Hi All,

I currently dont have a Jointer, so I would like to know the best way to get my pieces to a perfect square (or at least as close as possible)?

I am guessing probably a hand/electric plane, but I am unsure as to the process, and all my books/googling only reference using a Jointer.

Anyone know any good sites or have any tips.

PS: Sorry if this is in the wrong place, but I am not really sure the best topic for it to go under.

Many thanks,

Mo

Mo,

what tools do you have?

If you have a table mounted router then this is easy. An electric plane is certainly not the way forward! I assume you haven't a table saw or you wouldn't ask the question......

Mike 

Mo,

I dont have a jointer either but I dont see how using one would give parallel edges. It will give you an edge square to the face but thats all. If you reference that square edge then you can cut the other edge parallel to it. But as Mike suggests the obvious way of making this cut is with a table saw. Otherwise it's handtools, which can be quick and easy if you have a good eye and a nice sharp plane.

Regards,

Malc. 

Mo,

One of the first lessons in Woodwork classes at school, and in apprenticeships as a Joiner is to hand plane a piece of timber square and paralell. 

Plane one face, check for flatness, then plane the face at right angles to it, to fit a try square, once you have two faces flat, straight, and square to one another then to plane paralells is straightforward, practice is the only way.

Derek. 

Malc wrote (see)

I dont have a jointer either but I dont see how using one would give parallel edges. It will give you an edge square to the face but thats all. If you reference that square edge then you can cut the other edge parallel to it.

I've always thought this as well, but have you ever seen David Free on the Great British Woodshop? (The videos are also availble online somewhere).

He has access to some very nice machinery (JET, Axminster) and after planing the face and edge he then rips the other edge parallel on his table saw and then puts the sawn edge straight over the jointer. Only the sawn face goes through the thicknesser!

I know this is common practice when working with stuff that's wider than your thicknesser's capacity but I've also seen other people recommend it as standard practice (not in industry though).

I guess it saves time, saves a little space in your extractor's bag and prevents the risk of the board falling over in the machine or the thicknesser knocking the cut off 90º - it would be interesting to know if anyone else does this? I guess you'd need a very accurate table saw though.

Anyway, back to the orignal post...

Yep, as Mike says, table-mounted router is your best bet. In theory, you could even do it with a hand-held router and straightedge. If you have an accurate table saw and rip MDF sheets to perfectly parallel 'stock' sizes then you could even stick them to your thicknessed timber and rout both edges with a flush-trimming cutter...!

I have been watching podcasts by this guy: http://thewoodwhisperer.com/

He pretty much always puts his pieces through a jointer after cutting it on a table saw.

I think the best thing for me to do at the moment may be the hand plane route. That suites the space I have available. I will bear the rest in m ind though, for when I have got a bit more room .

Cheers for the advice.

Ok I did a bit more digging around this site and found

http://www.getwoodworking.com/news/article/mps/uan/94

Which is pretty much what I was looking for. At times the internet can be a very useful place

Mo,

I guess you don't need us then!!!

Derek. 

Pretty much, I did do quite a lot of woodwork/metalwork at school/college and made some cool stuff, but that was quite a few years ago. I kind of fell into programming and web development after that.

Now I am trying to learn everything I have forgoten. There just doesnt seem to be enough enough space in one head unfortunatly!

Also advice here has been very useful, as it is nice to get other people's opinions. Also what you guys said helped me refine my searching a lot.

Posting the link seemed like a good idea if anyone else has a similar question (Lots of forums get touchy about duplicate posting) .

Mo,

this forum doesn't get touchy about anything really.........except advertising!

Next time you want to paste a link, click on the blue chain icon, 5th symbol from the right above the box where you type your posts, and follow the simple instructions (paste into the top box, type a name/word into the bottom box)........that way the link will be live.

Mike