Manual
for Blind Woodworkers Four Squaring Lumber
First
Draft
Second
Draft – in process
Copyright,
2007, Woodworking for the Blind Inc.
Table of Contents
Chapter 2 Section
1
Chapter 2 Section
2
Chapter 2 Section
3
Chapter 2 Section
4
Chapter 2 Four-Squaring Wood
Chapter 2, Section 1:
The starting point for any
project is using wood that is flat and square. Precise
alignment and fitting of parts for any project is possible only if you begin
with wood that is flat and square. Very often, the woodworker has to mill the
wood and remove defects in order to make the wood flat and square.
Wood from the sawmill or
lumberyard comes in a variety of conditions. Often wood is rough sawn on all
four sides or if the faces are relatively flat, there may be a waney edge, that is, an edge that still has remnants of the
tree’s bark. At many lumberyards, wood may be smooth sawn on two faces and is
known as S2S wood or “surfaced two sides.” Home centers usually offer lumber
that has been surfaced on all four sides, known as S4S, “surfaced four sides”
or also known as dimensioned lumber, meaning lumber that has been cut to
uniform nominal sizes such as one by fours, two by fours, one by sixes, etc.
But don’t be mislead. These sizes are only nominal, that is, in name only since
the actual sizes are much smaller, usually by one-quarter inch in thickness and
by one-half inch in width. For example, a one by four is actually
three-quarters inch thick by three and one-half inches wide; a one by six is
three-quarters inch thick by five and one-half inches wide and construction two
by fours frequently are only one and a half inches thick by three and a half
inches wide. Lengths, on the other hand, usually are exact.
Whether lumber is rough
faced, surfaced on two sides or surfaced on all four sides, the wood may come
with other defects. Individual planks can be cupped, bowed, crooked or twisted.
Other defects include end checks, shakes, surface checks, honeycomb checks or
the wood may contain ingrown bark or dead or encased knots. The various defects
may be natural conditions or may have been caused by improper or insufficient
drying. Whatever the case, the defects usually have to be removed before the
wood is ready for a project. The exception, of course, would be character flaws
such as knots or much more rarely, perhaps even long cracks that are to become
part of the design or character of the project.
The Basic Milling Process. The
objective is first to make or joint one face flat so it can become the
reference face for the rest of the process. Secondly, you will plane the
opposite face flat and parallel to the first face. Thirdly, you will make or
joint the adjacent edge flat and square to the first flat face and this will
become the reference edge. Finally, you will rip the opposite edge flat and
parallel to the first edge. By making the second face and second edge parallel
to the reference face and edge, you also make them square to their adjacent
sides. Finally, you will cut one end square, then measure and cut the opposite
end square and to length. The foregoing method follows the acronym F-E-E
standing for faces, edges, ends in that order.
Alternatively, woodworking
manuals and articles often describe the process as first joint one face, then
joint one edge, followed by planing the opposite
parallel and finally ripping the opposite edge parallel. Either process works.
Four squaring a board can be
accomplished with either power machine tools or hand tools. It is quicker,
easier and more accurate to use machines as most woodworkers do but also
noisier and dustier.
First, let the wood
acclimate. Milling workpieces flat comes
at the beginning of a project and should be the essential first step. Wood for
any project should be acclimated to your shop at least a week or two before
using it. If there’s any chance that the wood is not thoroughly dry or if your
shop is either particularly humid or particularly dry, wait a few more weeks at
least. The wood will move during this time as it equalizes with the moisture in
your shop. As it moves it may warp but it is better to discover that before
beginning the project than while a piece of furniture is half-built and parts
refuse to fit.
During this time you can
inspect the wood for defects and plan around them. Mark all unwanted defects
such as knots, splits, gouges, etc. Mark long boards into smaller pieces
according to your particular needs. Cut long boards into approximate lengths. It
is much easier to mill these shorter lengths than handling long boards. Many
woodworkers advise leaving boards 2 to 4 inches longer in length to allow for
later cutting off planer snipe or other defects in the ends of the boards. I
usually leave the boards about an inch long although often enough I wish I had
left them longer to handle some problem or mistake that came up. Next, rip the
board to approximate width. If the board is rough sawn it’s important to keep
it oversize since you may have to trim away warp a couple of different times
before the board stabilizes and finally is milled flat and square.
