I'm trying to get a straight edge on 9' long 4/4 maple. I haven't the
money or room for a jointer in my garage so I need to make due without
it. I have scoured the internet and this newsgroup for suggestions.
One suggestion that I have tried out is to put a piece of laminate on
the outfeed side of my router fence. (I'm using an incra-jig fence
that is about 13 inches long on both the infeed and outfeed sides.)
I must be missing some key piece of instruction because I don't seem
to be getting a straight edge on a practice piece I used. The leading
end of the board seems to be getting cut more narrowly than the rest
of the board.
When feeding the board along the table should the board be snug
against the outfeed side? I'm not clear on which edge of the board to
joint. Convex or concave? Is my infeed/outfeed on my fence not long
enough? How much should I be taking off with each pass? When is it
close enought to being straight? For that matter, how can you check
that a 9' long board has a straight edge?
I liked one other idea that I saw. It was to put a straight edge on
the board and then run my router against that. Great idea, but I
don't have anything straight that is 9' long. If I can find something
straight and that long then this sounds like an easier method.
Wouldn't this methos also produce less waste?
Thanks,
Jim
In principle it is easy; the thickness of your shim should be the same as
the amount you are routing off the piece. Set it up right, and you can't go
wrong.
That assumes you have a bit big enough to do the entire 4/4 with one pass.
Otherwise you have a mess. I suppose you could do 1/2" with no shim, and
then turn it over and do the other half with a shim. That ought to work,
but it has to be set up perfectly.
It also assumes your router fence is 4 or 5 feet long. Any shorter and
jointing a 9' board would be a problem; there simply isn't enough support.
I can't see a work around on that one, except to pray.
Hi Jim
If I read that correctly you certainly do have the cart before the horse.
There are any number of good reasons to rough cut stock to length and width
and not a single one for working with a 9' board if you don't have to.
Outside of the obvious ones you are now experiencing you will also reduce
the amount of warp you have to deal with by at least cutting stock to rough
length. Example, say a 9' board bows 1/4" from the middle to either end. If
you cut the board into shorter pieces the bow from the middle of the shorter
pieces to either end is greatly reduced. Not only is it, from a handling
stand point, easier to deal with, but you then have to remove less stock to
correct the situation.
When you get your stock home one of the first things you should be doing is
laying it all out, arranging it for best appearance and marking it up for
rough Slightly oversized, cutting, cutting it, then milling it to size. For
that first step I like to use a piece of chalk then as they get milled I
mark them as to which piece is going where. Usually with something a bit
more durable then chalk.
No matter what you do some percentage of stock is going to be waste, but if
you follow the above procedure, at least in principal, you will, in the long
run, waste far less stock. You'll also find milling the stock a lot less of
a painful operation. You will also have a better developed mental picture of
the finished product and what is going where in the construction.
--
Mike G.
[email protected]
Heirloom Woods
www.heirloom-woods.net
"jegan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> No, I don't need 9'. That's the way they came. I don't want to start
> cutting up my boards for length before I know what sort of widths I'm
> dealing with. Maybe I'm putting the cart before the horse though.
>
> I think I have pretty much resigned myself to finding something that
> is 9' long and straight. Maybe Home Depot will have something
> suitable. It would be nice to find a metal straight edge. However,
> everything I have seen only goes up to 8' long.
>
> Thanks,
> Jim
On 14 Dec 2003 15:24:56 -0800, [email protected] (jegan) wrote:
>I'm trying to get a straight edge on 9' long 4/4 maple.
Do you need a 9' board? I mean, you're not jointing a 9' board that's
going to be cut shorter? This may sound obvious, but to some, it's
not.
How about a hand plane?
Barry
In rec.woodworking
[email protected] (jegan) wrote:
>I'm trying to get a straight edge on 9' long 4/4 maple. I haven't the
>money or room for a jointer in my garage so I need to make due without
>it.
Spring for a 10' straight edge, clamp it to the board and use your router
and a flush cut trimming bit with a ball bearing. I've seen David Marks do
this using MDF for the straight edge.
Buy a hand plane and learn how to use it. Simple, quiet, effective.
--
Mike G.
[email protected]
Heirloom Woods
www.heirloom-woods.net
"jegan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm trying to get a straight edge on 9' long 4/4 maple. I haven't the
> money or room for a jointer in my garage so I need to make due without
> it. I have scoured the internet and this newsgroup for suggestions.
> One suggestion that I have tried out is to put a piece of laminate on
> the outfeed side of my router fence. (I'm using an incra-jig fence
> that is about 13 inches long on both the infeed and outfeed sides.)
>
> I must be missing some key piece of instruction because I don't seem
> to be getting a straight edge on a practice piece I used. The leading
> end of the board seems to be getting cut more narrowly than the rest
> of the board.
>
> When feeding the board along the table should the board be snug
> against the outfeed side? I'm not clear on which edge of the board to
> joint. Convex or concave? Is my infeed/outfeed on my fence not long
> enough? How much should I be taking off with each pass? When is it
> close enought to being straight? For that matter, how can you check
> that a 9' long board has a straight edge?
