Of Straight Edges & Winding Sticks

[Jim Koepke]

Winding sticks can be very useful when planing whether it be a single piece of lumber or a glued up panel. Their usefulness depends on the accuracy with which they are made.

In essence winding sticks are two matched straight edges. One of these usually has contrasting material on the top of one of the sticks as a visual aid.

Making a pair of straight edges is not a difficult task if care is taken.

My first pair was made longer than needed and are inconvenient to use on some projects. The principle used here for making straight edges was from a web article, Making Accurate Straight-Edges from Scratch by John A. Swensen. The author explains the concept of the need to make three straight edges to prove the edges are straight.

With two edges it is possible for a concave and convex face to align perfectly even when one is turned 180º. Theoretically, only if all three faces are straight lines could they align in all the ways each piece can be turned.

My plan was to take this a step further by aligning four faces to make two pairs of winding sticks.

To start off one needs some stable wood. My scrap pile still has some maple found one day while driving to work. My recollection is the county was having a free trash clean up day and there by the side of the road was a broken up dining table:

1 Maple Table Top Stock.jpg

It is probably well acclimated after being in the shop more than a decade.

A couple of pieces ~9/16X2X15” were cut out on the band saw. They were planed by hand as square as my planes could do:

b Final Squaring.jpg

This piece was slightly out of square on this side. A few passes with a Junior Jack (#5-1/4) brought it into square.

The tricky part is getting a straight edge for comparing. It isn’t too difficult to figure which is the straightest of the edges planed by comparing and flipping:

c Checking for Straight.jpg

With four edges only three can actually be compared. (make three to get one is the concept) One face can only be compared to the two faces of another piece. It helps to label the faces on each end. It also helps to give each piece a label for later when the pieces are resawn.

Part of the challenge in this is to straighten the faces while keeping them parallel. There is another check for that:

d Parallel Check.jpg

With the pieces held together on a flat surface rubbing a finger over the edge will reveal if the pieces are parallel to themselves and each other. Again one piece needs to be turned 180º to check in two orientations.

Setting two piece close together on a bench can also reveal if they both have square edges. It quickly becomes apparent if one or both are out of square.

When comparing one face to another if the two mate with no gaps flip one of the pieces 180º to ensure it still matches. Then turn the piece that was flipped to the other edge and repeat. If two sides of one piece meet in both orientations it should be three straight edges. Then flip to the unchecked edge of the first piece and repeat the process. When all is done and all match in all orientations there should be four straight edges.

Any discrepancies found can be adjusted with careful plane work.

When all is checked and rechecked and determined to be straight and square the pieces are marked for resawing. A dividers is being set to one third of the stock thickness:

e Marking for Resaw.jpg

This was marked on opposite corners of the work. It was then checked with a protractor. The image of checking with the protractor came out a bit fuzzy so you just have to imaging a simple angle gauge being set on this to measure it at 6º. The bandsaw table was tilted to 6º and the stock was cut:

f Bandsaw Resaw.jpg

The push stick in my left hand is hidden by my right arm.

This produced four pieces with saw marks to be planed:

g Cleaning up Saw Marks.jpg

This was a troublesome task for my type 6 #4. It seemed to want to jump like a bucking bronco. A later plane type seemed to handle it fine. The #4 was sharpened and the chip breaker was tuned up. That did improve the performance. The later plane with the type 9 and later frog design seemed to be the difference.

This also made it possible to test each face against six others. Some very fine tuning was required:

h In the Claw for Fine Adjustment.jpg

There are two piece held together with just a hair in the middle being removed. This is one situation where the ‘claw’ was the best way to hold what are essentially two right triangles back to back.

Hit the picture limit and it is getting late.

To be continued…

jtk

[ken hatch]

Thanks Jim,

Good post, although I appreciate Richard over at "The English Woodworkers" approach, just grabbing a couple of sticks out of his wood pile, I like having nice, well made straight edges and winding sticks.

ken

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks Jim,

Good post, although I appreciate Richard over at "The English Woodworkers" approach, just grabbing a couple of sticks out of his wood pile, I like having nice, well made straight edges and winding sticks.

ken

For me it takes less time to grab the shop made sticks than to decide which two pieces of scrap are worthy of the job.