Four-squaring a board with
machines involves the use of the jointer, thickness planer and tablesaw. Details on the use of these machines and jigs and
accessories to ease the use of these machines will be covered in later
chapters. For now we’ll simply discuss the four-squaring process itself.
Chapter 2, Section 2:
When the board has acclimated
to your shop, you’re ready to begin the milling process. First, let’s assume
the board is relatively flat without any warp. Later on we’ll discuss how to
handle the four types of warp. Start the four-squaring process at the jointer.
The jointer should be set for a light cut of no more than one-thirty-second
inch. You’re cutting across the full width of the board and you don’t want to
lug down the motor. Orient the board on the infeed table so that the edge grain
is falling away from the cutterhead. This is important to avoid tear-out. The
edge grain should run from the upper edge of the board down towards the
trailing end on the bottom edge of the board.
For tightly grained or irregularly grained woods likely you will have to
rely on trial and error to determine which way to orient the board. Joint the
board one direction and if that direction produces a smooth cut, continue to
joint in that direction. If the cut produces tear-out, reverse the direction
and see if that is better.
Telling Grain Direction by
Feel. Sometimes grain direction can be felt by running your
fingers down the length of the face of the board. One direction will feel
smooth to the touch but the opposite direction will feel a slight roughness.
This roughness is going against the grain while the smooth feeling is with the
grain much like stroking a cat’s fur with or against the grain. The face should
be placed down flat on the jointer bed with the smooth direction running down
towards the trailing end of the board. Telling grain direction by feel will not
be possible with all boards. Of the more common domestic woods, you have a
better chance of feeling the grain direction with open-pored woods such as
white oak, red oak and sometimes poplar, but usually not with more closed-pored
woods such as walnut, cherry and maple.
Bob Kennedy uses his
fingernail to check for grain direction since his hands have become so
toughened from years of use and his sense of touch no longer feels sensitively.
Start here
Jointing the First Face. Joint
one face only using push blocks to move the board and to protect your fingers.
Use a flat bottomed push pad with a cushioned underside in your left hand to
lightly hold the board flat and steady as it passes over the cutter head. Do
not push down hard because that possibly will flex the board. In your right
hand use a push block with an overhanging lip or wooden hook at the end of the
block to grip and push the board over the jointer bed. Be careful not to apply
too much downward pressure with this block on the end of the board since the
pressure will lift up the opposite end of the board and not allow it to be
jointed properly. If the board is long, begin by merely resting the lipped push
block on the upper face of the board and push the board with your hand until
the end approaches the beginning edge of the infeed table of the jointer bed.
By this time more of the board will be beyond the cutterhead and on to the out
feed table thus providing some counterbalance. You can then pick up the push
block, position it at the trailing end of the board and continue pushing the
board safely over the cutterhead. Do not hesitate too long before continuing to
push the board or you will risk the cutterhead gouging a line across the width
of the board as it sits motionless over the cutterhead.
You may want to make two or
three passes across the jointer to ensure that the face of the board is jointed
absolutely flat.
Feed Rate. You
want to pass the board over the knives smoothly with a slow and even feed rate.
If you feed too rapidly, the jointer will leave a series of spaced ripples on
the face of the board. If you feed too slowly, you risk possibly burning the
face and unduly dulling the knives. If you stop feeding you risk the cutterhead
gouging a curved recess across the face of the board. So work on developing a
smooth, slow and even feed rate.
Jointer Machine Marks. Even
with a proper feed rate, the jointer may leave a series of finely spaced minute
ripples across the face of the board, particularly if the knives are dull.
These ripples can be removed with a hand plane or can be sanded off with 120
grit sandpaper as you prepare the board for finishing. In fact, it’s always a
good idea to take a couple of very fine shavings with a hand plane or cabinet
scraper to remove machine marks and avoid the need for heavy sanding.
Thickness plane the opposite
face. Now, with one face jointed, it becomes the reference face
and you’re ready to move to the thickness planer to plane the opposite face
exactly parallel to the jointed face. Set the planer for a light cut. Place the
jointed face down onto the bed of the planer. To avoid tear-out, it’s important
to orient the board so that the grain direction rises toward the overhead
cutters and towards the trailing end of the board. The best way to remember
proper grain orientation is to position the board with its jointed face down
and with the leading end from the jointer now becoming the trailing end in the
planer.
To minimize warping, be sure
that you take off the same amount of wood from both faces. If you passed the
board over the jointer knives three times, do the same for the planer.
