What tool?

[Worshiper]

Quick question...

I just ordered some soundboards but the catch is that the sides that need to be butted against each other are far from planed. What tool do you all use to plane that side down?
thanks

 

[wilser]

for wood that thin you should use a handplane. A #5 or so is great for that. If it's 1/4" or more, then a jointer is hard to beat.

In the absence of both, you can clamp a piece of MDF (one of the factory edges) and use a router and a pattern or flush trim bit as a jointer. I used this for quite a while with great results.

 

[Son of Magni]

Or you can use a flat surface like a tablesaw (but check it first with a straightedge) and stick some sandpaper to it. Then sand the edge flat.

 

[radapaw]

I use a big old 26" Stanley transitional jointer plane on its side,(fine fine shavings with a bitchin' sharp blade) with the top flat on a stack of randomwood so I can raise and lower it quickly.

It could be voodoo, but I've heard you want to use a method that won't tear at wood fibers, and as such a manual plane was recommended over a mechanized jointer. No idea where a router would fall in there, but I'd be inclined to use a fairly fine paper to finish up the edge if using the sandpaper method

 

[T-34]

I am using the hand plane, then fine tuning with the sandpaper glued to the long sanding block (long square aluminum tube )

 

[Worshiper]

back at school I had access to a joiner, but I dont have this luxury now...nor do I have the money to buy one...I'm most likely going to do it by hand, but I wanted to see if you guys had any success with that. thanks

 

[wilser]

back at school I had access to a joiner, but I dont have this luxury now...nor do I have the money to buy one...I'm most likely going to do it by hand, but I wanted to see if you guys had any success with that. thanks

a good jointer handplane can be more expensive than a 'get-the-job-done' electric jointer, which you can get for about $200 ...a nice jointer plane can cost $300 or more and that doesn't include the steep learning curve associated with it (reading the wood grain, setting the correct depth and throat opening, sharpening the blade, and more).

 

[Worshiper]

would I need a separate hand plane for that? I have some really nice "regular" hand planers that I've used for surfaces. I wasn't aware that it was a different tool.

 

[wilser]

would I need a separate hand plane for that? I have some really nice "regular" hand planers that I've used for surfaces. I wasn't aware that it was a different tool.

I use a cheap Anand #5, but it took lots of effort to tune up to par with the expensives. But one of the first things I learned when I started working wood is tuning a handplane. It's a pretty involved process, so yes, you can do it cheaper, but you better know what you're doing or be willing to put up with the time and frustration that comes with learning.

 

[scottyd]

I mostly use my router table and a flush bit for thinner stuff like tops and what not.