After the fine adjustment in the ‘claw’ four pieces are ready for the next step:

a Four Pieces Tuned.jpg

A small piece of ebony was chosen to make the targets (contrasting pieces) on one piece from each pair. This is where a white pencil comes in handy:

b Marking the Target.jpg

This pencil is made by Stabillo for marking glass, china, metal and other surfaces. It is also water soluble for use in water coloring. There are likely other makers of white pencils with similar properties. Ask at your local art supply store for a “white china marking pencil.”

This may be my first time using ebony. A lot was learned when sawing:

c Sawing Ebony.jpg

Ebony is not only an oily wood, it seems to be able to smudge everything with which it comes in to contact.

More planing to smooth saw marks:

d Smoothing Saw Marks.jpg

One of the practices taught during my younger days was to pick up the plane on the back stroke. If you ever plane against a simple wood stop you know why this was taught as gospel.

Fitting the small pieces to the top of one straight edge gave me an idea and revealed an error. Fortunately there are usually ways around errors without having to start over:

e Paring to the Line.jpg

While cutting the mortises for the targets it occurred to me this is similar to cutting dovetails. Then it dawned on me it might be easier to get a tight fit on the inlays if they were cut like tails so they could fit in like a wedge. That will be tried next time.

f Checking Fit.jpg

The error was the pieces were cut too thin to fit in flush to the faces. So the targets are shorter and need more trimming:

The two pieces of ebony were marked L & R with an arrow for grain orientation. The pieces were wiped with denatured alcohol before gluing with epoxy. Epoxy works well without clamping. This piece sat overnight before returning to the shop for more sawing and planing:

g More Sawing & Planing.jpg

This is the kind of work where my pull saw show their worth. A little more planing to flush the surfaces of the ebony inserts was needed.

The finished pair:

h Book Matched Winding Sticks.jpg

With the resawn faces turned toward the camera it shows a nice book matched face.

More to come…

jtk

[Mel Fulks]

I think a lot of these old traditional things go back to apprenticeship. Easy to get rid of the trainee....but expensive to
replace the wood he botched, “lets see if you can make a couple of sticks real straight”. I’m pretty sure that English Woodworker guy’s
approach was pretty common. Some guys will get real attached to even the simplest shop jigs. I once worked for an old good turner and
cabinetmaker who had a lot of simple blocks that he used for making stuff. Just unadorned blocks . When he could not find the one he
needed he would go nuts “ I’ve had the block for 38 years, you must have swept it up”. Then we would spend a lot of time looking for a
block. And on a break he would apologize for accusing me of losing his block. A real old school nut-case.

[Stew Denton]

Jim,

The topic is of good interest to me, as I am planning to eventually make a set or maybe two. There is a lot more to making a good set than what I had though.

I appreciate the post.

Stew

[Jim Koepke]

I appreciate Richard over at "The English Woodworkers" approach, just grabbing a couple of sticks out of his wood pile, I like having nice, well made straight edges and winding sticks.

I’m pretty sure that English Woodworker guy’s approach was pretty common.

A few carefully chosen pieces of scrap can do the job quite well. Many times my choice to make something is to have a nice piece or just for the challenge and what can be learned. Some times something is made simply because it can be made.

What is funny sometimes an old piece will pop up that was made for a specific job and it can not be remembered exactly for what or why it was made. Often a description of what things were made to do is written on them.

Some time was spent in the shop today.

In an old thread about winding sticks someone mentioned a pair held together with dovetails. This sounded like an interesting challenge.

Being a tails first kind of galoot it seemed right to figure out the tail layout first. Since there is a diagonal involved it seemed that should be considered first. A bevel gauge was carefully set to the diagonal on the winding sticks and transferred to a piece of stock:

a Marking Baseline.jpg

Next the sides of the tails were marked. The stock was marked to leave both sides a little proud:

b marking Tail.jpg

The mark is from the angled baseline to the edge. The 1:8 gauge is flipped and the mark for the tail on the other side is marked from where the first side touches the angled baseline.

Marking both sides takes a bit of time and care to carry the lines around. My small pair of dividers and small square was helpful. The white pencil helps to make the lines stand out. A chisel can be used to cut a sharp edge on the pencil’s point to follow the knife lines. My 90º bevel chisel helped remove any extra pencil marking. A scraper would also work. An eraser tends to smear the softer pencil’s core material.