Planing the
Board Thinner. If the board is thicker than you want, say
the board is three-quarters inch thick and you want a board only five-eights inch thick, use the thickness planer to bring
the board to the desired thickness dimension. But in doing so, be sure to take
off the same amount from both sides. To maintain proper grain orientation and
to avoid tear-out, after planing one side, flip the
board over end for end and repeat this after every pass. This will keep the
grain properly oriented.
Dealing
with Irregular or Swirly Grain. When
a board has straight grain, the thickness planer does a beautiful job of
leaving a smooth even surface that might almost feel silky. But the thickness
planer turns mean when faced with difficult grain leaving a pocked surface of tearout. If you have irregular, swirly,
wavy or tight grain on the face of the board, dampen the face of the board to
be planed with a wet rag to soften the fibers, wipe off any excess moisture,
and then feed the board at a slight angle to minimize tear-out.
Thickness Planer Machine
Marks. The thickness planer may leave a series of finely spaced
minute ripples, particularly if the knives are dull. These ripples can be
removed with a hand plane or sanded with 120 grit sandpaper. It’s always a good
idea to take a couple of very fine shavings with a hand plane or card scraper
to remove machine marks and avoid the need for heavy sanding.
Thicknessing With a Drum Sander. An alternative to the
thickness planer is the drum sander. This machine has a large heavy horizontal
drum wrapped with sandpaper, a smooth level bed and rollers to move the workpiece through the sander. The drum sander is a much
slower alternative since it is difficult to take off much over
one-thirty-second of an inch with each pass. Passes usually are made in
one-sixty-fourth inch increments. But the drum sander is an excellent
alternative for thicknessing wood with irregular
grain since there is absolutely no tear-out.
Joint the first edge. Once
both faces are flat and parallel, place the reference face against the fence of
the jointer and proceed to joint one edge of the board. The jointer fence must
be set at exactly 90 degrees in order to get a square edge. It is important to
keep the reference face tightly against the fence so that the edge will be
jointed square to the face. Once again, be sure to orient the grain of the
board properly to avoid tear-out. The grain should run from the top edge of the
board diagonally down towards the trailing end of the board. Unfortunately this
grain direction usually cannot be felt.
It’s also important to press
down lightly but firmly on the board so that it stays level on the infeed table
and in contact with the cutterhead as the board passes over the knives. If the
board is wide enough, say at least three or four inches wide, you won’t need push sticks but can use your hands to keep the
board in position. With a wide board, your fingers will be well away from the
cutterhead. Press down lightly and press
firmly against the fence to be sure that you get a square edge. Place the
fingers of your left hand on the top edge of the board and the thumb of your
left hand against the upper side of the back face of the board to hold it
firmly against the fence. Bob Kennedy says that he has big hands and as a
safety reference he drapes the fingers of his left hand over the top of the
fence, uses his thumb to keep the board against the fence and then uses his
right hand to do all the feeding. Alternatively, put your left thumb on top of
the board and cup your fingers against the face of the board.
Use the fingers and thumb of
your right hand to grip the top edge and end of the board in order to move the
board forward. If the board is narrow, say less than three or four inches wide,
then you will need a push stick to hold the board in position. Don’t let your
fingers get near the spinning knives and don’t let your right hand fingers slip
down off of the back end of the board. I speak from experience!
Adjusting
Jointer Depth of Cut. Like many woodworkers, I
keep the jointer knives set to take a very, very thin cut even when jointing an
edge, but if the edge is narrow, you could increase the depth of cut to about
one-sixteenth inch. I do this only if the edge is irregular or wavy and a
substantial amount of material must be removed to get it straight. A somewhat
deeper cut reduces the number of times the edge has to be run over the jointer
to get it straight, but It also makes for a slightly
rougher cut. Listen to the machine as you move the edge over the cutterhead.
You will hear a definite working sound when the jointer is cutting but you will
hear a much smoother sound when the jointer is not cutting the edge. This means
that the edge is not in contact with the cutterhead, usually because there is a
small crook or curve along the edge but it also may mean that you have
mistakenly pushed the end of the board down tilting the edge up off of the
cutterhead. Repeat the cut until you hear a working sound continuously along
the full length of the edge. Armando Del Gobbo uses
an awl to lightly scratch the edge of the board every three or four inches.
When the scratch marks are shaved off by the jointer he knows the board’s edge
is flat.
