# Hand Plane Jointing



## Hawgnutz (Mar 29, 2007)

Here's a question for all you gallouts out there: I have read somewhere that if you put the two boards you wish to edge joint side-by-side and then use a hand plane to joint the edge, any sloping of the plane will be canceled by the slope being shared by the two edges as they are planed at the same time. My question is: when you place the two boards side-by-side to plane the edge, do you have the face to face or face to back?

I need to glue up a panel, but my bench-top jointer is not giving me square edges. I don't want to take the time, now, to align the tables, fences, and blades. (I will save that for the "winter" months.) If you can help me, it will save me having to dig through all my woodworking mags I have saved up….LOL

God Bless,
Hawg


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## WayneC (Mar 8, 2007)

Face to Face.

From Wikipidia…

When using a hand plane to perform this operation, two boards are often clamped face to face in the vice and both jointed at once. This creates two edges that are the mirror image of one another. In this way, even if the edges are not perfectly perpendicular to their respective faces, when the two board edges are brought together, the result is a flat panel because the error in each edge cancels the other out.


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## Hawgnutz (Mar 29, 2007)

Thanks, Wayne.
That is what I thought, but could not rememeber for sure. Working on wooden cover for wife's '56 Ford.

God Bless.
Hawg


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## Betsy (Sep 25, 2007)

Hawg-- be sure to post a picture of the finished cover-sounds like an interesting project.

Betsy


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## TomFran (Jun 19, 2007)

This is good stuff! Thanks Hawg, for asking the question. This will help me out greatly.

I've been wondering how to do this for years. (I hate to admit that I was so knowledge deficient here…. ;^D )


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## johnjoiner (Sep 28, 2007)

I prefer back-to-back instead of face-to-face. ;-)

Seriously, this method assumes the cutting edge of your plane iron is very flat/straight and not sharpened to a slight camber as is becoming more common with the teachings of David Charlesworth, Christopher Schwarz and others. I've attempted to draw a little diagram showing two boards edge-jointed with the top having an exaggerated angle, and a dashed line showing that surface if your plane iron has a camber (again exaggerated).








As you can (hopefully) see the edges of the boards which are in the middle during edge-planing will be lower if your iron has a camber. Then when you flip one board on top of the other those two edges are the ones that should meet, and they are shorter than if your plane iron is straight along the cutting edge. The result could end in your boards not being jointed parallel. I would guess, though, that in practice the effect might often be so small as to be negligible.

On the flip-side, if your blade iron has a camber, you're in luck! The main purpose of that, as I understand it, is to make squaring of your edge easy. If the right side or your board is high, center your plane over that side, and you will take a shaving which is thicker on the right and thinner on the left.

Sorry if this is a tedious amount of detail here. I like hand-planing.


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## Hawgnutz (Mar 29, 2007)

Thanks, John.
I will be using either my steel #7, or an early wood version of the #7 to plane my edges These blades have no chamber. I have sharpened them with a flat edge for jointing planing.

I think one problem with clamping them back to back is that the exposed faces are exposed to possible clamping marks. I have modified my bench to accept wooden screw clamps along the front just for the purpose of planing edges. I have drawers mounted, so there is no room to mount a face vise, just a tail vise. I guess you get what you pay for. I bought my table at a discount supplier but it sure beats nothing!

Betsy, I willl be sure to post a picture of the tailgate cover/insert. Once i get the ttechnique ironed out, i will make one for MY '57, and sell them at car shows we will be frequenting. =);o))

God Bless,
Hawg


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## Tangle (Jul 21, 2007)

I guess I've never paid any attention to whether the boards were back to back or face to face. Just make sure that the insides of your vise are clean and there is nothing to mar the boards too deeply. I just might decide that the other face looks better after I glue them up. Besides I'll be scraping and planing glue lines any way. I've been able to achieve invisable glue lines with this method.


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## oscorner (Aug 7, 2006)

Good question Hawg! I've had success using this method.


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