practice using a #7 to joint an edge 90* to the face

[mound]

I've been trying to practice using my Stanley #7 to joint two boards for glue-up.. I can never seem to get an edge that's consistently 90 degrees to the face. How can I practice this properly?

thanks!

[Strokes77]

1. make sure you aren't tilting the plane to correct it.  Make sure that if the left side is high, just move the whole plane to the left a bit such that most of the plane is hanging off the left side of the board when you make your pass.  

2. Make sure the lateral adjuster of your plane is set correctly.  Hard to do if blade isn't square.

3. Grip the plane on the front with your thumb on the plane body, and your fingers wrapped around the plane, guiding across the board... Don't try jointing by holding the front knob... Makes it too top heavy and tipy.

4. Make sure your board is not twisted.  Checking for square on a twisted board is a nightmare, and will make you feel stupid.  Use winding sticks.

5. Google "Match Planing" and utilize that as often as possible. It's a great technique.

6. Sharpen the plane.

[mdhills]

What is the state of the edge when you start?  (is this on a rough board, or after the edge has been ripped on a table saw)


Do you have a flat face to your workpiece to reference the edge against?  Is the reference surface free of twist?

What problem are you seeing after your attempt?  Are you getting twist or are you getting a consistent bevel on the edge?

Some quick thoughts:

• is your blade honed flat or with a very slight camber?  If flat, the cut will be affected by how you hold the plane and how you shift the blade projection.  If cambered, you will be cutting a bit heavier at the center of the camber.  Knowing where you are cutting heavy can be helpful for squaring an edge.
  
• confirm that your blade projects evenly so that you get a consistent cut ( Deneb's video illustrates a method for this ) 
  
• If you are jointing for a glue joint, I'd highly recommend match planing. (See Bob Rozaieski's video)
  
• if you have a large enough flat surface, you can also consider shooting the edge.  (clamp the wood flat on your bench, with a piece of 1/4" MDF underneath, and run the plane on its side -- you'll need to tune the blade so that it cuts perpendicular to your bench surface; and minimize how much you wobble the plane)
  

[Fishing Dave]

Don't try to joint 2 perfect edges to mate together. Get the edge of board A reasonably close, then joint the edge of board B to fit it. Put board A in your vise and set board B on top of it, edge to edge. Mark where they don't fit together and plane those areas on board B. Use a ruler to make sure the boards faces stay in the same plane. Not that hard to get a very good joint. Once boards fit together solidly, you can actually glue them together with board A in the vise.

[gMike]

On short pieces I use an edge-trimming block plane.  The built in 90* fence makes it very easy to get the face at 90* to the edge.  It is probably rhe most used plane in my shop.  Even coming off the table saw board faces need a little tuning to make a good joint.

[EricU]

I have a fixture for shooting (match planing) tops for guitars.  Boards are the same width to use it, but of course guitar tops are bookmatched. Never tried anything bigger than a guitar top, but thicker is ok.  I use a #7.  Using a shorter plane is possible, but you end up chasing your tail if it isn't straight.  With a #7, the boards don't really have to be that well finished to start, and you're far less likely to put a curve in the boards.

[JimReed@Tallahassee]

Holding the plane exactly horizontal can be a challenge--esp a big boat like a #7. Make sure you have plenty of space to walk and develop rhythm. Even so, the plane can rock slightly from side to side. Here is what I do when I joint 4/4 boards. They are narrow enough that that I can skew the #7 about 10-15 degrees. Now instead of rocking from side to side, the plane has to do a nose dip. With a skew, the plane cuts easier and is easier to hold level.

[bandit571]

This is an Ohio Tool Co. No. 0-7......there are two boards clamped face to face on the vise..

   
I folded the two boards like closing a book.   When done, I opened the "book" up to check the fit....

Nice when two rolls of Moxxon TP come up out of the opening...

   
Other than a little warp at one end..

   
There was no gaps in the joint. 

   
Worked well enough for the shelf.  

There are some #7s out there that are drilled and tapped for a fence..

   
Stanley No. 7c, Type 9.    I used the tapped holes for the thumbscrews, and made a fence of Walnut.   Basically, you push againt the side of the fence to keep in contact with the surface.    As long as the fence and the sole are at 90 degrees to each, it works.    Biggest thing is having enough room to clear the fence.

[DaveParkis]

You can also just take a piece of wood for a fence, drill a couple spots for rare earth magnets and you're good to go. Another option is to take a few swipes with your jointer and he k for square. If it's good, congrats. If not, the square will tell you if you need more pressure on one side.

[mound]

Thanks for all the tips!

I spent some time yesterday working on it. It turns out the two biggest hints were, first, not holding the knob in front with my left hand and second, adding a slight skew. 

I think as I was pushing, having my left hand holding the knob, I was tending to "roll it" over the right edge as I moved forward. By using my left thumb on the body and wrapping my fingers around, in addition to using a slight skew, I found that I could keep it pretty well even and limit that rolling action. The results were much better. So I practiced that for a while. (I'm just using a scrap piece of walnut with a table-sawn edge, nothing rough)

Then after doing that for a while, I tried the Match Planing technique, and, well, that worked perfectly on the first try! I swear that edge was as nice or nicer than any glue-up joint I've made on my Delta DJ-20, and no snipe or noise!