How to square a long board

Question

I have a 10in craftsman table saw with the fence. How would I square up the sides of a 1x6x4ft board? Would i need jig of some kind. Or would using circular with a straight edge be better. Mainly looking for proper technique using a table saw. Thanks.

score 7 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 03 '17 at 11:40

Unless you already have a straight edge on your board, your fence will just replicate the errors of one edge to the other. What you need is a straight edge jig. It's fairly easy to build. Here's an example from the Wood Magazine.

There's also many videos on YouTube.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 04 '17 at 15:56

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A jointer if you have one is a better way of squaring the edge of the board.

Set the board with the face you already jointed to the fence of the jointer and make a pass.

You can square up the other edge with the table saw.

answered Jul 04 '17 at 15:56

ratchet freak

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score -2 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 05 '17 at 00:56

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The simplest procedure is to use a fence and a feather. It looks like this:

You can either buy them or make them. Use scrap wood to adjust the feather and the fence until they are perfectly straight.

Use a carpenter's square to determine whether each of your four corners is square.

answered Jul 05 '17 at 00:56

Treow Wyrhta

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This doesn't really help if the fence-side of the board isn't flat/true to begin with. – grfrazee Jul 05 '17 at 18:45

How to square a long board

3 Answers3