It also helps to mark the work for orientation to the pieces it will join.

With all the marking done a saw cut is made to where the bases of the tails meet:

c Cutting to Vee.jpg

This is a very shallow cut.

Paring the sides of the tails was easier than sawing them:

d Paring the Tail.jpg

A little fine adjustment was done with a 90º bevel chisel. That thing keeps being useful.

After checking all the faces for square the tails are used to mark the layout of the pins:

e Transfer Marking Pins.jpg

The baseline makes it easy to line up with the sticks.

The pins can be sawn out on both sides together:

f Sawing Pins.jpg

A fret saw was used for removing most of the waste:

g Fretting the Waste.jpg

The ‘Xs’ from sawing the pins together can be seen.

Some of the pairing between the pins can be done with them held together. When it gets to the final part it may help to stager the sticks:

h Finish Paring.jpg

Of course if your vise can handle tapered stock it might not be necessary to hold the sticks together.

Reached the eight image limit, until next time…

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Oops!

While reviewing this thread to think about what more to add it was noticed an incorrect image was used in the first post.

The third and fourth images were the same operation:

c Checking for Straight.jpg

This is actually a method used for checking the pieces for having parallel sides. Checking for straight edges shoud have been:

c Comparing Edges for True.jpg

This is pressing the edges together and checking how they match each other. Holding them up to the light will show gaps. High spots can be identified and removed.

Check both sides of one piece against the other including rotating one piece 180º.

This is a practical way for anyone to make their own straight edges. If nothing else it is a good way to get some practice jointing an edge.

jtk

[Osvaldo Cristo]

I use two Starrett levels for that function. According to the size of the wood piece I use two of the three of them I have: 1200 mm, 600 mm and 450 mm.

It works for me.

[Thomas Wilson]

Very nice work. I am embarassed to report I use two pieces of aluminum L channel from the BORG.

[Jim Koepke]

Very nice work. I am embarassed to report I use two pieces of aluminum L channel from the BORG.

What ever works. Some of my alternate pieces have been a couple of yard sticks and scrap cut offs. The scraps seldom get a place on a shelf or hung on the wall and may be hard to find again when needed.

Sometimes my simple projects are chosen to let my mind ponder a bigger project. The imagination can experience a moment of brilliance while working on the basics.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

For the pin layout on the other end of this set of winding sticks the blue tape trick often mentioned by Derek Cohen was used to aid in seeing the makings:

a Transfer Pins w:Blue Tape Trick.jpg

This actually worked out fairly well. My first time using it my saw was too close to the tape and made a bit of a mess. My eyes are getting old and it is getting harder to see a knife line.

The first tail piece was glued last night and was ready to trim. The tail pieces were made to stand proud to help pull the pair apart for use:

b Shaping Proud Tail.jpg

The chisel is held bevel down and levered up to work like a scraper. It is fairly easy to make a rounded corner with this method. This method also works for trimming proud dowels. With softer woods a thin piece of wood or card helps to prevent marring the surface.

For the top a gouge was used to round over and smooth the edges:

c Rounding Proud Tail.jpg

Now that it is glued in place the orientation marks can be removed with a 90º chisel. If desired this could even eliminate the knife marks:

d Removing Marks w:90º Chisel.jpg

If that is in the plane the face of the tail should be above the level of the pins.

To help remember which way to push and pull the pair apart finger catches are cut into each end on the outside surfaces:

e Finger Catch Vertical Cut.jpg

This is an odd chisel that came my way from ebay with a rounded bevel:

e1 Round Bevel Chisel.jpg
This is makes the stop cut for the pulling end of the catch. When you see an odd grind on a chisel or a gouge, someone somewhere probably had a reason. This chisel is also handy for freehand cutting of flutes or groves. A gouge works better, but if one doesn’t have a gouge this might be a quick solution.

The stop cut is followed with a gouge:

f Finger Catch Gouge Cut.jpg

Right after this shot the camera battery died. Whilst thinking about going in the house for the spare battery, the battery in the iPod died and killed my music.

Life is so much better with background music.

A few other chores were undertaken. The other tail end had been epoxied earlier and left to set up.

