Good/Reliable straight edge?

[Dissolve]

Hi,

I ordered an axminster £30 bevelled straight edge for my woodworking projects oly to discover it was WAY out of being straight, no problems from axminster, they refunded me quickly..

The only other straight edges under the £100 mark I've found are'nt bevel edged, they're like 4-5mm thick.. would this be less accurate than a beveled straight edge. seems to me that if you've got 4-5mm of steel rather than 1-2mm then it would be a more accurate read of whether the wood I'm planing is actually flat?

Anyone tried the veritas/dakota steel straight edges? In need of one available to buy from rutlands/axminster/other internet mail order sites.

Cheers!

 

[Karl]

I've got the Veritas 2' steel straight edge which is good. I'm also going to buy the Veritas 4' aluminium straight edge when funds permit, although I understand it is made to lower tolerances than the steel ones.

Cheers

Karl

 

[Ateallthepies]

Have you tried another of the Axminster straight edges, you may have got a Friday afternoon example?

I have the 400 and 700mm versions and found them OK.

Steve

 

[Dissolve]

I checked a 750mm against a grade a steel edge and it was terribly hollowed.. wayyy beyond the realms of "acceptable"

Think I'll go for a veritas one..was more interested in peopls opinions on the accuracy of thicker steel versions apposed the bevelled edge versions.

Thanks

 

[Ian]

Just got one of these from Power tools direct Starrett 385-24 Straight Edge 60cm 24in

Top notch.

Ian

 

[devonwoody]

I've found the outside edge of my Axminster c.i. tablesaw table is straight enough for me. (never tried the fence)

 

[Harbo]

I have an Axminster 1m bought a few years ago which is fine.

Rod

 

[RogerS]

Are we doing woodworking or precision engineering? Just a thought.

 

[Jacob]

For a long straight edge I might use a piece of MFC shelving, which you can get in 6"x8' lengths.
For a short one a long builders spirit level.
Both more accurate than some of those described above by the sound of it!
Not an essential item for woodwork IMHO but occasionally useful to have something a bit more accurate than a piece of board planed up - though this can be done very accurately if needs be.

 

[bugbear]

Not an essential item for woodwork IMHO but occasionally useful to have something a bit more accurate than a piece of board planed up - though this can be done very accurately if needs be.

NB the OP wants a straight edge to check his planing, so planing up his own straight edge would be rather like locking the key in the safe.

BugBear

 

[Jacob]

Not an essential item for woodwork IMHO but occasionally useful to have something a bit more accurate than a piece of board planed up - though this can be done very accurately if needs be.

NB the OP wants a straight edge to check his planing, so planing up his own straight edge would be rather like locking the key in the safe.

BugBear

It's this sort of delusion which leads people to buy expensive square edges.
In fact planing up a board and checking straightness by eye is good enough for most purposes. But if you want to be super accurate you could plane up two (ideally three) boards and make sure they match edge to edge, and again turned end to end, and when partially overlapped, and when laid side by side and viewed across the edges.

 

[bugbear]

Not an essential item for woodwork IMHO but occasionally useful to have something a bit more accurate than a piece of board planed up - though this can be done very accurately if needs be.

NB the OP wants a straight edge to check his planing, so planing up his own straight edge would be rather like locking the key in the safe.

BugBear

It's this sort of delusion which leads people to buy expensive square edges.
In fact planing up a board and checking straightness by eye is good enough for most purposes. But if you want to be super accurate you could plane up two (ideally three) boards and make sure they match edge to edge, and again turned end to end, and when partially overlapped, and when laid side by side and viewed across the edges.

Sounds like a lot of fiddling about to me, compared with a simple straight edge.

What do *you* use your straight edge (or equivalent) for then, if they're so unneccessary?

BugBear

 

[Jacob]

...
What do *you* use your straight edge (or equivalent) for then, if they're so unneccessary?

BugBear

More often than anything else for setting up a planer.
Other than that, things like checking progress when planing a large surface such as a table top, as it can difficult to spot hollows by eye.
A good quality builder's spirit level good enough for both of these, and most other woodwork.
If it looks straight then it is straight enough, usually, though sometimes you need to be more precise.

 

[RogerS]

Jacob is trying to introduce (as did I) a sense of proportion into the discussion. It's wood we are dealing with....it is going to move...so straight-edges to micro-millimetre tolerances are, IMO, pointless.

 

[Karl]

To me it is the same argument as whether a square is square "enough". It's either square, or it isn't.

A straight edge doesn't mean that all your work has to meet that chosen standard - but it enables you to reference the work to something. It's then a judgement call you make as the woodworker as to whether it's straight "enough".

Just my 2p

Cheers

Karl

 

[promhandicam]

I used to use my 3' builders spirit level for setting up my planer but it has taken quite a bit of abuse of late so prefer to use the edge of my festool guide rail - the opposite edge to the splinter guard. 1400mm long and putting two together 'back to back' no light shines through which for me is good enough. I used it today in fact to set up the infeed table on my 'new' Startrite SD 300 p/t \/ I really can't see the point in buying a dedicated straight edge when there are enough other things that I can use to do the job just as well.

 

[Jacob]

..../ I really can't see the point in buying a dedicated straight edge when there are enough other things that I can use to do the job just as well.

Absolutely.
But I do actually have a dedicated straight edge, left here by one of my art student kids. It's a 3', steel, and was bought for cutting card, paper etc with a Stanley knife. It's not as useful as a builder's level as it's a tiny bit bendy - OK for cutting card but not so good held edge-on over a bit of woodwork.

 

[promhandicam]

For jobs like levelling planer tables, it is actually an advantage to have something that will stand up on its own. If you want to get a good idea of any deviation then just turn the lights out and shine a torch from behind to see any low spots. Try to hold a straight edge and adjust a cast iron table suddenly becomes a two man job.

 

[Jacob]

I used to use my 3' builders spirit level for setting up my planer but it has taken quite a bit of abuse of late s....

You should keep it in a sock you know. Or a stocking, in view of the length. Or if you have two; a pair of tights? Not fishnet though :roll:

..it is actually an advantage to have something that will stand up on its own..

Yes, come to think, a builder's level is the best possible shape for a woodworker's straight edge.
And you can use it as a spirit level!

 

[bosshogg]

To use a square to check a square appears to be a bit negative in terms of accuracy, if you reverse the stock of a square to a line drawn from a straight edge, any misalignment is visible, and the first straight edges were created by man's eye alone, as there are few, if not any, straight edges in nature...bosshogg

The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible. A.E. 8)