Jointer Machine Marks. The
jointer may leave a series of finely spaced minute ripples along the edge,
particularly if the knives are dull. These ripples can be removed easily with a
hand plane, disk sander or palm sander.
Router Can Edge-Joint a
Board. With the router set up with a flush trim bit and mounted
in a router table, edges of boards can be jointed flat.
Rip the second edge. You
now have both faces flat and parallel to each other and square to one flat
edge. To make the second edge parallel to the first, take the board to the
table saw, position the jointed edge against the fence and rip the opposite
edge. Use a featherboard to hold the board tight
against the rip fence and use a push stick to move the board forward and
through the blade.
Machine marks. Once
again, a hand plane can be used to remove sawblade
machine marks from the cut edge or the marks can be sanded away.
Result. Your
board is now milled four square so that each face is
flat and square to the adjoining face. Repeat this process for all of your
pieces. This may be tedious but it is essential for quality work. The process
works best when all pieces go through the same step one after another before
adjusting the planer for the next cut. That way you can be sure that all pieces
come out with exactly the same thickness.
Chapter
2, Section 3:
Now let’s look at what to do
if your boards are not flat but are warped. Boards can be warped in four
different ways. The board can cup which is a curve across the face width of the
board. It can bow which is a curve along the face length of the board. It can
crook which is a curve along the long edge of a board. And it can twist or wind
which is a slight spiral along its length resulting in two corners being higher
and two corners being lower so that the board rocks when placed on a flat
surface.
Test the flatness of boards
by laying them on a flat surface. The table of the tablesaw
is about the most reliably flat surface in your workshop but it won’t
accommodate longer boards. For longer boards, try your kitchen countertops.
While they may not be perfectly flat, they will let you determine the relative
flatness of most boards. For cup, feel along the end of the board to determine
if the end lies flat or if there is a gap either in the middle of the end or at
the edges. For bow, feel along the length of the board to determine if there is
a gap between the countertop and the ends or if there is a gap in the middle of
the length. For crook, stand the board on each long edge and determine if there
are any gaps. For twist, lay the board on the countertop and see if the board
rocks from side to side.
None of these conditions is
acceptable. Generally, warping is more pronounced in larger boards and more
difficult to correct. If possible cut down the size of the boards to simplify
milling. A long bowed or twisted board, for instance, will be unacceptable for
use in a long tabletop but shorter lengths of the same board probably can be
milled flat. The difficulty of correction depends on the amount of warp, the
thickness of the board and the length of your jointer bed.
Two steps may be called for.
First you do rough milling to remove the serious problems without concentrating
much on square edges and then waiting a few days to let the wood re-acclimate
again. Only then should you begin the second step of final or finish milling to
prepare the wood flat and square for use in your project. Set the jointer for a
light cut even for rough milling. It’s easier to avoid mistakes such as taking
off too much material resulting in a board that is tapered along its length and
light cuts are easier both on you and your machine.
Bowed
boards. Bow is a curve or broad bend along the face
length of a board. Your objective is to remove enough material from the ends of
the board so that it eventually lies flat on its bottom face. This means that
after jointing the reference face flat, the ends will be thinner than the
middle section. The discrepancy will be corrected in the thickness planer when
you take the second step of making the opposite face parallel to the reference
face.
If possible, cut the bowed
board into shorter lengths before beginning to flatten the bow. This will
reduce the amount of wood that must be removed to correct the bow.
Place the bowed board with
the concave or bowed face down on the jointer bed. Your objective is to
gradually slice off the high points of the bow at the ends of the board. This
is relatively easy to do if the board is fairly short and generally fits on the
jointer bed but much more difficult to do if the board overhangs the infeed
table by any distance. If the board generally fits the table, proceed by
pushing the bowed face of the board over the cutterhead. Do not press down on
the middle section of the board flexing it to lie flat on the jointer. Use a
light touch so that the cutterhead cuts only the leading end of the board and
the trailing end of the board but not cutting the bowed up middle section.
Continue to make passes in this manner. As more passes are made, the raised
middle portion will get closer and closer to the cutterhead, eventually being
cut as well. Now take a final pass or two and the result will be a flat,
jointed face.
