Hi Matt, Are you asking how to make one edge of a board straight?
A jointer is the common way to do this, it not only makes a straight edge if properly set up but it makes that straight edge exactly perpendicular to the edge against the fence assuming that is correctly adjusted. The fence can usually also be tilted so your straight edge is at some other precise angle to the edge against the fence. You can do this traditionally with a nice long jointing plane by hand. I had forgotten the pleasure of a hand plane until I got my WorkSharp sharpening system. A Stanley #5 is a pretty good all purpose plane for this sort of job. You can make a shooting board to help keep the straight edge perpendicular to the side of a board and I have seen some hand planes with a fence which hangs over the edge of the plane to help you guide it at that perpendicular angle. A square can be useful along a straight edge of it for judging straight. An alternative but maybe a little expensive is a good machined straight edge. I bought a three foot one from Lee Valley a few months ago, it is a beautiful piece of steel wide enough to stay upright. Heavy too. I also bought a set of feeler gauges, I can't remember the thicknesses, the thinnest can't be more than a couple of thousandths. I mostly use it for setting my jointer bed or the height of the knives but sometimes for judging straight. I lay the steel on the edge to be judged then run a feeler blade along to see if I can get it through between the steel and the edge. Maybe though you were thinking of cutting the board off exactly straight? A bit depends on what tools you have. Hope this is helpful. Dale Leavens, Cochrane Ontario Canada [EMAIL PROTECTED] Skype DaleLeavens Come and meet Aurora, Nakita and Nanook at our polar bear habitat. ----- Original Message ----- From: Matt To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2007 10:03 PM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Getting a strait edge all around I am beginning to experience the frustration of crooked wood. I intend to experiement with what I have been told is a square tomorrow. this is a flat metal ruler looking piece of l shaped thing. Is this what you guys suggest? I intend to clamp it down and check the wood against it. In the past I had just worked with wood until I got it almost strait and made it work from there, but I am just in the mood to get it right once and for all. I want to make a quality product and am trying to build a sort of jig for building my trucks and cars. I want to be able to spin out more of them, more quickly and have them be uniform. I have a bunch of messages I have been saving back to read, so my answer may lie in those. Will try to get the chance to look. Matt [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
