How to Square and Flatten Boards with Hand Tools?

As a woodworking hobbyist, if you want to make square and flat boards but don't have available power equipment such as a jointer, at this point, you may consider using hand tools to square and flatten the wood lumber.

However, the process of squaring and flattening a board with hand tools can be laborious and time-consuming. You need a precise set of tools and skills to make the final result accurate. It sounds difficult, but the result will make you feel rewarded. And with practice, it won't take much time or effort.

In this post, we’ll talk about the tools and the detailed steps to square and flatten lumber. Additionally, we will provide you with a bonus tip on using power tools for this purpose.

Tools to Square & Flatten Boards

A complete set of tools will help you get smooth and square boards. Here are some of the tools recommended for you:

Hand Planes are the most basic and critical tools used to plane the board's surface. It works by smoothing the surface of the board by scraping away the unevenness of the surface. When flattening the board, you might use a jack plane, smoothing plane, a jointer plane, and a block plane.

A Hand Saw is used to cut boards to resize them. It is also used to trim the edges of the boards so that they are plumb. You can choose a Japanese saw, panel saw, or fret saw. It provides a precise cut and a fine cutting edge.

Measuring & Marking Tools: The measuring tools, such as a ruler, a panel gauge, and a square, are necessary to check that the boards are square and that the corners are vertical, as well as to take measurements. The marking tools, like a pencil and a marking gauge, are for marking the cut and planed lines to ensure operational accuracy.

Wood Clamps hold the board in place to avoid movement during the planing process. There are various types of clamps, and you can choose the one you prefer.

Steps to Flatten & Square Lumber

Flattening and squaring wood lumber is to get square boards for furniture making. Let’s start learning the detailed steps to flatten a board from rough lumber to a square and smooth board with traditional woodworking hand tools.

1. Use a jack plane to rough flatten the first face. Gently and repeatedly planing away the bumps.
2. Rough cut wood lumber to an approximate width and length using hand saws (if necessary). This helps you minimize the loss of materials.
3. Place the relatively flat side down on the workbench and secure it with clamps.
4. Square the first edge to the freshly flattened face using a jointer plane.
5. Make the second edge parallel to the first with a panel gauge, a hand saw, and a hand plane.
6. Use a marking gauge to standardize the thickness of the boards, and then use a hand plane to make the second side flat.
7. Cut off the two ends with a hand saw and trim with a smoothing plane.
8. Use sandpaper on the surface of the boards to remove planer marks and ensure a smooth and even surface.

Note: Verify perpendicularity with a square during the flattening process. If it is not vertical, adjust it with a hand saw.

Bonus Tip: Square & Flatten Boards with Power Tools

The above is to teach you how to use hand tools to flatten and square up wooden boards. For industrial woodworking workshops, it is more economical and efficient to use power tools like jointers and thickness planers. This section covers the steps to square and flatten wood lumber with power tools.

1. Cut the boards to the required size with a circular saw or a table saw.
2. Place the cupped face down on the table of a jointer and adjust the depth of cut by raising or lowering the height of the infeed table.
3. Repeat the planing several times until the first side is completely flat and smooth.
4. Feed the first flat face down into the thickness planer and cut evenly to the target thickness.

Final Words

Whether using hand tools or power tools, the ultimate goal is to make the board flat and square. However, safety must also be observed in achieving this goal. 

Before starting, check that the blades of tools such as hand planes and hand saws are sharp to avoid accidental injury. Wear appropriate protective equipment, such as goggles and ear muffs, to prevent injury from wood chips and noise during operation.

Using hand tools requires more patience and skill, but provides greater accuracy. Power tools, on the other hand, can save you more time and effort to get the job done efficiently, especially when faced with larger tasks.

You can choose the right tool for the situation. FindBuyTool offers you a wide range of woodworking tools, including a thickness planer. It is worth mentioning that there is a 5% discount for newcomers. Just click here and enjoy your woodworking journey.