If the bowed board overhangs
the infeed table by very much, then the high trailing end of board will not
lift up the middle portion of the board until the trailing end reaches the
infeed table resulting in an unwanted cut into the middle portion of the
length. To avoid this, push the leading end of the board over the cutterhead
for a short distance, then stop and lift the board off of the cutterhead. Keep
your hands well away from the spinning cutterhead. Return to the starting
position and repeat the cut. After a few
passes, much of the high spot will be removed from the leading end. Now reverse the board being sure to keep the
bowed side down. Repeat the process by
now pushing the opposite end of the board over the cutterhead for about the
same number of cuts. Check to see how much bow remains. If a lot of bow
remains, repeat the process all over again. If only a little bow remains, you
can then proceed with passing the entire length of the board over the cutterhead
until the bottom face is flat. After a number of passes the jointer will be
cutting along more of the length of the board. Do not press down on the board
to flatten it across the cutterhead because you will be cutting into this
portion of the board prematurely. Continue to feed the board to remove the high
spots near the corners. Eventually the entire face of the board will become
flat.
Severely bowed boards may hit
the front edge of the outfeed table immediately after
the board passes over the cutterhead. This requires you to manually lift the
board to place it on the outfeed table and continue
the cut. This step may have to be repeated a few times before enough of the
high spots have been removed to permit the board to slide onto the outfeed table. You could also turn the board 180-degrees
with the same face down and begin cutting the high spots off of the other end.
After a few passes the board should no longer catch on the outfeed
table.
The process of cutting off
the high spots on the ends of the boards will result in the ends of the board
becoming thinner while the middle portion of the length remains thicker. That’s
OK for now because the objective is to get only one face of the board
completely flat. Later on, the thickness planer will remove the thicker
midsection. Once the jointer seems to be cutting along the entire length of the
board, make a final pass or two to ensure that the face is flat.
Depending on the amount of
the bow and the length of the board, there could be a substantial reduction in
the thickness of the board. That’s the reason why bowed boards are best treated
in shorter lengths. Now take the board to the thickness planer and make the
opposite face flat and parallel to the jointed face.
Cupped
boards. Cup is a curve or bend
across the width of a board. If possible, rip the board into narrower widths to
ease correcting the problem. Place the concave surface of the board face down
and begin to joint the board. The cutterhead will gradually remove the high
spots along the long edges of the board eventually resulting in a flat face.
Rarely is the cup so severe as to cause problems with normal jointing. If the
cup is severe, it’s best to rip the board down the middle and then proceed to
flatten each of the two narrower boards. Once both boards are flat, they can be
edge-glued back together to produce a wider board. Once the
face is jointed flat, move on to the planer.
Twisted
boards. Twisted boards (also called
wind) are the most difficult to correct. When confronted with a twisted board I
do everything I can to avoid using it. Many twisted boards seem to be hopeless
cases because they re-twist after having been jointed flat. If the board is
only slightly twisted, that is twisted about one-eighth inch or less, try
cutting it into shorter lengths and narrower widths and proceeding generally
similar to flattening a bowed board. If the twist is greater than one-eighth
inch, you can try to use shims to somewhat balance the board on the jointer
infeed table as you joint the leading end and then turn the board in a
horizontal 180-degrees and joint the other end. The shims may help in reducing
the amount of rocking as you push the board over the cutterhead.
With a board marred by a lot
of twist, you can spend a lot of time trying to joint the board with repeated
passes across the jointer only to wind up with a board that is too thin at one
end to be of use. Once again, the better answer is to avoid using twisted
boards.
Crooked
Boards. There are two very different methods for
straightening a crooked board depending on the amount of crook. If the crook is
mild, then the board can be edge jointed with the concave side down on the
jointer. Push the concave edge along the cutterhead until the edge of the board
clears and is no longer in contact with the cutterhead. It may require a number
of passes to remove the crook. It will then be necessary to turn the board
clockwise end for end in a half-circle and then begin to joint the opposite end
of the board to remove that portion of the crook. When the crook seems to have
been removed, then joint the full length of the edge a few passes to be sure it
is flat and straight. Then take the board to the tablesaw
to rip the other edge parallel to the jointed edge.
If turning the board in a
half circle to joint the opposite end causes tearout,
then turn the board back to the original position and move the board forward
until the crooked edge again comes in contact with the cutterhead. Repeat this
step a number of times until the edge has been straightened.
