Geoff's Woodwork for Students of Woodwork
Preparing Timber Part 2	back
Now we need to square up  the face’s edge.    This is the edge that the face points to, i.e. towards the operator.   Plane the edge square to the face and correct any minor direction of the grain.  The grain direction should where possible run parallel with the edge.   When this is done, test  with the Square and the length with a rule or straight edge.  It should be square, flat, i.e.. no bow or hollow visible under the rule and free from wind.   This check meeting your satisfaction, place the symbol of the face edge, a cross on the edge. We now have a board with a face and edge flat, with a square edge and we can continue to prepare it using these faces to measure, mark and work from. Next we want to get the board to the correct length, although on some occasions it is prudent to leave this to a later stage and take the dimension off the carcase or other set length.   On this occasion we will trim it to the designed length.   If it is much longer than needed, then share out the length between the waste areas so that we can avoid any dried out end grain that may have shakes or batch markings.    Use a marking knife for hardwoods or at least a sharp H2 pencil together with a carpenters square.  If you use pencils, ensure that it is a thin, single line to avoid any debate where the shoulder or edge lies.   The thicker the line the greater the chance of error.  If there is enough material we should use a cross cut saw but leave enough on to finish with a hand plane.   Use the plane  to remove the material down to the line.    Always plane into the middle of the wood and never over the end or otherwise the timber splits or splelches.   Some woodworkers use a sacrificial piece of wood cramped at the end to prevent this.  Hard woods prefer a block plane and some more delicate timbers require a low angled block plane. We now want to bring the board to the correct width.    It is done after truing the end grain so that any accidental spelching  may be removed with the surplus width taking any unfortunate abuse.    The width is best done before thickening because the greater thickness will just help us keep the plane square to the face.   Set the marking gauge or possibly a 'panel gauge' (for wider boards) and mark both sides of the board from the face edge to maintain parallelism.  Reduce the width with saw and complete with a Bench Plane, usually the Jack (No 5 or 6).  Take care to keep this edge square. We set the amount to thickness using the marking gauge again set up from the rule or known board.  Take care when using this gauge, it is quite difficult to use at first.   It is best if the point is trailed across the timber, i.e.. facing away from the direction of travel.    The marking gauge should only be used  along the grain.  It may be used along the end grain but must not be used across the grain otherwise the grain will tear.  Work always with the stock (probably with brass facings) against the face side.  Use light strokes, they can be repeated until deep enough. Plane down to this scribed line using again using a Jack Plane (No 5, 6 or 7 depending on length of board).   If there is a wedge of material to remove greater on one side, plane away the surplus first and then concentrate on finishing all the remainder so that it is parallel with the face and just touching the scribed lines. We now have a square, flat board of the correct dimensions.   Check for winding before you go on, wood does move!
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Last uploaded  21st September 2003