Squaring up rough cut oak boards

[gmason]

Hello, I致e got 5 10' x 8" white oak boards that i've surfaced planed then to thickness, and not I致e trying to figure the best way to get one good straight edge in order to put it on my table saw and get another good edge to biscuit join them together for a large desktop I知 building.

I've got a small joiner that would be too small for these ten footers. I've almost settled on just getting a sheet of OBS and making a jig of some sort.

Anyone else gone this route?

Most of the youtube videos are only dealing with 18"-24" long pieces of wood.

thanks
gary

 

[Dozernut]

Do you have a circular saw or a router? Get a piece of channel steel or aluminum 10' long and clamp it at both ends. Offset the guide to allow for the distance from the frame of your saw or router to the blade or bit, then run your saw or router against the guide to get your square edge.

 

[gmason]

Yes, i've got most power tools. Table Saw, Router, jigsaw,circluar saw, joiner...

i've got some steal, but not sure how stright it is. some of my edges don't look even a 1/4" off over the 10', but one is off by ~1.5".

gary

 

[beenthere]

If you can fasten some temporary supports to your small jointer, ahead of and behind it, that has worked for me. I've made tables for support from 2x6 lumber with a 2x6 leg to adjust the ends away from the jointer.

Or if you find a straight edge 10' long (either wood or steel) that can be clamped to the rough board for a guide to the electric hand saw. Sometimes width of the material is limiting this approach.

I've seen it done where a long bench (in your case it would have to be a bit over 20') was fitted with a straight fence the full length, then a router mounted vertical midway along the fence. The board would lay flat on the bench and pushed along the fence. Saved trying to hold a board on edge to keep it square with the jointer head. Fence would have a shim the thickness of the "depth of cut" set on the router bit. Such a long table would allow you to have two surfaced edges for gluing.

You will figure a way, and hope you let us know how it works.

 

[gmason]

well after looking around a little i found a 10' piece of Hardiboard 3/4x6" that we had leftover from another project. it had a pretty straight edge and so i clapped it 5" from the edge and ran my power circuler saw down and the edges mached up pretty nice, next to the table saw and we'll see.
thanks
gary

 

[Steve C]

well after looking around a little i found a 10' piece of Hardiboard 3/4x6" that we had leftover from another project. it had a pretty straight edge and so i clapped it 5" from the edge and ran my power circuler saw down and the edges mached up pretty nice, next to the table saw and we'll see.
thanks
gary

If you have a router and a straight cut bit it will give you a straighter and much smoother edge than using a circular saw.

Spiral end mill bits work very well for that application. Just use the same straight board as a guide.

 

[/pine]

All good suggestions...I will second the router idea...with a straight cutting bit it will give you a very clean edge....

 

[EddieWalker]

I didn't know that about a router, and never thought to try it.

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[kennyd]

These work OK also, and you can do everything on the table saw.

Joint'R Clamp from WoodCraft

Joint'R Clamp from Rockler

 

[Steve C]

I didn't know that about a router, and never thought to try it.

Thanks,
Eddie

I had 9 of these that I bought as junk for $6 each.
After I fixed them I had to scratch my head come up with ways to use them.
I no longer have that problem There 5 of them in the second photo