Gimme that pencil! *Wrestling it out of your hand* but seriously, it works for some people. For me it seems like a waste of time but I often take down the surface with planes before reaching for the sander and use it to smooth the surface. I think a lot of it is how you sand to know you're covering and you like me have spent plenty of time with a sander to have a good process that works for us.

Oh, for sure, it's definitely situational -iIf you know/trust your flatness, definitely not worth it. I just cringe whenever I see people use it and sand away all the pencil each pass thinking it shows where they need to sand more... I'm like, you know you're just making the low spot worse, right? lol

First and foremost, a sharp blade. I also don't plane off the end of the board, instead I plane toward the center and flip the board around to get the other side. If you plane off the end the end grain fibers will catch and tear out. You could also add a chamfer or roundover before planing which will help, then touch it up after you are done flattening.

@@keatonbeyerwoodworking Thanks for the advice. Is a sharp blade the key to working with multiple grain directions? Or, is there another technique? Thanks again!

@georgecooksey8661 a sharp blade is pretty much the key to using a hand plane. But on end grain you'll get more resistance so you can set the chip breaker low to help reduce chatter. Otherwise keep it sharp, take light passes, and enjoy the workout 💪

Awesome to hear. This was a fun little project and a good skill builder!

🐺 🐻

That's a good way to do it. I've only done that on small items and it turns out great, but I'm not good enough to do a whole piece of furniture that way. Thanks for commenting!

Lol, it could be useful!

This was my KEY takeaway! It's ok to hoard the offcuts. 😉

@edmarks688 it's always okay to keep everything. I built extra storage just so I could keep all those extra scraps I might need.

Sure. We do what works for us and I'm offering different options. Some folks find joinery intimidating but using screws is a perfectly acceptable alternative. I too don't use screws often unless the situation makes sense to use them.

Ha, or as someone else pointed out, use your hand to feel for the smoothness.

I'll keep fighting the good fight!

Typically I just feel for it too and if you've sanded enough you'll know when you've properly done an area. Agreed that only woodworkers know where the screws are, and if you hide them well even they won't know, then when you point it out they'll be doubly impressed.

Yeah. I'm watching, like I've watched countless other videos and thought "how can they not just feel the difference between sanded and not sanded?". I've got calloused hands from decades of hard work and I can still feel the difference.

Definitely. I have two sleds. One for boards under 2 feet because it's easier to handle them with a sled that's only 25 inches. Then I have this sled for longer boards.

Thank you. Will have to make one !

Yes it is. Stanley no 5. You could do this with a shorter one too if that's what you have.

@@keatonbeyerwoodworking I'm getting a Stanley no 5 Type 19 delivered soon from eBay. I look forward to giving it a try. I'm also almost done building my router flattening sled. So it will be interesting to see which one gives better results. Thanks for your video though. I was curious to see what hand planing end grain looked like in practice.

@StephenYen I wouldn't start out trying to plane end grain. It's pretty tough to do so first get some practice on regular boards. End grain is harder and wants to break off at the edges so work from the outside in. You also want a very sharp blade. If your plane starts jumping around on you that means your blade is too dull and can't cut, so it's time to sharpen. Good luck! Hand planes are a joy and a 5 is a great starting point. I'm working on a course specifically on hand planes so stay tuned for when that comes out!

Thanks! I appreciate the comment!

Definitely. I should have mentioned you don't have to use a photography light, I just happen to have them, but they are pretty nice to have in the shop even if you don't make videos. It's always nice being able to see!

First off the dust line helps you see where you have been and haven't, which I think is the whole point of the pencil mark. I'm just suggesting an alternative that is faster because no matter how lightly you use the pencil led will get down in the pores of porous wood. Also, any light will work, I just happen to have $25 photography lights in the shop, but a flashlight works too. I'm not sure Manny pros really recommend that pencil trick. Blacktail also recommends using a light because you'll see the defects and where you haven't sanded.

I was going to comment the same thing. We use dulled fat carpenters pencils held at a low angle. It takes seconds to "scribble" and then sands off easily. We use almost exclusively red oak and have not experienced the problems explained here. Also, a raking light can be useful. We use a $8 desk light from Walmart with a 150 watt (equiv) LED bulb. Thx.

@@keatonbeyerwoodworking Using the pencil isn't just to show where you have been and where you haven't. It's meant to show if you've sanded enough as you go through your progression of grits. The "dust line" will show that you sanded in a certain spot, but it won't show if you sanded enough to remove the scratches from the previous grit. A light can work well, especially if you are going for an extremely smooth surface like Blacktail Studios is doing with his epoxy tables. But when using porous woods like oak or ash, it's much more difficult to see fine scratches with a light. Also, I have never had any problem with the pencil lead getting down in the pores. To me, the pencil trick is a tool or method that may have can be very helpful.

Thanks for watching!

Good tips everyone needs to hear. Really enjoyed the video!

Awesome, thanks Kevin!

