Thread: Gonna have to start jointing

pro/ amateur doing better work...
a pro can justify the cost of better equipment, does the work regularly to keep up the skills.

however, an amateur doesn't have to make the tools pay for themselves, nor justify the time required to produce work of whatever standard is desired. as a professional, I can only budget so much time for a particular bit of jointery- if I can't get the parts to fit up in the allotted time I lose money, but an amateur can work on it for a week if need be- after all it's a hobby, right?

when edge joining two boards, there's no need for them to be exactly at 90 degrees- they can be off a degree or two, as long as they are both off the same amount in opposing directions. clamp the two together face to face for jointing with a bench plane and shoot them at the same time- the angles will take care of themselves.

if you're working with recycled floorboards get yourself a roughing scraper- the kind you sharpen with a file, sold for removing old paint- and clean the boards first with that before bringing any better tooling to the wood. old floorboards are likely to be full of grit and dirt.

I am certainly no pro but I do ensure that the boards are dead flat and the edges are exactly 90 degrees. I never have visible glue lines from edge jointing boards that have been machined on my jointer/thicknesser or have been carefully ripped using the glue-line blade. If the finish left by the blade is not perfect, ie zero markings, then I will clean it up on the jointer.

While I understand that some people prefer a hand plane, I cannot believe that this is the only method that is adopted universally by Australian professionals. I think Arron is on the money, no need to make it too hard for a bloke trying to pursue his interests.

Originally Posted by Arron

ps. BeanerSA, if I've read your skill level wrong, please ignore all the above.

No, you've got the skill level right, and my thought processes too. I've read this a couple of times, but I'm still not sure what your point is.

"The acceptable standard should be okay for those doing this as a hobby"?

Originally Posted by Arron

...
However, it doesnt change my view that if the saw cuts are relatively clean you can go straight to gluing, and still have abundant strength with modern glues. I'm with TP1, if something works dont fiddle further.

Agreed, Arron - you are likely to have more than enough bond strength for the task, over the sorts of surface areas being talked about here, even if only half the potential glueing surface is wetted. So I was being a bit fussy, or setting the record straight, as you kindly put it.

Just to show I'm an unrepentant pedant, I will also question the statement "still have abundant strength with modern glues". Do I read into that an implication that 'old' glues are less strong? I suggest you compare the bond strength of hide glue with any PVA or other thermoplastic glue, & I think you'll find hide glue beats any of them hands-down. AND it doesn't creep on a hot day.

However, my own bench top is glued with PVA (2.5" thick Maple & 3.5" at the dog hole section), and it's still firmly stuck after 25 years, even though the wood was a bit moist when I made it. The joints have opened a smidgin long the tops as the wood dried, but deeper in has remained firmly stuck. I did take a lot of care in geting the joins as close to perfect as I could with my #6 (that was pre #7 days), so maybe that helped.
Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

Just to show I'm an unrepentant pedant, I will also question the statement "still have abundant strength with modern glues". Do I read into that an implication that 'old' glues are less strong?

Nope. Wrong assumption. I dont have any worthwhile experience with hide glues or anything else from the pre-PVA period so arent making a comment on them.

cheers
Arron

Originally Posted by BeanerSA

"The acceptable standard should be okay for those doing this as a hobby"?

Nope, I dont feel like that at all.
Maybe I should condense my waffle down to a couple of key points:

1. There are always a variety of ways to do things. Any method chosen is a trade off between cost, time, skill level, risk and attributes of the finished product.

2. There is usually one canonical method, which gives the best result, but is typically the most demanding in terms of skill level. Its the most demanding because its adjusted for the seasoned trade provessional.

3. If you can do the canonical method, do it. If you cant because you lack the hand-skills or whatever, find a method that suits your skill level and balance it against what you may be sacrificing. In this case you are sacrificing some bond strength (a tiny amount) and the chance that a glue line may be visible enough to annoy you (also small).

4. To do otherwise leads to frustration and the sense that something is just too hard, and should be left to the professionals. Most people who are interested in woodworking give it a go but give it up pretty quickly. There are a lot of reasons for this but the one we are talking about here plays a big role.

5. Meanwhile keep striving to improve. But while you strive, you have to find a balance between improving skills and actually producing stuff - to keep your interest in the game.

I hope thats clearer.

Where you stand on the continuum between the kind of person who thinks that 'the acceptable standard is OK' and 'one should always strive for perfection' is up to you. Here is a link to some of the stuff I have done recently Flickr: arronsfurniture's Photostream . I post this solely so you can see where I'm coming from - where I stand in the continuum. I'm not at the perfectionist end but I like to keep improving.

and by the way, it doesnt matter how close you look, you wont see any glue lines

cheers
Arron