Jointing Tops first build

[warfrat73]

I'm loathe to chime in here given the advice that has already been given by folks with far more experience than myself.

But, when I was working on my first build I was encouraged to try somewhat fine grained sand paper affixed to a straightedge, like the side of level. Which, while not ideal, would create a glue joint with adequate strength for these purposes.

Anecdotally, I've been able to do tops pretty quickly and reliably with a shooting board and a Stanley #5, but have struggled with the harder wood of backs, and have had to resort to the sand paper method.

[redir]

Originally Posted by warfrat73

I'm loathe to chime in here given the advice that has already been given by folks with far more experience than myself.

But, when I was working on my first build I was encouraged to try somewhat fine grained sand paper affixed to a straightedge, like the side of level. Which, while not ideal, would create a glue joint with adequate strength for these purposes.

Anecdotally, I've been able to do tops pretty quickly and reliably with a shooting board and a Stanley #5, but have struggled with the harder wood of backs, and have had to resort to the sand paper method.

It works. As long as you don't see light through the joint you are good to go.

Hard woods are indeed more difficult. Top woods are typically very straight grained and of course softer. The nature of the harder wood and how often times the grain runs into the edge make them a lot tougher. I recently jointd a BRW back set that was wild grain stump wood and had no choice but to use sandpaper. In that case I used the Stewmac leveling beam and honestly it worked so fast and so well I should use it more often.