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Any hints or tips am still getting a little light through after around a dozen strokes not as simple as I thought! Any advice please

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

Blade must be very sharp. The plates must be held so that they can not move and held with in a inch or less of the edge so they have no reflex movement as well and the stroke must be a smooth continuous motion. If after 12 passes you are still candling gaps I suspect that the cut is interrupting mid stroke causing a slight start stop affect. The plane needs to never stop or change momentum during the entire pass. It should only take 2 passes 3 at the most unless the wood had a real irregular edge

I aim for the center of the board and use a 12 gage deer slug and that usually does the trick..... Wear safety glasses too......

Seriously when I shoot using my board a couple of things that helped me out are as follows:

1) Be mindful as to how you hold the plane and use consistent pressure throughout the entire stroke. Like martial arts and golf target your stroke through and past the board and not end to end.

2) I discovered that when I am getting gaps they are often caused because the surface that my plane rides on is not perfectly level/flat. So these days I have a shooting board that I check with a straight edge when clamped in place and shim it with some number of post-it-notes until the plane surface is level. My results improved dramatically as a result.

Good luck.

Both at the same time yes but the hole rig is a little heath robinson might need to firm it up will keep as it though

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

Cheated a bit rubbed the edges on emery strip on glass till no light showed then took a final stroke on the shooting board as have read that a planed edge gives a stronger glue joint and it seemed to work dunno what people think of it?

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

Boy ain't the back tougher to do dunno if its cause my woods warped a bit but seems to of taken 10 times longer than the front

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

he didnt mention it here, but i believe i learned this from todd stock. use a sacrificial board that is six or more inches longer on both ends of the boards being jointed. when you enter the cut on the back or top or whatever, the plane will already be riding on the surface of the sacrificial board. this wont help in the middle of your cut, but it will help entering and exiting.

also, i use a cleat clamped over the top of the boards being jointed. this keeps everything nice and flat if your boards are warped like you mentioned.

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sweat the small stuff.

My setup isn't really up to it it's a real hotch potch in rush to get things done with stuff laying about the shop what's getting me is I did the top after a little well I won't say struggle but experimentation sounds better but the just seems t0 be 3" at the end of a board thats scared of the dark and keeps letting the light through I stopped for the night knowing that when you try and rush things they start going wrong. I appreciate all the help from this site thanks guys. Just wait till I get to the more complex stuff

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes

take you time dude. i think a sacrificial board will take care of the gap you are getting at the end. use some scrap you have laying around that is longer than your back halves. youll get it. dont settle for a crumby joint if you are not happy with your results. keep at it. use some scrap to practice on if you are unsure of yourself. then when you are comfortable, the real thing will be a breeze.

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sweat the small stuff.

I think it also helps to dial your plane blade back for the last shoots so your taking very thin slices off the edges.

Wade

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Wade
Nashua, NH
http://www.wadefx.com