Jronman Posted January 23, 2017 Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 What is the best way to square up a board with minimal tools or another way to put it is, what is the bare minimum tools needed to accurately square up a board in length, width, and thickness? If you go hand tool route? If you go power tool route? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khariV Posted January 23, 2017 Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 Best is a going to be a matter of opinion as well as depending on what dimension board you want to square. Fewest tools you can do it with is one: a good table saw. Not the most economical route and you of course have to square IT up somehow, but that's a larger discussion. You can also do it with a circular saw and a home made fence and a square much more cheaply, though repeatable cuts tend to be quite a bit more challenging if you go that route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comp56 Posted January 23, 2017 Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 as mentioned above, depending how large the board is, there are a few things that can be done with limited tools. 1) tape measure/pencil 3.4.5 method and hand saw for length and width but thickness needs more tools remember there are 14 places a board can be out of square jointer and table saw is the best way to achieve this 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrmccabe Posted January 23, 2017 Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 Thickness is going to be a challenge for hand tools. Of course you can hand plane something to thickness and true it up using winding sticks and lots of elbo grease. However a planer and/or jointer is the tool of choice. Once again it depends on the size of the board you are working with. Truing up a long board is something I use my tracksaw for and the only method I have short of using another straight board and table saw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jronman Posted January 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 I found that my 20v planer is hard to keep square. too much pressure on one side and it'll start to slope. Unless I was using it wrong. This is what was happening to me. I made a quick oblique view of how my boards turned out after planing the edge. The grey indicates square corners. The top surface has a slope. I'm guessing too much pressure on either the left side or right side of the 20v planer caused the slope? maybe the 20v planer wasn't quite flat on the board? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Jass Posted January 23, 2017 Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 I think your blades may not bet set to the proper depth. I've never had that problem but I can imagine if one side of the blade isn't all the way down that the result would be a cut like you're describing. I'd remove your blades, make sure the slots of perfectly clean, and reinstall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jronman Posted January 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 16 hours ago, Hugh Jass said: I think your blades may not be set to the proper depth. I've never had that problem but I can imagine if one side of the blade isn't all the way down that the result would be a cut like you're describing. I'd remove your blades, make sure the slots of perfectly clean, and reinstall. Was first time I used the 20v hand planer. In fact first time I had ever used any hand planer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_dave Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 3 hours ago, Jronman said: Was first time I used the 20v hand planer. In fact first time I had ever used any hand planer. Keep at it and you'll get it. It Takes some time to develop a good technique Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comp56 Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 8 minutes ago, mike_dave said: Keep at it and you'll get it. It Takes some time to develop a good technique yes my first board I cut three times and it was still to short.....lol 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 For hand tools if your cutting a some what small piece you could use a miter box for power tools a miter saw or table saw would work great but pretty expensive a circular saw would work too and to make it more accurate you can use a speed square with it and for wider cuts Kreg make a circular saw jig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comp56 Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 here is another one from Kreg, set it to your saw and forget it works good 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77Ford Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 here is another one from Kreg, set it to your saw and forget it works goodThey are clearing these out a Lowes.....picked one up for $3 on Saturday Tough Tool Reviews on Instragram 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboS1ice Posted January 25, 2017 Report Share Posted January 25, 2017 here is another one from Kreg, set it to your saw and forget it works goodI seen that at lowes but I still prefer my 12" rafter square, at least you get more than 1 use out of it and it's not plastic! I think Kreg has gone ape shit with some stuff like this trying to reinvent the wheelSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comp56 Posted January 25, 2017 Report Share Posted January 25, 2017 31 minutes ago, JimboS1ice said: I seen that at lowes but I still prefer my 12" rafter square, at least you get more than 1 use out of it and it's not plastic! I think Kreg has gone ape shit with some stuff like this trying to reinvent the wheel Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I give it an A+ actually it works very well once you set the depth to your saw, cuts on line every time 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimboS1ice Posted January 25, 2017 Report Share Posted January 25, 2017 I give it an A+ actually it works very well once you set the depth to your saw, cuts on line every timeAre we talking about the same thing? Are you talking about the rip guide? Or the other little things Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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