Dolmetscher007 Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 The bane of my existence has been making drawers. I have a large dresser that I need to build 6 drawers for, but none of the drawer slots is square. So, I have to fit the front, then take it down, and plane some, then try again, the plane some more, then try it, then plane it... etc etc. I clamp the board into my vice, and plane the 3/4" edge to fit the drawer. When I'm done, no matter how careful I was, the edge is slanted one way or the other. i.e. out of square. Is there some trick to not doing this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ormonddmd Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 What about making a shooting board then clamping your drawer front flat on the shooting board and plane the edge with your plane on its side, guided by the shooting board ? Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaneymack Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 What about making a shooting board then clamping your drawer front flat on the shooting board and plane the edge with your plane on its side, guided by the shooting board ? Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk This is a good idea but there is no need to clamp the board. The fence will act as a stop. Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 Since it's a drawer front, don't use a a large plane like a #4, instead, use a block plane, so you can "feel" when your flat on your edge. Then if you're right handed, pinch the front of the plane, with a knuckle against the flat of the board, and slowly push your plane, keeping your knuckle against the flat part. Your knuckle acts as a fence, and you should be able to get the 90* surface your after! Try it a couple of times on some scrap. And don't rush. That seems to be a mistake a lot of folks have with a plane, they want it done "Now" and just push fast.... Slow is the key! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Eric. Posted June 24, 2016 Popular Post Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 Every evening after dinner for the next week, go out to the shop, clamp a piece of scrap in your vise, take your #4 and practice planing a square edge. Check periodically with a square. Then do it again. Then do it again. And again. And at the end of the week you'll be able to do it. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 What Eric said. One of the first things I used a plane for was putting chamfers on boards. It didn't take long before I was able to get a near perfect 45* without even eyeballing it, just by feel. Practice & it'll come soon enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3nry Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 2 hours ago, Dolmetscher007 said: no matter how careful I was, the edge is slanted one way or the other. i.e. out of square. Is there some trick to not doing this? The simple trick is to be even more careful. If this is happening to you a lot then: 1) Mark your line on both sides of the board. If you're not holding your plane square you will get down to the line on one side before the other. If this happens you then need to just plane off the other side of the edge until you are down to both lines. 2) Go slowly - keep checking your progress with a square, and you should arrive at the line on both sides at the same time, making step (1) unnecessary. 3) Do what Eric suggested and eventually both steps (1) and (2) become unnecessary. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janello Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 If you don't start flat, it's hard to get there later. Make sure you have the sole of the plane sitting flat before you start the cut. Then it's a matter of keeping it that way throughout the cut. It sounds obvious but there is a distict difference between thinking you are starting flat and undoubtedly knowing it. Before starting the cut, put the plane at the edge of the board and rock it left and rock it right, you'll feel the flat spot as you do this. Until it becomes second nature, If you just walk up to the board, throw your plane on it and take a swipe, chances are you started the cut skewed and have lost the game before it even started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3nry Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 Also check that your plane iron is straight, and not taking a deeper cut on one side than the other - or if you have a cambered blade that you are using the centre of the blade. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown craftsman Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 3 hours ago, h3nry said: Also check that your plane iron is straight, and not taking a deeper cut on one side than the other - or if you have a cambered blade that you are using the centre of the blade. This I good advise not often shared.I call it a balanced shaving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H4zM47 Posted June 24, 2016 Report Share Posted June 24, 2016 I was actually doing this very same operation for the first time using handplanes just this week. And I was having the same problem. There's actually a method described by Robert Wearing for squaring your edges by setting your plane to take a heavier cut where the edge is higher. This way you're not trying balance the sole on an imaginary surface to make everything square. You have to use your fingers as a fence and make sure the heavy set part of the plane stays on the high side of the edge. And when the plane takes a whole width cut, you're square. It took me more than a few passes to get it right, but I had 8 boards that I had to do this to, and by the 3rd or 4th board it was only taking me maybe a 4 or 5 passes to make everything square just using my jack plane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolmetscher007 Posted June 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2016 On 6/24/2016 at 11:37 AM, Eric. said: Every evening after dinner for the next week, go out to the shop, clamp a piece of scrap in your vise, take your #4 and practice planing a square edge. Check periodically with a square. Then do it again. Then do it again. And again. And at the end of the week you'll be able to do it. This may be the best post I've ever read. Thanks Eric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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