>
> I liked one other idea that I saw. It was to put a straight edge on
> the board and then run my router against that. Great idea, but I
> don't have anything straight that is 9' long. If I can find something
> straight and that long then this sounds like an easier method.
> Wouldn't this methos also produce less waste?
>
> Thanks,
> Jim
On 14 Dec 2003 22:53:41 -0800, [email protected] (jegan) wrote:
>No, I don't need 9'. That's the way they came. I don't want to start
>cutting up my boards for length before I know what sort of widths I'm
>dealing with. Maybe I'm putting the cart before the horse though.
>
>I think I have pretty much resigned myself to finding something that
>is 9' long and straight. Maybe Home Depot will have something
>suitable. It would be nice to find a metal straight edge. However,
>everything I have seen only goes up to 8' long.
I got a real nice piece of aircraft aluminum at a junk yard for $1 a
pound. nice and straight.
go to a metals supplier and get a section of 1" x 4" tube. it comes in
20 foot lengths. cut it in half and get on with it....
In article <[email protected]>,
jegan <[email protected]> wrote:
>... It would be nice to find a metal straight edge. However,
>everything I have seen only goes up to 8' long.
Lee Valley has a guide 100" long ( *almost* 9') (watch the wrap)
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.asp?SID=&ccurrency=1&page=41707&category=1%2C240%2C45313
or search for Power Tool Guide.
--
--henry schaffer
[email protected]
No, I don't need 9'. That's the way they came. I don't want to start
cutting up my boards for length before I know what sort of widths I'm
dealing with. Maybe I'm putting the cart before the horse though.
I think I have pretty much resigned myself to finding something that
is 9' long and straight. Maybe Home Depot will have something
suitable. It would be nice to find a metal straight edge. However,
everything I have seen only goes up to 8' long.
Thanks,
Jim
B a r r y B u r k e J r . <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> On 14 Dec 2003 15:24:56 -0800, [email protected] (jegan) wrote:
>
> >I'm trying to get a straight edge on 9' long 4/4 maple.
>
> Do you need a 9' board? I mean, you're not jointing a 9' board that's
> going to be cut shorter? This may sound obvious, but to some, it's
> not.
>
> How about a hand plane?
>
> Barry
Given the length of my boards I don't think I'm going to be able to
efficiently manage this with infeed/outfeed lengths of only 13". But,
it was worth a try and I at least am learning this method. <g>
I do have 1" bit and it was working ok.
Thanks,
Jim
"Toller" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<%[email protected]>...
> In principle it is easy; the thickness of your shim should be the same as
> the amount you are routing off the piece. Set it up right, and you can't go
> wrong.
>
> That assumes you have a bit big enough to do the entire 4/4 with one pass.
> Otherwise you have a mess. I suppose you could do 1/2" with no shim, and
> then turn it over and do the other half with a shim. That ought to work,
> but it has to be set up perfectly.
>
> It also assumes your router fence is 4 or 5 feet long. Any shorter and
> jointing a 9' board would be a problem; there simply isn't enough support.
> I can't see a work around on that one, except to pray.
On 14 Dec 2003 22:53:41 -0800, [email protected] (jegan) wrote:
>No, I don't need 9'. That's the way they came. I don't want to start
>cutting up my boards for length before I know what sort of widths I'm
>dealing with. Maybe I'm putting the cart before the horse though.
You are. <G>
How are you going to thickness it? If you're using it as is, go ahead
and cut it to length. If you're going to thickness it with an
electric planer, you may need to add a few inches if your machine
snipes the ends.
Cutting to length, even a rough length, causes you to lose less wood
when jointing, in addition to making the lumber much easier to deal
with.
Barry
"jegan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm trying to get a straight edge on 9' long 4/4 maple. I haven't the
> money or room for a jointer in my garage so I need to make due without
> it. I have scoured the internet and this newsgroup for suggestions.
> One suggestion that I have tried out is to put a piece of laminate on
> the outfeed side of my router fence. (I'm using an incra-jig fence
> that is about 13 inches long on both the infeed and outfeed sides.)
>
> I must be missing some key piece of instruction because I don't seem
> to be getting a straight edge on a practice piece I used. The leading
> end of the board seems to be getting cut more narrowly than the rest
> of the board.
Maybe the fence isn't adjusted quite right for the laminate "shim" on the
outfeed side. If you are taking more material off that the thickness of the
laminate sheet, you might see this problem.
>
> When feeding the board along the table should the board be snug
> against the outfeed side? I'm not clear on which edge of the board to
> joint. Convex or concave?
Concave side to maintain stability against the fence. You can't keep the
bottom of a cup stable throughout a jointing operation.
> Is my infeed/outfeed on my fence not long
> enough?
Perhaps not, if the cup you're trying to flatten is somewhat pronounced.
>How much should I be taking off with each pass?
1/16" - assuming that is the thickness of the laminate shim on the outfeed
side.
FWIW
Brian.