There is more to follow,

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

The pair of winding sticks was finished today. The fit was a little tight so a small file was used to remove a whisper of material from the face of one pin. After the fit was adjusted the purple heart tail pieces were worked on to round over any sharp edges:

a Smoothing Sharp Edges.jpg

The fit was still a little tight so a touch of furniture polish was rubbed on the mating faces improving fitting the pair together and taking them apart. Here is a front view:

b Front View.jpg

And an end view:

c End View.jpg

The second pair will be done pretty much the same as time allows. Though the second pair will likely use purple heart or rosewood for the targets.

It may be a long time since there isn’t a need for another pair unless my grandson would like a pair. Right now he is pretty involved with his college classes.

Maybe they can stay on the bench for straight edges.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

A slow day today in the shop started by putting away tools that were left out and cleaning off the bench. Made a few shavings cleaning up a piece of maple.

Turned a new marlin spike from a hunk of ash to aid it the splicing a blind eye and an eye on a piece of 1/4” manila line for holding down a tarp.

There was still pieces of purple heart and maple straight edges from making winding sticks. Figured what the heck, they ain’t gonna make themselves.

One of my thoughts on fitting the targets neatly into the far stick was to make them like the tail of a dovetail. Decided to go with a 1:6 slope for this:

a Getting Started.jpg

The grain direction is sometimes difficult to see on some woods so marking the piece for planning direction makes it a bit easier for making everything align for ease of planing.

The placement of the targets was considered and marking the sockets was undertaken:

b Marking Sockets.jpg

The gauge was set against the tail to leave it slightly proud:

c Setting Gauge to Proud.jpg

It isn’t as proud as it looks in the image. Some things may look bigger than they actually are.

Then comes the sawing and waste removal:

d Some Sawing.jpg

A sharp pencil was used to make the scribed lines more visible. Also note both pieces of the winding sticks are in the vise. This works as if holding a flat piece instead of trying to hold a piece with a vertical taper.

After clearing the waste from the socket it fits well:

e Checking Fit.jpg

The tails are marked for left and right. The left tail (target) is actually a hair shorter than the right tail.

Saw another socket, apply some glue, then the final trimming. No decision has been made on whether or not to hold this set together like the previous set.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

The second pair of winding sticks is finished. This set doesn’t lock together like the first set. Something is rolling around in my brain about a different way to hold them together.

The targets were set in place with epoxy. Epoxy doesn’t require clamping it will also cure in a cold shop:

a Glue Time.jpg

This pack of epoxy has a cap that can be put on either way. It was marked on the cap and the end of one of the syringes so it cam always be returned the way it came off. It wouldn’t be good to go mixing the two components in the cap and getting it stuck on.

Below the epoxy is the two pieces of waste removed. They are small straight edges on one face. They were handy for checking the final paring of the base on the two sockets.

One thing my dad taught me about using epoxy was to save the mix when done to check it after it has set:

a1 On Using Epoxy.jpg

This can be checked for hardening without jeopardizing the work piece.

My stir stick/applicators are often made from old popsicle sticks. In this case the full width popsicle stick was overly wide. A wheel gauge was used to score both sides and then cut apart with a marking knife. One end was cut square with a quick blow to a chisel, then trimmed to a chisel edge. It could have also been made from a piece of scrap, but there are a lot of popsicle sticks around.

The epoxy is cured after sitting overnight. It is five minute epoxy but there is no need to rush. All the excess epoxy was removed with a general utility chisel.

Flush trimming is about the only use my pull saws see anymore:

b Trimming the Extra.jpg

The top is leveled with a plane:

c Leveling the Target.jpg

The targets were set to be proud, just not too proud. While trimming the target it is helpful to test the edge against the mating stick. It can be tricky feeling the last few thousandths of an inch. Light shining between two pieces is easier to see.

d Finished Pair.jpg

One consideration when making straight edges or winding sticks is there are four edges on a pair. To make an accurate straight edge without precision equipment it is easy to make a true straight edge by making three straight edges to compare against each other. There are four edges on a pair of straight edges. In the abstract, each edge can be checked against two others, which is what is being done with the three edge method.

One final note, cutting the targets to a wedge/tail shape made the fitting much easier than cutting the ends square. It is almost like cheating.

jtk