Though I mostly agree with the pencil/sanding thing, it depends on materials. Red oak? Never pencil! Maple? Go for it. Rake light is better. As to threaded inserts. They are for assembly/disassembly. Many people who use them are so they can somewhat flat pack and ship and often someone else is reassembling the item. Threaded inserts make for a more end user friendly attachment. Plus people move, a lot! Making the item easily broken down for moving just makes sense for larger furniture as regular screws will get sloppy or simply fail after just a few times

Finally thank God the old pencil trick complete and utter cods wallop waste of time don't do it you don't need a fancy light just good light and move your head you can see and feel when it is sanded properly

Thank you Jonas!

A few people have asked me, silly that I left it out of the description so I added it. But here it is to make it easy for you. And thanks for commenting and watching! Glad you liked it! Extension Rail Hardware: www.rockler.com/equalizer-slides-38-wood Alignment Pins: www.rockler.com/table-pins-choose-type Soss 1/2inch Hinges: www.rockler.com/concealed-soss-hinges-satin-brass-finish

Thank you! This was a really fun build, because I find the challenges fun, well I find them fun after I've beat them but in the moment they aren't so fun. The pins I got from Rockler. They have them on their website but there's a "choose option" page where you can select from wood, plastic, or brass: www.rockler.com/table-pins-choose-type

That's so nice to hear. My goal with these videos is to inspire people to get into the shop and your comment lets me know that it's working!

I noticed there isn't much info out there on them but it's not as hard as it seems. The placement does depend on your slide placement and how much room you have inside the pocket. I had about 1/4 inch on each side so it was tight. I didn't cover this part because I wasn't sure if what I did will work for everyone, but in essence the rod landed 1/3 of the way across the table. The way I measured it was based on the width of the leaf folded and knowing it had to be basically right in the middle I put the rod in place and found the spot where there would be enough space for the short side of the leaf to pretty much butt up against the slide which I want to say was 8 inches in from the slide. To summarize the leaf was 37 inches across so folded was 18.5 and the center of the bar was 8 inches in from the slide, I think. I didn't write it down since I just make things to fit but hopefully that helps.

@@keatonbeyerwoodworking Thanks, I think I duplicate your process for figuring it out, and the 1/3 placement at least gets me a starting point. I will probably mock the whole table up in cheap imported birch plywood, as my additional challenge will be fitting the additional leaves as the sliding mechanism get smaller. If you had only 1/4" of clearance, my confidence level on 2 (or 3) just got much lower. I guess I could do 1 butterfly leaf in the middle and do end extensions with an additional butterfly leaf in each for a total or 3.

@bradmathews the clearance was across the table. From a pulled apart position you should be fine. I would make three supports though for the pipe. Two on the ends and one in the middle, that way it won't sag causing alignment issues

First off, not dumb at all. The way I shim a cup is by putting the shims down first and then placing the board on top. You can push down on the board to see if it flexes and if not it's good. If the shim is too big it'll raise the board up and cause it to rock. And to guess the size of the shim you can shim the end of the board and use ones that are the right thickness for the end in the middle. Hopefully that makes sense

I do like to use scraps of paper. Playing cards would be a little slippery though right? They also might be a bit wide for this operation, but when spacing inset doors they are awesome to use

Yeah, sometimes I attempt to make silly jokes

You do want to subtract the rabbet. If you add it then the picture will fall through the front. I misspoke in the video but the formula is correct.

I wouldn't trust that the 2x12 is actually flat and if the sled isn't flat you're going to have a heck of a time flattening your stock. A sheet good like melamine or mdf is preferable.

We're all always learning aren't we? I did it wrong with the same problem for a while until I realized it was wrong, but I agree on the over engineered sleds. Simple is best and hauling this sled with a 5 foot board is heavy enough!

Ha! That's how you know it's an authentic video

Ha, you got me. I didn't film myself fumbling around with figuring that out. It was 1/3 of the way in from one table slide. That way when the leaf was in half 1/3 was on one side of the pipe and 2/3 on the other. Clearance was tight on this one because of that under bevel which pushed the apron back from the edge. If your apron was further out placement wouldn't be quite so critical.

@ Thats helpful thanks!

Yes, all walnut plywood. 3/4 inch for the sides and shelves and 1/4 for the back panel.

Good luck! It'll turn out awesome!

Ha! I'm happy to hear it helped. It was one of those, "how did I not think of this sooner" moments too when I did it this way for the first time.

Thank you. All black walnut, well except for the light wood for the inner parts, that was all maple.

Thanks Jon! I appreciate you watching and following along, and the best part is there's more to come!

Jigs really do help make every cut repeatable. I used to not use them much and quickly found out it's hard to make two cuts identical without them.

I like doing it that way. It feels more intentional than z- clips or figure 8 fasteners and it's a pretty easy way to do it

It is. I prefer a dado stack over a router. It's cleaner and faster. Maybe you can be a rebel and find a black market dado stack for your saw, hahaha

Thanks Dan!

I hear you. I glazed over that part. The important part was getting the slides parallel. I marked the center based on the center of the cog, then I lined that up with the split in the table and used spacers to set the slides away from the aprons which I knew were parallel and secured the slides to the table top.

Thank you!

Haha, maybe someday I'll be lucky enough to have all the most expensive tools and alienate my audience 🤑

Thanks Dave! Good luck with your cabinet.