Stock prep – tray sides

This cherry board came from a piece of a cherry log I got from some wood turner, which I cut into planks. The log, not the wood turner.

I marked for defects and cracks, and decided where to cut the board to get nice, straight-grained and knot free pieces.

I planed one edge flat in order to register it against the fence on my band saw. I then ripped the board to width on the band saw.

My Veritas cross cut saw is great for smaller cuts, and it leaves a better finish on the cut than my panel saws.

This is such a joy to do – no screaming miter saw with dust going everywhere, having to stand there like a doofus, waiting for the blade to stop. I just toss the bench hook on the bench, slap the board into the hook and chop to the marks. Quick and easy!

I can then just grab a hand plane and shoot the end of the board clean and dead square, if needed.

After tarting up one face, like I did before, I utilized my band saw as a thicknesser once more by skimming off a sliver. This is a bit faster than hand planing, and if the boards are a bit thicker it leaves useful wood. Better than making a pile of shavings, that’s for sure!

I then used my hand planes to get down to my line – here I am juuust about to get that “fuzz” along the edge, showing me that I am about 1-3 swipes away from dead on. Look for the dark shadow of my marking gauge line here:

To get to the fuzz, I used my No.5 jack plane, which I inherited from my dad.

When I am getting close to the line, I change to my No.4 smoother, taking very thin shavings:

And here’s the fuzz! The edge becomes fuzzy and long straws of wood starts to break off. One more swipe, and I am dead in the middle of my line.

Afterwards I cleaned up the last long edge, getting the board to 4S – four square.

I then used my bench hook / shooting board to shoot the ends dead on. Notice that I have planed the exit end to a chamfer. This prevents splitting out the grain. I plane to my line, and pay attention to that chamfer. As soon as it is removed, I must stop or I’ll break off the fibres on the exit side. I usually take the chamfer one swipe past my line.

Here’s a demonstration on how I got the boards to identical length – I mark the longer boards off of the shortest and shoot to that line:

I then placed all the boards in the vise. By using a hammer with a rubber face, I knocked the boards dead flush on the underside (just feel with your fingers, you’ll be able to tell the height difference on your fingerprint ridges!). I then planed the boards to about even height. A quick-clamp held the ends of the longer boards together for planing. This is by no means a method to get even width – we should strike marking gauge lines for that – but I find it useful to have my stock close to the final dimensions.

I then did a quick test to see if I am on the right track here, and it certainly looks that way. The sides will be dovetailed, and the bottom will fit into a groove in the sides – like a panel.

On the next page I’ll finish up stock prep and start making the parts.