Edge Jointing Long Boards by Hand

How do you edge joint your boards if you don't have a power jointer?
Here's one way.
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[@ianpearse4480]

Just rewatched this video prior to jointing some small boards. RC, I really enjoy the Tao of your work. Slow pace of work, using friction to determine the quality of the edge. Nice. Thanks.

[@ericmetke7704]

Don't let the trolls creep into your videos. Ignore them and do your thing. Your work is outstanding!

[@isacoritay]

First time on your channel, but man deaaaaam beautiful bench u have. It looks like you put a bunch of love and a pat of you on it. Congrats and thanks for the content

[@bill4123]

Thanks for taking the time to explain this particular plane within the context of how you're actually using it. It made it easier to think of how it would translate to my particular work flow.

[@ronhau1542]

The machines will still leave tool marks. You're doing it the right way! That's a beautiful case too BTW!❤️

[@philaandrew100]

Glad you talked about sprung joints. Not too many folk do. I have found with most of the Australian hardwoods I work with a sprung joint is doable up to a 300mm wide board without having to break out a hydraulic press to close the gap. Best part about the sprung joint is the ends will never seperate. I do like the Jointer fence, use my trusty old Stanley version all the time. Makes a pain in the arse job a lot less painful..

[@klausschleicher523]

This is one of the best videos about edge jointing with handtools, if not the best. Thanks a lot. I have a small workbench jointer, but I enjoy the work with handtools.

[@jasonanderson420]

Thanks for the video. I’m looking to make a dining table soon and will ensure to come back and watch this video again when it’s time to joint the boards for the top.

[@sheslop888]

Great video. And timely. As soon as I've had my coffee, I'm going out to flat plane and edge plane some 3" x 6" maple. I have 2 @ 6', and 2 @ 4'. I don't have that fence, but with the 3" edge it will be easier to keep the plane flat than it would be with thinner boards. Fun times!

[@bobmartin6055]

Outstanding craftsmanship!! Hater’s going hate.. They’re just jealous!

[@coreyhiggins621]

Great tutorial! Thanks!

[@iamwhoiam4410]

I have that Veritas fence and it makes a difference for me particularly on long boards, and a permanent injury to my right hand. I use Lie Nielson planes and it works on the 4 1/2 smoother, 5 1/2 jack and the no. 7 jointer. I like that Veritas bevel up jointer and have made up my mind to purchase one. Thanks for the video, and I would advise anyone to get that Veritas fence, no matter how good you think you are jointing boards, especially long boards with a hand plane.

[@musamor75]

This is truly an excellent video, so well and clearly explained. It should convince even the most reluctant to take up hand jointing- because it is a joy to do. I just love the way the plane whistles; it's like it's talking to you. Of course the jointer itself must be dead flat- which is sadly not always the case. However Veritas are excellent and very reliable tools. You had me gaping in utter admiration when you showed us your BEAUTIFUL tool cabinet. It is stunning- something in the esprit of the famous Studley tool chest. Full marks Sir, and my deepest respect. Greetings from France.

[@anthonyseiver7000]

Very informative video. Getting the edges just right at this stage pays huge dividends later on.

[@shanehertzog5812]

I love your hand tool cabinet superb work.hey I just got my veritas low angle jack plane just arrived yesterday. I like it very much .i like your workbench beautiful size. Australia.

[@FearsomeWarrior]

Awesome video as always. Love the full explanations that do not skip the tasks before you can even put tool to wood. Real woodworking is spending an entire shop session tuning a tool when you intended to finish a project step. Seeing your saw tills in the toolbox again made me think of my current project I’m starting. I need a saw till for my saws but they go from dovetail and up to carcase and then tenon. M That difference in length and size made me think I’d make two tills. Maybe I make them graduated like yours. Fit two dovetails and a carcase on one but then my larger second till could be divided and hold more. I’ve laid them out to decide but it was difficult because of how the sizes change dramatically. You somehow managed to get all the sizes and styles of saws in to one divided till. Dovetail saws and all the way up to handsaws.

[@Apillicus]

The little Phillips with the red end is amazing. I like them so much i bought 2. Eventually i want to make some handles out of wood that match, but that's a problem for future me

[@richardc6932]

Excellent video and great points to think about. I can’t get enough of videos hand planing with what I consider one of the best made planes, Veritas. I just wish that their LA Jack was drilled and tapped for their optional fence like their custom line.🇨🇦👍👨‍🦳

[@fredmercury1314]

I've got a table saw and a router table and you can use either to edge joint boards, for efficiency. And then make it nice with a hand plane because planing is fun and much cheaper than a jointer.

[@jamestaulbee4791]

Nice video. First time viewer here: got your channel n😮ame from a fb Hand Tool list, Liked & subscribed, looking forward to seeing more content.

[@JB_GC]

Thank you for all this very useful content! Training wheels? This was made to reduce any risk of non-square, so this has nothing to do with training wheels, if you have access to a better/more stable tool, why not use it? It sounds like the domino haters, the tool is expensive ok, but if you have the need and budget, why force yourself not to improve your workflow? (I am not in that scenario: no budget and no need, but wtf with these reactions). I'm looking forward to your future content ;-) Take care!

