Love this book! ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxpCNxqmAkyjN6NPx1fyB7QiEFWyO5mUWL it is simply one-of-a-kind! I really love it, because karah explained all tools required to have the job done, not mentioning the fabulous diy pallets ideas. I'm pretty sure this will be a fresh start in my new endeavour. Amazon was great, they delivered on time. Thank you!
My winding sticks are just a 4' section of aluminum angle I cut into two pieces. I know spending time building tools gives a lot of people great joy, but my woodworking time is precious and I want to spend it making furniture.
I love your stuff. You take the fear out of doing woodwork. I have ADHD and PTSD and some days I look a project and end up talking myself out of it. In my head its to complex ,so i look up a video on how too ,which can make my head explode like “ o no it is has hard as I thought or they said just do X ,but it didn’t work when I did it WHHHHY. Because they missed explaining something. But not you, you walk us through from start to finish simple easy(and when not easy you say so) after your videos I understand and feel “ I CAN DO THIS “ and off i go. Iv said it before YOU ROCK
The best winding sticks I've seen are simple aluminum angle. A 3/4 inch by 48 inch section at the big box store is around $8-$9. Cut it in half and you're good to go. Or buy 2 for that price and have some really long winding sticks. Really exaggerates the twist! 🙂If you are careful with them, they can also be used as a straight edge for marking lines.
Here's a suggestion for a variation on winding sticks that's worth considering, especially if you wear glasses because of nearsightedness. It's hard to sight both the near and far sticks while bending down to your workbench--too much head movement to catch the near stick over the top of the glasses and then the far sticks using the glasses. If you were standing on your head, then just shifting your eyes would work, but in the usual position, you have to move your head, possibly losing the relative position of the two sticks. I found that if you place a square or other perpendicular on the board at either end, you can judge the alignment of the verticals easily, giving you the same information as with traditional placement of the winding sticks. Just adjust your gaze without moving your head. The best part of this technique is that every woodworking workshop has plenty of squares (adjustable and roofing) that you can position on the boards.
Speed square work very well for this method. Another tip is to blacken the leading edge of the closest square - using a Sharpy - which makes sighting the clean edge of the far edge easier.
My winding sticks are two piece of oak flooring, ca 2-1/2 inches wide and 3/8ths thick. Trued with a plane and table saw (can't beat the fence for parallelism), and one side of one of them covered with a strip of blue tape. I drilled holes in one end and hang them over the bench. I've used them for around 20 years now.
I totally agree. It is nice to have perfectly parallel fancy winding sticks but it is not necessary. As long as they are identical (could even be weighted many degrees one way or the other) and have sufficient visual contrast, they will work. My winding sticks were made very quickly from a scrap of 3 foot 2"x1" cut in half lengthwise, planed together in the vice, both marked in the centre with a sharpie and one marked for about 3" at the tops of both ends. I then marked one end of both so I knew which way to orientate them in use. They work perfectly, maybe 10 minutes work at most...?
Great video! Graham Blackburn also talked about winding sticks recently, and both of you made the same point-it doesn't have to be fancy! I made two oak planing stops a couple of years ago; basically two sticks to place against bench dogs or hold fasts in my low roman. I wanted to make some winding sticks and realized I could just use the two sticks. So I squared them off and cleaned them up. They work fine, although I don't have the contrasting wood. Red Shorts 😂
Great video Rex! Thank you! That being said, I spend my 20 minutes by driving to the old Home Depot and buying a 24" piece of one inch aluminum angle iron. I cut it in half and painted on red. Boom done. Still, if I need more...
I bought two 24" wood and brass-reinforced levels (early 1900's). Most of the sight glasses were broke so they were cheap and look good hanging on the wall when not in use.
finally made some of these about two months ago - out of pine with construction crayon as the contrast in the corners. not exactly fancy, but they sure work great! might inlay some magnets in whenever i buy more epoxy, just to keep them together
My, you show us how to make a simple set of winding sticks and the world erupts with dozens of alternative methods and systems. 🥴 Some guys are never satisfied. Thank you for sharing. Have a great day and stay safe. 🙂🙂
love it, I've made a few winding sticks like that before, and learned a few things from this video. Nowadays I have bandsaw identical to yours, and thankfully it's tuned well enough that I usually just rip a couple of ofcuts with the fence and use those in a pinch when I lose my handmade ones in the clutter. lol
Thanks for this, I've been collecting tools for a bit now and have been too nervous to select a first project. I think making a pair of winding sticks might be perfect to build some confidence.
Thanks Rex! This video answered some of the question I've had about wooden winding sticks. My first set of winding sticks was made from 1-1/4" aluminum angle because I felt that this material would be much more stable than wood. They have served me well. Thanks again.
Wholly Khau! I haven't got anywhere near enough patience to go through all that for two sticks, especially when I have trouble keeping the sole of a plane perpendicular to the sides of the piece. (I do keep practicing, though.) I'll just keep watching you and learning. 😊
You only need the edges parallel to each other along the length. Square to the side doesn’t matter. A faster way to winding sticks is get some aluminum angle, cut it in two pieces and paint contrasting colors along the long side of each piece.
I am in the middle of building a Paul Sellers bench but I had to stop and make good winding sticks. Red oak stained dark with a maple inlay left natural. Works great for older eyes to see.
Winding sticks can also be improvised. I've used regular levels (not the bubble just the straight edge), squares you can stand up, I suppose you could even set two planes on their sides.
