How to Square Boards with Woodworking Hand Tools (Full Version)

Jeremy Tritchler shows how to four square lumber using historical hand tools. Take Jeremy's in-person class here: store.woodandshop.com/product...
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[@TonKuipers134]

Excellent tutorial on basics of fine woodworking. It all starts there, together eith accurate and sharp tools

[@deldridg]

Lovely to watch and thank you Jeremy. You have a very calm and engaging manner. I have some beautiful Lie-Nielsen planes which have sat unused and unloved since purchasing a helical thicknesser a few years back. Yes, it's faster but like all mechanised work (dovetails etc.), it's certainly not satisfying. You've inspired me to rethink my approach and to make time to engage more with my projects where possible through the use of my hands. Many regards from Sydney - Dave

[@dpmeyer4867]

Thanks

[@KevinAdams06]

Thanks for the level of detail you provide in this video. Question: Once you made a reference edge, you went to the marking gauge next. Why did you need to reference only one edge? Could you have done both faces first?

[@chriscluver1940]

Squaring 1 edge and 1 face that touch each other is the minimum you need to do to use the board. With those 2 surfaces, you can make a mark or cut anywhere along the board and reference your tool to at least 1 of those surfaces. Sometimes you stop there, sometimes you need to flatten and square all the surfaces; just depends on the project and where the board is going.
To play Socrates for a minute: How would you flatten the 2 faces of the board, *and* make sure they're parallel, without a square edge?

[@KevinAdams06]

@@chriscluver1940 the first board I ever made, I flattened the faces first using a “flat” granite countertop and my phone’s flash light to check for gaps (not saying this was super accurate way to do it). To answer your question, I suppose that you could have 2 planes that are parallel to each other, but of different sizes. In such a case, the edge profile would not be square.

[@awol5626]

Please advise why use winding sticks made of wood instead of machined accurate metal as wood you know changes depending on temp, humidity, atmospheric pressure etc ?

[@chriscluver1940]

Metal also responds to those factors. You could do it with 2 metal straight edges, but you'd have to make sure they're square to each other and even height. Advantages of wooden winding sticks (assuming you're a woodworker, not a machinist): You can make them yourself with woodworking tools you already have, they're easy to adjust using said tools if they move in some way, you can use materials that you already have on hand (possibly scrap that wouldn't get used otherwise), and you can use the project as a skill builder (basic skills, design, carving, new/different materials, finishes, etc.).

[@deldridg]

@@chriscluver1940 ...and they look nicer! 🙂