Flattening edges

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Sharp Blade

New User
Anna-Catherine
I have two piece of Walnut I need to join lengthwise. I know how to do that, I just need to get these edges flat for joining. I have planed and sanded each edge but when I check them for flatness there is ALWAYS an area in the center part of the board that is still not where I need it to be. So, thinking I just needed to take my time, slow down and "massage" it a bit, I tried double-side taping a sheet of 220 to my granite block (ground a perfect flat) and penciled the area I wanted to flatten then went to work. I have 95% percent of the penciling gone within a few seconds of pushing the board over the sandpaper. This worked for the center, but NOW I have a small section on the end that I can't seem to make go away. I even thought it was my technique and asked my friend to run the board over the paper a few times. We switched sides, changed papers and even when I set the edge of this board on my bandsaw table I still see daylight seeping through.

This piece of Walnut has had a long time to acclimate to my shop. It's dry, not green by any means. I'm just seriously puzzled and frustrated.
Anyone have any ideas? At this point I haven't much room to play with it too much more.

Oh and I have no access to a jointer at this time. Unless there is someone in Charlotte who can give up some jointer time?
 

Canuck

Wayne
Corporate Member
Without access to a jointer, you could try a straight bit in your router with a good straight edge.

A piece of nice and true extruded aluminum (wide enough that it won't flex), clamped to your line. Set the router base up to the fence (your guide) and take off no more than about 1/8". If the fence is straight, you should end up with a nice true edge for glueup.

Wayne
 

decibel

New User
Patrick
Good suggestion about using a router and a straight edge. You can see some video of this and a tablesaw sled in Marc Spagnuolo video the Jointer Jumping look at about the 9 minute mark in the video.

http://thewoodwhisperer.com/episode-6-the-jointers-jumpin/


I'm sure you could find some jointer time in Charlotte if need be. You are more than welcome to mine but Matthews is about a good 30 minute drive to me as I'm up near Concord Mills.
 

crokett

New User
David
Another trick is install a straight cutting or flush trim bit in your router, then clamp both pieces down to the bench. Space them apart so the gap is slightly narrower than the width of your router bit. Use a guide and run the bit down between the two. The edge profiles will now be mirror images of each other and there should be no gaps when you do the glue up.
 

Gofor

Mark
Corporate Member
Instead of referencing to the bandsaw table, reference each edge to the one you will glue it to. They don't have to be perfectly flat, just match each other. That way you can work on whichever edge needs the least work to get them to match.

I have a Black & Decker work mate, so I just clamp one board on edge, and then set the next board on top. I mark the high spots with chalk, and then plane (or block sand) until they match.

I usually do the glue up in the same manner,(bottom board set vertically) as it is easier to access both sides as I go to ensure the edges are even and clamp to align as necessary.

Go
 

jerrye

New User
Jerry
Another trick is install a straight cutting or flush trim bit in your router, then clamp both pieces down to the bench. Space them apart so the gap is slightly narrower than the width of your router bit. Use a guide and run the bit down between the two. The edge profiles will now be mirror images of each other and there should be no gaps when you do the glue up.

Same thing can be done with a circular saw. Butt the edges together and cut right down the middle of the joint using a straight edge guide, taking 1/2 blade width from each board. Edges should match without gapping.
 

Sharp Blade

New User
Anna-Catherine
Instead of referencing to the bandsaw table, reference each edge to the one you will glue it to. They don't have to be perfectly flat, just match each other. That way you can work on whichever edge needs the least work to get them to match.

I have a Black & Decker work mate, so I just clamp one board on edge, and then set the next board on top. I mark the high spots with chalk, and then plane (or block sand) until they match.

I usually do the glue up in the same manner,(bottom board set vertically) as it is easier to access both sides as I go to ensure the edges are even and clamp to align as necessary.

Go


This is (kinda) what I'm doing, I just mentioned the reference to the bandsaw table because it is the flattest place in my shop besides the granite block.

What's got me so struck is that even when I do think I am right on, I'm not. I can see and feel the gap. Very weird. If it weren't walnut or any other hardwood for that matter, I'd try a glue up anyway.
 

Sharp Blade

New User
Anna-Catherine
I see what you guys are talking about, using the router. But I failed to mention the boards are 1.5 inches thick! At this time, I don't have a bit that will be able to work. I can try the table saw method, but I haven't been back to the TS since I tried to shorten my left middle finger a couple months ago. Right now, the saw is buried under "stuff". LOL

Hmmm, I should have some money coming back to me from the State of NC Dept of Revenue, maybe I can spring for either a Freud Glue Line Rip blade or a really good router bit. I'll have to wait a couple weeks to see.
 

Sharp Blade

New User
Anna-Catherine
Good suggestion about using a router and a straight edge. You can see some video of this and a tablesaw sled in Marc Spagnuolo video the Jointer Jumping look at about the 9 minute mark in the video.

http://thewoodwhisperer.com/episode-6-the-jointers-jumpin/


I'm sure you could find some jointer time in Charlotte if need be. You are more than welcome to mine but Matthews is about a good 30 minute drive to me as I'm up near Concord Mills.


Thanks for that video Patrick, I'll check it out. I will PM you if these other options don't work. CM is not too far from me. I used to work in Concord.
 

Gofor

Mark
Corporate Member
I have two piece of Walnut I need to join lengthwise. I know how to do that, I just need to get these edges flat for joining. I have planed and sanded each edge but when I check them for flatness there is ALWAYS an area in the center part of the board that is still not where I need it to be. So, thinking I just needed to take my time, slow down and "massage" it a bit, I tried double-side taping a sheet of 220 to my granite block (ground a perfect flat) and penciled the area I wanted to flatten then went to work. I have 95% percent of the penciling gone within a few seconds of pushing the board over the sandpaper. This worked for the center, but NOW I have a small section on the end that I can't seem to make go away. I even thought it was my technique and asked my friend to run the board over the paper a few times. We switched sides, changed papers and even when I set the edge of this board on my bandsaw table I still see daylight seeping through.

This piece of Walnut has had a long time to acclimate to my shop. It's dry, not green by any means. I'm just seriously puzzled and frustrated.
Anyone have any ideas? At this point I haven't much room to play with it too much more.

Oh and I have no access to a jointer at this time. Unless there is someone in Charlotte who can give up some jointer time?

I had the same problem yesterday and earlier today working with some 18" long x 2" x 3" purple heart that I am attempting to turn into a hand plane. I tracked my primary problem to my thickness planer. Altho I was only taking off about 1/64th per pass, the boards were coming out "wavy" when I checked them with a straight edge. (slight hollows about 1/4 distance from each end and a high spot in the middle). I flattened one surface with a hand plane, and ran through again, and still got a wavy surface. I had my infeed/outfeed tables set as from the mnfgr (its a DeWalt 734) and the spring up that helped prevent snipe on the long boards was causing the shorter board to "rock" as it went through. After lowering the tables, I was able to get a flatter result, but still ended up doing the final flattening with my jointer hand plane.

I was also having a problem with my table saw that I cured with a new sharp blade (the old blade was pulling the thick stock as I ripped it, giving me a slightly concave cut).

So, I can commiserate with you on the frustration of trying to just get a straight flat square edge on a thick board. I was lucky enough to have the hand planes that finally enabled me to true up the edges. If you don't have them, or can't use them with the finger injury, a 1 1/2" pattern bit will probably fix the problem, (while damaging the pocket book :wsad:)

Good luck. Hope the info on the thickness planer helps.

Go
 
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