Woodworking Guild

#3
#3
I'm just getting into wood working and building a kitchen table from a white oak tree I had cut down and milled. One problem I'm running into is squaring my boards so when they are joined there isn't a crack. I don't want to buy a jointer and my boards are 10 inches wide, so I couldn't afford one big enough anyway. I've tried building a fence / straight edge and using my table saw - but it's just not cutting it (no pun intended).

Does anyone have a large jointer they wouldn't mind me bring by a few boards - happy to pay for some rental time. Of course I could cut the boards down into more manageable sizes, but just didn't really want to do that. Also open to other suggestions from others way more experienced than me.
 
#4
#4
jps2194 said:
I'm just getting into wood working and building a kitchen table from a white oak tree I had cut down and milled. One problem I'm running into is squaring my boards so when they are joined there isn't a crack. I don't want to buy a jointer and my boards are 10 inches wide, so I couldn't afford one big enough anyway. I've tried building a fence / straight edge and using my table saw - but it's just not cutting it (no pun intended).

Does anyone have a large jointer they wouldn't mind me bring by a few boards - happy to pay for some rental time. Of course I could cut the boards down into more manageable sizes, but just didn't really want to do that. Also open to other suggestions from others way more experienced than me.
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I have a small benchtop jointer but instead of using it I've turned to using my table saw and a jig for ripping straight edges. There are multiple ways of building the jig but I took a piece of melamine and laminated a piece of plywood on top of it, leaving six inches or so of space for a board to ride along. To keep the milled piece in place I used two toggle clamps. You may want to go back with a low angle jack plane to clear away any tear out afterward but the jig has worked well for me!
 
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#6
#6
Get as straight as you can with your table saw. Use contact cement to adhere sandpaper to a long straight piece of steel or aluminum (I use a 4’ aluminum level. Shim the board up off your workbench 1/4” or so. Slide the level back and forth on the bench until the side of the board is flat.
 
#7
#7
walkenvol said:
Get as straight as you can with your table saw. Use contact cement to adhere sandpaper to a long straight piece of steel or aluminum (I use a 4’ aluminum level. Shim the board up off your workbench 1/4” or so. Slide the level back and forth on the bench until the side of the board is flat.
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I suppose this is a viable alternative to using a hand plane like a low angle jack or no. 7. There's also the pencil trick and random orbital sander
 
#8
#8
QuarterSawnVol said:
I suppose this is a viable alternative to using a hand plane like a low angle jack or no. 7. There's also the pencil trick and random orbital sander
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I never seem to be able to keep my plane at a perfect 90 degrees to the board consistently which shows my lack of skill. Using my workbench as a huge fence helps me keep everything perfectly aligned. Lots of ways to skin that cat but this one hasn’t ever failed me when things needed to be perfect. Good luck!
 
#9
#9
You have to have a flat side in order to have a square edge. Once that is accomplished then flattening the other side with a thickness planer. You can do a jig and flatten with a planer or a router and sled. But you have to start with a fairly thick piece.
 
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