Sorry... Long post here.
I've been partially dressing boards by hand for a while now. I use the jack/jointer plane to get one side nice and flat, then I use my jointer plane to joint one edge 90deg to the flat face.
From there, I thickness using the cheapest thicknesser machine you can get from Carbatec, and then I move to my contractor's style (soon to be cabinet style) table saw. At that point the boards are dressed four sides. I then use saws and a shooting plane for length, and call that DAR.
For the most part that's been working for me, but the last two furniture projects have really changed my perspective on some stuff. Both of these projects were chests, and both were going to be made with Eucalypts, i.e. hard stuff. The first was a full sized tool chest and the second was a blanket chest, so kind of medium sized but still large enough to double as a bench.
With the first chest, it was for me, which is kind of unique. I'm usually making stuff for other people as a commission or gift, experimenting with styles and techniques, or just making something because I think it's cool. The second chest was for my girlfriend.
Anyway these projects both had a lot of boards. I had to prep about twenty large ones for the first chest and thirty smaller ones for the second chest. Being Eucalypts, they were both A: hard and B: pretty rough with regards to their defects (twisting, bowing, cupping, knots, etc.). With the first chest, by the time the panels were glued up and it came time to flatten them for joinery, I had lost interest and decided to put it off and work on other stuff. That was about four solid days of work. I was cool with putting this on the back burner because it was for me. Unfortunately, the boards leaned against the wall for a while and, during that time, warped to a point of non useability. When I got them out to work them again a couple of months later, it was hopeless.
With the second chest, something went wrong during the panel glue-up. I don't know if my square was screwed up slightly while jointing, my thickness planer has gotten out of whack, my table saw blade is misaligned, or my clamps are out of symmetry, but three of the four panels twisted and I didn't see it coming. By the time I got the worst panel flattened after a LOT of scrub plane time, I was looking at 10mm wall thicknesses. Maybe less by the time I got at them with the smoother. Ruined.
So there's two projects basically lost after, literally, days of work each. This is what brings me to the point of this post...
I am very seriously considering getting a high end combination machine. I know this is the hand tool forum, but that was deliberate. I'm curious to know how many people who are hand tool users "cheat" (I'm joking with that terminology) and prep their boards with machines. Are any of the "hand tool guys" actually doing all of their jointing (one face one edge) by hand for entire projects? Furthermore, is anyone dressing all six sides by hand on every project?
Does anyone feel that their hand tool skills have declined following acquisition and use of a jointer (machine)? I feel like I was sort of just reaching the point with the jointer and jack planes that I could determine which steps to take to flatten a board and then execute them accordingly. On the one hand I feel like these two planes will be far less used and my (still developing) skills with them will decline. But on the other hand, I feel like my joinery skills - which is my favorite part of furniture making - will improve drastically as I will be able to move to the point of using and developing those skills more quickly on a project by project basis.
To me, the fun part of woodworking is designing a piece, executing the project efficiently, taking my time with the joinery, and having something great to use and enjoy or for someone else to use and enjoy. If I could shorten the board prep stage from days to, literally, minutes, then I think I would spend more time in my shop enjoying myself.
Interested to hear thoughts on this topic.
Thanks in advance,
Luke
I've been partially dressing boards by hand for a while now. I use the jack/jointer plane to get one side nice and flat, then I use my jointer plane to joint one edge 90deg to the flat face.
From there, I thickness using the cheapest thicknesser machine you can get from Carbatec, and then I move to my contractor's style (soon to be cabinet style) table saw. At that point the boards are dressed four sides. I then use saws and a shooting plane for length, and call that DAR.
For the most part that's been working for me, but the last two furniture projects have really changed my perspective on some stuff. Both of these projects were chests, and both were going to be made with Eucalypts, i.e. hard stuff. The first was a full sized tool chest and the second was a blanket chest, so kind of medium sized but still large enough to double as a bench.
With the first chest, it was for me, which is kind of unique. I'm usually making stuff for other people as a commission or gift, experimenting with styles and techniques, or just making something because I think it's cool. The second chest was for my girlfriend.
Anyway these projects both had a lot of boards. I had to prep about twenty large ones for the first chest and thirty smaller ones for the second chest. Being Eucalypts, they were both A: hard and B: pretty rough with regards to their defects (twisting, bowing, cupping, knots, etc.). With the first chest, by the time the panels were glued up and it came time to flatten them for joinery, I had lost interest and decided to put it off and work on other stuff. That was about four solid days of work. I was cool with putting this on the back burner because it was for me. Unfortunately, the boards leaned against the wall for a while and, during that time, warped to a point of non useability. When I got them out to work them again a couple of months later, it was hopeless.
With the second chest, something went wrong during the panel glue-up. I don't know if my square was screwed up slightly while jointing, my thickness planer has gotten out of whack, my table saw blade is misaligned, or my clamps are out of symmetry, but three of the four panels twisted and I didn't see it coming. By the time I got the worst panel flattened after a LOT of scrub plane time, I was looking at 10mm wall thicknesses. Maybe less by the time I got at them with the smoother. Ruined.
So there's two projects basically lost after, literally, days of work each. This is what brings me to the point of this post...
I am very seriously considering getting a high end combination machine. I know this is the hand tool forum, but that was deliberate. I'm curious to know how many people who are hand tool users "cheat" (I'm joking with that terminology) and prep their boards with machines. Are any of the "hand tool guys" actually doing all of their jointing (one face one edge) by hand for entire projects? Furthermore, is anyone dressing all six sides by hand on every project?
Does anyone feel that their hand tool skills have declined following acquisition and use of a jointer (machine)? I feel like I was sort of just reaching the point with the jointer and jack planes that I could determine which steps to take to flatten a board and then execute them accordingly. On the one hand I feel like these two planes will be far less used and my (still developing) skills with them will decline. But on the other hand, I feel like my joinery skills - which is my favorite part of furniture making - will improve drastically as I will be able to move to the point of using and developing those skills more quickly on a project by project basis.
To me, the fun part of woodworking is designing a piece, executing the project efficiently, taking my time with the joinery, and having something great to use and enjoy or for someone else to use and enjoy. If I could shorten the board prep stage from days to, literally, minutes, then I think I would spend more time in my shop enjoying myself.
Interested to hear thoughts on this topic.
Thanks in advance,
Luke
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