No access to a jointer....hand plane?

[phat5]

I have 4 pcs of 1.75x7x22 alder, enough for 2 body blanks. Problem is, there's no millright close enough to my place of work. Is it possible to plane the edges straight enough for laminating?
I tried to do this with my 13" Stanley plane, but I couldn't get the edges straight enough. Thanks to my trusty Snap On straight edge, there's a slight arch in the deck. My 7" plane is straight, is it wise to use a 7" plane for straightening out a 22' blank?

Thanks in advance, p5

[scottyd]

Originally Posted by phat5

I have 4 pcs of 1.75x7x22 alder, enough for 2 body blanks. Problem is, there's no millright close enough to my place of work. Is it possible to plane the edges straight enough for laminating?
I tried to do this with my 13" Stanley plane, but I couldn't get the edges straight enough. Thanks to my trusty Snap On straight edge, there's a slight arch in the deck. My 7" plane is straight, is it wise to use a 7" plane for straightening out a 22' blank?

Thanks in advance, p5

Its possible, thats how they did it before jointers. It takes a bit of skill and a well tuned plane.

[jordan_frerichs]

i use the planer at the high school. because of crappy maintanence, the jointer, planer, and numerous others, don't make the woods flush like they are supposed to. the jointer leaves a tiny wave on them. i always sand it flat by hand before i glue. 80 or 120, to clean up the waves, and work my way up to a smooth 220, then i use an air tank to blow the dust out of the pores. makes great, solid glue ups as long as you make sure you sand it flat and even, and use enough glue. better to use too much glue clean up the waste glue and ensure a good join, then to not use enough, and risk ruining your project. glue is cheap, wood, supplies, and hard work are not.

[BenitoBassolini]

Originally Posted by jordan_frerichs

Glue is cheap, wood, supplies, and hard work are not.

Amen to that! I've made that mistake too many times to count.

[phat5]

Thanks guys, great info! I was just watching a tutorial on you tube, on how to tune a hand plane; even one with a concave foot.

[Mikey R]

Jazzdogg said a while ago that only a handplane can give a glueline that is strong enough to last for years, so even if you use a jointer, you need to finish up with a plane. I'll see if I can find the thread.

Its tricky using a plane for the first time, my gluelines are a mile wide but Im getting better!

Saying that, Ken Smith sands before gluing:
http://www.webcastgroup.com/client/s...=0670213073149

EDIT: heres the thead, we're talking about headstock scarf joints, so I dont know if this applies to body glue up:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showth...ne#post5720842

[Jim Breece]

Do you mean laminate, like the big surfaces glued together, or edge joining? I've done both with hand planes, files and sandpaper and frequent checking with the straightedge, and I'm no master of woodworking. If you don't have a deadline and do have patience you can get good results, better than if you use badly set up power tools.

[scottyd]

Originally Posted by Jim Breece

better than if you use badly set up power tools.

Thats no joke! when I first got my jointer, it was setup so bad out of the box I couldn't get nothing flat. Finally got it dialed in (although still not perfect) and it does really well. I still hit the edges with a sanding block, it gives the glue a little more to hold on to.

[bassteban]

IME, even a very nicely setup jointer will leave some scalloping/waviness on the jointed surface. I like to sand w/100 or 150 so there's some fairly open grain for the glue to 'grab'.

[jordan_frerichs]

good to know ken smith sands his surfaces too. (link broken btw.) i heard that the smoother the better. could some one clear up if its better to sand up to 220, or 150 pre glue?

[scottyd]

Originally Posted by jordan_frerichs

good to know ken smith sands his surfaces too. (link broken btw.) i heard that the smoother the better. could some one clear up if its better to sand up to 220, or 150 pre glue?

I'm sure someone else will chime in too but it's been my experience that you actually sand the edges not only to help flush the joint but to also roughen the material a bit. The little grooves aid in the glue getting into the wood. I read that David King scuffs the surface with a saw blade, I use 80 grit.

[phat5]

Up until moving from so. Cal 9 yrs. ago, I had been doing business with Arroyo Hardwoods, near Pasadena. I never had my neck and body stock jointed, they have a table saw that cuts straight and flat. Hard to believe, but the cuts were lamination ready; passed the "light" test.

[jordan_frerichs]

Originally Posted by scottyd

I'm sure someone else will chime in too but it's been my experience that you actually sand the edges not only to help flush the joint but to also roughen the material a bit. The little grooves aid in the glue getting into the wood. I read that David King scuffs the surface with a saw blade, I use 80 grit.

yea. the guy i heard it from works mainly with ash and walnut, so he would have open grain no matter what grit.

[eleonn]

Originally Posted by phat5

Thanks guys, great info! I was just watching a tutorial on you tube, on how to tune a hand plane; even one with a concave foot.

Do you have the link?

[Mikey R]

Just thought, noones suggested using a shooting board - does this not work for 1 1/2" timber?

[phat5]

Originally Posted by eleonn

Do you have the link?

Just type in "hand plane" on youtube.

[gyancey]

Get (either purchase or check out from the library) The Handplane Book by Garrett Hack. Very comprehensive, lots of pictures, info on metallurgy and sharpening, basically everything you need to know, including why sanded wood joints aren't as good as planed or scraped surfaces. (typical wood glue works by ADHESION, not COHESION)