Scarfing 101

Builder's Forum
1

Ok, so I come back from Okoumefest the eager little beaver and start gnawing on wood. Well, not exactly gnawing but close to it.

I took the two sheets, marked 2" back for the scarf, stepped them together so I could plane them at the same time, clamped them to a table and started whittling away.

I now have corners that are approaching paper thin, but still need to take a little off of the middle. I’m starting to lose some material at the corners – see photos.

How can I do this better on the next pair if sheets? I few things I think I have done incorrectly:

  1. In my haste I started w/ the new plane without sharpening it. I now have an official CLC stone to hone on.
  2. I had the edges overhanging the table – I may wish to put them on the table edge or on a sacrificial plank to keep things stiffer.
  3. Not every swipe with the plane goes the full width of the board, should I be trying for this?

 Thanks for any advice.

John

Click here for photos

 

2

Hi John,

Yes, sharp plane blade. Yes, support the edge.  Even pressure with long strokes of the plane, going all the way to the end.  See my blog here...

http://jimmyskiff.blogspot.com/2006/12/not-so-scary-scarf-joints.html

 Hope this helps - Ron Paro

3

What you are doing is highly worthwhile. Practice scarfing to get your skill level up before you are required to do one for a project.   Scarfing is a skill that has a thousand uses. I even scarfed stringer scrap into tomato stakes just to keep my hand in. 

Any edged woodworking tool has to be resharpened often to get good results. I found that my plane irons lost their edge quickly when planing plywood scarfs from scratch. I'm not sure why but I think it's the glue.