The second method is to use
the tablesaw for severely crooked boards. Crooked
boards are a problem on a tablesaw because there is
no flat edge surface to reference against the rip fence. Do not ever attempt to
cut a crooked edge on the tablesaw by trying to guide
one point of the curved edge against the fence. Instead, take a long piece of
plywood to use as a base. The right hand long edge of the plywood will ride
securely against the rip fence. Nail or screw each end of the crooked board to
the plywood base so that the board’s crooked edge overlaps the outer edge of
the plywood. The plywood base will ride securely against the tablesaw rip fence and carry the crooked edge of the board
through the sawblade. Set the rip fence so that the
blade will cut off the crooked edge of the board. Once the edge has been cut
straight, remove the plywood base, turn the workpiece
board horizontally 180-degrees so that the just cut edge is now against the tablesaw fence and cut the opposite edge to be sure it is
exactly parallel.
Ready
to move on. Don’t short cut the foregoing steps.
They are essential to
precision craftsmanship. Once your stock has been milled flat and square,
you’re ready to move on with your project. Store your individual parts on edge
in a parts rack. This will help protect them against damage, will expose them
to moisture change evenly and they will be readily available for use as you
need them. Use the pieces as soon as you can. If you must store pieces for
future use, be sure to sticker and stack the pieces on a dead flat surface.
Make the stickers all the same dimensions at least three-quarters inch thick
and arrange the stack so that all stickers are lined up. It is also possible to
store parts by wrapping them in plastic or in shrink wrap to help control
moisture and wood movement.
Chapter 2, Section 4:
Four-squaring Using Hand Tools.
Wood can be flattened and
straightened with hand tools as well. The process is slower, quieter and a lot
more work but it is certainly doable. Because for most woodworkers, flattening
with hand tools occurs only infrequently, only a summary of the hand tool
process will be described.
First, choose the side to be
flattened and orient the workpiece so that the grain
rises in the direction of planing. If the board is
cupped, plane the convex side because the board will lay flatter when resting
on the raised edges. Clamp the board in place either between bench dogs and a
tail vise, or wedge the ends of the board between two thinner pieces of wood
clamped to the workbench. Use a scrub plane with the edge of the blade set to
cut about one-sixteenth inch below the sole of the plane. Cut at a diagonal
across the grain trying to plane the high spots while avoiding the low spots.
This is very difficult. Plane diagonally across the entire
board, then plane along the opposite diagonal. Check flatness with a
straight edge and plane additional areas as necessary. The scrub plane will
leave a slightly scooped surface along each line of cut.
Now switch to a bench plane
and plane either diagonally or with the grain, whichever seems easier. Plane away all scooped areas, both ridges and
valleys, until the board is flat. You will know the board is flat whenever you
are able to plane long continuous curls of shavings from one end to the other.
Check with the straight edge and feeler gauge to determine if the board is
flat.
Now you must make
the opposite face parallel to the first planed face so there is equal thickness
throughout the board. Use a marking gauge to scribe a line at the necessary
thickness around all edges and ends of the board. Clamp the board in place and
use a scrub plane diagonally to plane off most of the excess thickness. Once
the board becomes reasonably flat, switch to a bench plane and continue planing either diagonally or with the grain down to the
scribed line. Note that it can be very difficult to feel this thin, shallow,
scribed line and extremely difficult to know when you have planed the board
exactly flush with the scribed line. (Mickey Fixsen,
in fact, thinks its more trouble than it’s worth especially since he has a
jointer and wonderful thickness planer.)
To plane the first edge flat,
make up a shooting board using a wide board as the base and a narrower board
with an exactly flat jointed edge as a fence. Clamp the workpiece
between the base and fence with only the slightest bit of the workpiece’s edge protruding beyond the edge of the fence.
Use your longest plane, ideally a 24-inch jointer plane, with its iron set
exactly parallel to the sole and square to the sides of the plane. Now lay the
plane on its side on the base of the jig and begin to plane the edge of the workpiece. Plane until you are able to take one long
continuous full width shaving from one end of the edge to the end. Next, use a
saw to rip the other edge to finished width. Finally, use a saw to cut the ends
square and to length.
The key to smoothing wood
with hand tools is having very sharp blades. Wax the sole of the plane either
with paste wax or with paraffin to reduce friction and make the plane slide
more easily. Hand tools may seem like an awful lot of work and they are a real
challenge for the novice. But with practice and very sharp blades, the novice
soon gets the hang of it and the work seems a bit easier. Before long, the woodworker
no longer worries about how hard the job is going to be and notices it’s quiet enough to hear the “whoosh” of the plane’s blade
neatly slicing away gossamer thin shavings. At that point the woodworker
realizes the flattening job really can be done with hand tools and without
overwhelming effort.
End of document