[@sexyplexie]

just grand. some of us don't have the money for really anything nice (fixed income) and so these videos showing how to hand-work lumber regardless of how long it might take are really a gem. i'm so poor i don't even own a jointing plane, or a plane that i can attach a fence, but the techniques here still apply and i'm happy to see them being shared by someone that knows how to do this work. thank you.

[@PyroMonster94]

haters gonna hate no matter what, just ignore them. Addressing them in your videos just feeds them more and it worsens the viewing experience for others.

[@uriel-heavensguardian8949]

Awesome

[@user-hw4jz5eh5d]

No doubt you have excellent advice on edge-planing by hand. "Veritas" are very pricey tools. What less expensive brands do you know of?

[@themountaintopjoinersshop8422]

Wood River comes to mind, at least when it comes to new tools, although I can't speak to what quality level they're at. There's also used/vintage tools, if you're okay with doing a bit of restoration work from time to time.

[@themountaintopjoinersshop8422]

Actually, it looks like Wood River tools have really gone up in price. I got nothing. 😂

[@dpmeyer4867]

Thanks

[@1deerndingo]

Using hand tools to work timber is about enjoying the challenge and the process. People do wood work for the process and the outcome. Some people, I'm one, really enjoy the process and that's what drives their direction in the hobby. If I was doing it for $$$ I'd have to use electricity.

[@themountaintopjoinersshop8422]

I enjoy it at first but then a few hours into a big session I wonder what I got myself into.

[@ianpearse4480]

Nice. Great share.

[@scottshevlin8378]

Great video! Tons of great information. One thing I’ve always been confused about is when you edge joint for panel glue up is you’re blade sharpened straight or with a camber? Everyone seems to recommend a camber but I would think when doing that on two mating boards it would create a slight hollow when put together. I’d love to here you’re opinion on that. Thanks!

[@themountaintopjoinersshop8422]

My blade has a very slight camber and, because it's bedded at a low angle, it's effectively almost non-existent.

[@berndfachinger6000]

So you do not check for grain and plaining direction before you set the fence (on the right side)? Ok, you answer my question a few seconds later.

[@shadda]

What wood is your work bench made out of? Is that cherry? It looks amazing

[@themountaintopjoinersshop8422]

It's quartersawn sapele laminated over a quartersawn douglas fir top. I did a whole video about my bench if you want to look for it on my channel.

[@quickerways2965]

Hi Ryan - excellent as always - always impressed at your thoroughness. Also use training wheels and a round bubble level, glued on, too boot. Cannot have enough checks that for planing square. Have a question - have you considered adding a long aluminium fence (4m? ) on your bandsaw - perhaps made from 8020 - to be made from a few parts? I use a long have long boards edge/face joint. Then clean up with No 8/7 plane or thicknesser, depending. (for all - the concave side is faced to the fence) Generally have a 25mm carbide blade on my bandsaw- making curves is not that common and the few I need are made with short segments and the 25mm blade and then cleaned up with a plane...

[@themountaintopjoinersshop8422]

I haven't thought about a longer band saw fence but I certainly wouldn't mind having one. Thanks for putting the idea in my head.

[@quickerways2965]

Furthering maximising bandsaw when you don't have jointer... (I do not have the space for a jointer).be interested if you try the technique Had some stock that had significant twist, would break this stock into shorter lengths as scrubbing it back to flat would take a while, but decided to see what involved cutting straight line off curved stock Results\- joint one edge first. Face the concave side to the 4m fence. Find a reasonably stable position, that allows that bandsaw to cut in a position that is square to the future faces. Align with the edge to keep as much timber as possible Then put a bubble level (abutted so that it showing horizontal in a mount (inclinometer?) on the far from bandsaw end of the of the timber. Fly the timber in "slowly" but watching the bubble for roll.With care upon shoulder have straight line Now rotate 90 so that the concave side is facing the fence and reference side is on the bottom- align so that cut is only taking of the bowed timber- while watching that reference side is staying flat to bandsaw push in and cut off the base- note : using a 25mm blade it seems stay flat even on skimming cuts worked for me the bubble level should work as well.Made the next two cuts, likely joint first it the better bet and the use this new cut as the bottom reference for the other face. cutting off the waste - the last two surface as the the timber was less "wobbly" are likely more accurate and reference for thicknessing /resaw. Used thicknesser to arrive at close to final surface The indeed and outfield need suitable supports and the long fence require additional support ( the bandsaw fence lock is mot even close the stiffness need to restrain the long fence)no idea if this this good enough to do away with planer - there's some plus's as in in fewer passes and less dust to collect, likely not , but it was easier than scrubbing.

[@JKAW]

Appreciate you walking through the process. When not recording, how long would it take you to do?

[@themountaintopjoinersshop8422]

That's hard to say. It depends how long and how messed up each edge is and how much energy I have. With the long boards for this project it was maybe 10-15mins per edge on average.

