas BU joiner went well. In fact it removed the thickness in the end grain very quickly. I was surprised at how quickly in fact.
This was with the standard blade. I also have the toothed blade, but didn't try that one out.

The end grain I blew out the other day and repaired with glue didn't survive, so there will be a blemish. Oh well.

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PS. Sorry about rotated image, I always forget SMC doesn't auto rotate images.

[Derek Cohen]

Erich, that blemish is an easy fix. Remove the area and glue in a patch. Match the grain.

Regards from Perth

Derek