Winding sticks and striaght edges?

[C-Dave Thompson]

Hello
This may seem like a really niave question. I am just starting to learn woodworking. The first thing I am trying to learn is how to get a 4 square
board. From what I have read ,one is to use winding sticks and a straight
edge to find twist and high spots. When using winding sticks are you supposed to move the rear stick in increments to the front stick ? Or are you just looking for the two ends of the board to be within the same plane? While using the straight edge and you have a board that only has slivers of light showing through but the straight edge does not rock , is that good enough or do you have to try to get rid of all the tiny little high spots? And what is the a sequence of when to use the winding sticks and straight edge. For instance do you use the winding sticks first to get rid of wind then use the striat edge to find and knock down the high spots or vice versa. Or are they used together through the whole flattening process. eg (check twist, plane, check high spots,plane ect....). Am I over thinking this ?? BTW its nice to meet everyone.

[Caleb Dietrich]

The winding sticks and the straight edge will help you get a feel for what needs to happen. You might even start by studying the plank by eye. Work the concave side and knock down high spots.
You might want to leave a little more detail about what you're doing specifically. I'm assuming you're using hand planes and trying to get a board to use in a piece of furniture...In that case it should meet up with a straight edge pretty well.

[C-Dave Thompson]

Correct I am using Hand planes. Not really looking to build anything yet. I am just trying to learn how to get something flat and usable. Once I master that then I will attempt to build something.

[Mark Stutz]

First, welcome to the Creek! While I too have been learning this skill, I really never thought about that particular question. I just started in on a board, using a combination of the two. I moved the far stick to several places keeping the front stick in place, but I can't see why it should matter. Start with a short board...two feet or so...to get the hang of it. A little tip I picked up somewhere...maybe here?...was to place shavings under the end of the winding stick to get a feel for how much to remove. Sometimes you get into a planing rhythm and take off more than you need. Don't spend all your time practicing though. Pick a small project to practice your technique. You will learn pretty quickly what is flat and square enough when you do the joinery! It really is gratifying when you get it down. Another thing I did...if you have tailed tools, you can partially joint the face and then finish by hand...it gives you a bit of a reference until you get the hang of it.

Mark

[Mike Henderson]

Just a comment - your winding sticks should be made straight so you don't need a separate straight edge, just use one of the winding sticks to check the board for flat. It just reduces the amount of "stuff" you need while working.

Mike

[Bob Smalser]

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/6583947/84781787.jpg

Ticking sticks used as winding sticks. You don't need anything fancy.

For long straightedges I simply run a 1/2 X 3 batten through the jointer for a clean, flat edge. Without a jointer, you can use a common aluminum yardstick, or buy a 4' aluminum straightedge from Home Depot inexpensively.

[Andrew Williams]

I like to rip MDF for straightedges or winding sticks. Easy enough to tell if it is straight by inverting them against eachother, holding against tablesaw etc.

[James Owen]

Hello
This may seem like a really niave question. I am just starting to learn woodworking. The first thing I am trying to learn is how to get a 4 square
board. From what I have read ,one is to use winding sticks and a straight
edge to find twist and high spots. When using winding sticks are you supposed to move the rear stick in increments to the front stick ? Or are you just looking for the two ends of the board to be within the same plane? While using the straight edge and you have a board that only has slivers of light showing through but the straight edge does not rock , is that good enough or do you have to try to get rid of all the tiny little high spots? And what is the a sequence of when to use the winding sticks and straight edge. For instance do you use the winding sticks first to get rid of wind then use the striat edge to find and knock down the high spots or vice versa. Or are they used together through the whole flattening process. eg (check twist, plane, check high spots,plane ect....). Am I over thinking this ?? BTW its nice to meet everyone.

First off, welcome to the Creek!

Winding sticks: they're very versatile, and you can use them at various distances apart along the entire length of your board.


Much of this is merely technique; what I normally do is put the winding sticks at opposite ends of the board to see whether the board has an overall twist. Then, I check it a various intervals along the length of the board. What those intervals are depends on the length of the board. I then use a straight edge width-wise across the board to look for high spots/areas, and move the straight edge along the board from one end to the other, to get an idea of how much and where wood will have to be removed. Next I check it with the straight edge length-wise, going across the width of the board and moving it down the length of the board, as well, depending on the length of the board. I mark all of the high spots/areas with chalk. As I mentioned earlier, this is merely technique, and is certainly not the only way this can be done; just the method I usually use. Other sequences will work just as well; this one will give you a starting place for you to develop a technique that you like.
<<While using the straight edge and you have a board that only has slivers of light showing through but the straight edge does not rock , is that good enough or do you have to try to get rid of all the tiny little high spots? >>The answer to this question depends on what you want to do with that surface. If the surface is a board face, and is not critical to fitting another part, you could leave it as is. However, if it is critical to fitting another part or is a visible/touchable surface, you'll probably want to give some serious consideration to flattening it as completely as possible. If, on the other hand, this is an edge surface and you're going to use it for making a panel, then you will certainly want it as flat as possible (or just very slightly concave), so that you will get a good, strong glue-up. Take a look at my comments in the following thread for details on dimensioning a rough-sawn board with hand tools and for preparing an edge for glue-up:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=54405Also very useful are the DVDs by Rob Cosman (Rough to Ready) and Chris Schwartz (Coarse, Medium, and Fine) on board preparation with hand tools. David Charlesworth's DVD on hand planing and edge preparation (Hand Tool Techniques: Part 2: Hand Planing)is also quite good. All are available on the Lie-Nielsen web site (http://www.lie-nielsen.com/).

Good luck, and have fun; once you get the hang of it (it doesn't take long!!), you'll really enjoy it!

[C-Dave Thompson]

Thanks for the help, Some really good info, I apreciate the help everyone

[Derek Cohen]

If you are struggling to sleep at night, you might take a look at my review of the LV scrub plane, which is also a tutorial on flattening boards. Winding sticks and other devious apparatus are involved.

http://www.wkfinetools.com/contrib/dCohen/z_art/LVScrubPlane/index.asp

Regards from Perth

Derek