[@What_Other_Hobbies]

Once you drive a car equipped with a backup camera with curve lines guiding you, you wouldn't call them training wheels. I still check my mirrors in the process but I do love my backup camera.

[@aragorndedolor4171]

Why don't you plane 2 boards at once? Your main focus is joining them in a straight line. You take a wider cut when boards are doubled which improves stability a lot to get close to a square 90 degree cut. When you achieved planing in a straight line being out of square will compensate when folding the boards open. You are basically referencing 1 board (glue line) with the other. With practice you learn how to read the boards glue line and you know where to plane corrections. That's how the oldtimers with only hand tools available did for centuries. And how I was thought back in the 197ties.

[@themountaintopjoinersshop8422]

I always found that method to work much better in theory than in practice with boards this large, and to be more trouble than it is worth, but if it works for you, I don't begrudge you using it in the slightest. I do, however, sometimes use that technique with smaller boards clamped together on top of the bench.

[@8dholland]

Question. I saw you had a thickness planer, I am power surfing videos to find out if I need one. I am finding info that I should not have bought the 7 hand planer because the thickness planer can do that. Is a hand jointer needed if thickness planers can sqaure?

[@themountaintopjoinersshop8422]

One of the main functions of a jointer plane is to flatten boards. A power planer won't do that for you (not anywhere near to the extent that you need), so if you don't have a power jointer, that jointer plane is still very much needed.

[@instantsiv]

Jointer is too big and heavy imo. I had to joint 30 edges and figured out real quick to use a jack with a heavy cut to get the edges close and finish with the jointer. Jointed the edges and glued all the panels in 3 hours. I also used a scrub plane for a couple pieces that were really funky.

[@themountaintopjoinersshop8422]

I used to do that quite a bit, but since I got my Clifton No. 5, which is great but may be the heaviest jack plane on earth, I just use the jointer from start to finish.

[@berndfachinger6000]

How do you make sure that the plained edges after the band saw are parallel? Or does it even not matter?

[@themountaintopjoinersshop8422]

Assuming I sawed them parallel, all I need to do is plane full length passes until all the bandsaw marks have just disappeared and more often than not, that's parallel too. It's still worth checking though, especially when a parallel edge is critical.

[@bakerzermatt]

I bet that plane works well on a shooting board!

[@themountaintopjoinersshop8422]

It actually doesn't work well for that at all. The sides of the plane body are small and not milled flat.

[@jonathanrashleigh8771]

Training wheels!

[@edwardindrevoll-bardsen1539]

What angle on the blade do you use?

[@themountaintopjoinersshop8422]

30 degrees most of the time.

[@user-vi7dx6lt9n]

Hi, just curious, did you sharpen up again during that process?

[@themountaintopjoinersshop8422]

I didn't. The PMV-11 blade holds an edge pretty well.

[@bryantretheway3809]

Do you use a cambered blade or a flat grind blade?

[@themountaintopjoinersshop8422]

A very slightly cambered blade, like, almost flat, but not quite flat.

[@ZenithsCipher]

I do the same (flattening one face and straightening one edge using hand planes) as a hobbyist, it is already almost too much work for me. I cannot imagine how you manage this amount of work as a professional furniture maker and still make a profit. I remember you have a Festool track saw, why don't you use that first and then clean it up with a jointer plane?

[@themountaintopjoinersshop8422]

Mostly laziness. It takes me quite some time to set up the track saw for long cuts like this and I have difficulty finding enough room to do so.

[@1deerndingo]

If your straight edge is a lot shorter than the board, how do you know it's straight all the way?

[@themountaintopjoinersshop8422]

The short answer is, you don't. Doing it this way you'll end up with edges that are just slightly sprung, ideally (occasionally mine come out over-spring and I have to take a little more off the ends). What ultimately matters isn't that it's dead straight, but that the edge of the board meets up nicely to the edge of the board that's next to it when clamped up into a panel.

[@markhowlett1705]

Stringline?

[@JamesSmith-su3oz]

One thing that not covered is using the side of the jointer plane to check for high spots instead of a stick of AL that costs more $$.

[@upulmunasinghe6759]

1) Mastering hand planes for natural wood board joinery not allowed any attachments, disregard planks length. 2) Tilting the plane L&R shifting thumb pressure and elbow tilting ( like batting in Criket or flight tail) and extra weight at front by thumb also back weight by handle hand are the technics need to master through years with fulltime work in the shop if want to be a true cabinet maker. 3) No tools to check the board length edge straight or not, but your carpentry Eye and board on board to check 100% seat , then corrections. Also claping two boards can say by the sound if sitting is perfect or not. Also when you shift the top board fmm L to R can notice the center pivoting point : which is the hi point need to level. 4) Above all continuous checking vertical perpendicular, keeping both long edges one on the the other n check with a steel 12" ruler is must . ( like the mason build 10- 15ft. hi walls check the vertical alignment bricks by bricks as it goes up) 5) Double boards planning is cheating, but it works well with short/ thin boards , or you have mastered it personally to extreme level would do.( I do only 0.5% per 3 months FT work) I wish all the best and courage to all the carpenters🙏🏼❤️