Been a good year with all these new Rex videos! I swear it’s like you read my mind…. Been procrastinating making my own winding sticks in fear I will screw it up!
Thank you for the video. Unrelated note: I felt sympathy pain in my back every time you lean over your bench. Reminds me discomforts of planing pallet wood boards on my B&D Workmate.
Thanks for the reminder, just what I needed to prompt me to make another pair of these. First time I have seen this, but for me the audio kept jumping in and out of sync on different clips in the edit. It could be a problem this end of course, but it isn't likely because other UA-cam videos aren't doing that for me at the moment. Worth looking into anyway. I'll view again in a few days and see if it goes away. The content is still good and I understood everything that was going on, so it isn't a big deal.
The old instuction book i have say winding sticks should ideally made from a stable wood with straight even wood with standing grain split from the same board. They should then be hold together with lose pegs so you always use them the same orientation and planed together for eveness. Keeping them together should also make it easier to spot movement in the sticks. An optional thing was to put a bevel on the outside like on rulers. Inlay was not mentioned i think but it was recomended as a good project to learn accurate planing for new craftsmen. Wich means i probably should stop writing and actually make a pair!
Great project-and an interesting change of video style. Not the usual high energy heavily edited video, but a more simply Paul Sellers-esque video instead. Trying something different, or a one time thing? By the way, love the marker as an inlay alternative! I'd always been intimidated by inlaying, but this is doable by a simple worker like me!
Might be helpful to define the thing and it's purpose up front for craft specific terms/objects. Sometimes people are new, or regional language variations use a different word. Always easier to build when you know purpose and goal. Otherwise great video as always walking through process and considerations.
Lovely video and I get your point. I use plywood for shop furniture and my favorite depth gauge is just a dowel press fit through a straight piece of pine. In the case of winding sticks, however, your talking about 'forever' tools that you make once and use until you drop. While I greatly respect Mr. Blackburn, it seems to me that winding sticks should be as perfect as one can make them. And the light/dark inlays make them easier to use. So, as much as I enjoyed this video, we'll just have to agree to disagree as to your central theme.
Really excellent work, Rex! Thanks for all the tips! 😃 You could try ebonizing the wood as well, to make the dark line. It's just a mixture of vinegar and steel wool. Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
I tend to use my wooden quickly made winding sticks as stock for projects... Maybe I should put shellac on them. That's why I use the aluminium extrusions. They are less likely to be cannibalised into another project...
Am I the only one who had that old commercial pop in their head "Who wears short shorts ???" followed by "Rex wears short shorts". All joking aside, thanks again for another nice and informative video Rex, I need to get back into the shop and make some more winding sticks and other things of that sort so this was perfect.
I'm puzzled: since you re-paralleled the sticks after ripping the original blank, was it necessary to parallel the opposite sides of the blank before ripping?
It only makes it easier to square it afterwards. I think a pair of windingsticks should really be of the straightest and evenest piece of wood you have with standing growth rings to minimize movment. In that case squaring up the sides beforehand would help ensure that the grain runs the same in both pieces. Rex woood has curving grain so that wont help.
When you already had two parallel edges, why did you not just resaw splitting the already parallel edges, possibly slightly out of square to get both halves a fatter edge to stand on, and then just clean up the sawed face?
I did just that with the square section of a hardwood table leg (Mahogany I think) works well if there is enough stock to give you a stable set of sticks. They turned out nice and being hardwood look 'fancy'
Love your videos. They are very informative and just what I needed to start working. I did a very bad shoe rack that I am extra proud of. And a chicken coop. Do you have any ideas for a pedal powered lathe diy? Would it work for simple stuff?
Your marking technique for the rip line is how I find the center of a square. I really don't like the corner to corner technique as it's hard to confirm you are on one corner let alone two. Then you have to do it again. If the thing is square (90s all round) then doing a line from each edge would give you a good spot to eyeball a drill bit or whatever you need.
Nice video, and we'll explained. One question regarding sawing. I have seen others mentioned that we should not start sawing by pulling as doing so would make the saw jump and make little mountain and valley that would make it harder to make the next push stroke. Maybe it is different for rip cut. Do you have an opinion regarding this?
Great video! Love watching your process, and the reminder that hand work can be just as effective and even more satisfying. But I guess I'd like a little clarification on something. You mentioned a couple of things that seem a little out of concert. One is that the sticks don't need to be perfect, and can even be high at one side as long as both profiles are identical. The other was talking about seasonal expansion. Given that the two sticks are taken from the same piece of wood, wouldn't the most likely scenario be that the expansion would be uniform? Also, is it imperative that the sighting edge be edge grain rather than face grain? It would seem that using face grain as your top and bottom plane would relegate any shift to an axis that would have no impact. I realize that potential for board sag is more likely along the face, but given the final dimensions of the piece, it seems pretty unlikely. So am I missing something, or is the possibility for expanding and contracting less of an issue on something of this scale?
Great questions … or at least questions I'm also interested in. Sadly I don't have enough knowledge to contribute meaningfully to the conversation beyond trying to help it get noticed!
@@Psittacus_erithacus I appreciate that. For all I know, I'm making a mountain out of a knothole. But I'm always curious to learn more and make sure the effort I expend isn't wasted, either in outcome or in over protection. I love this channel, though. One of the few guys left who really gets into good solid explanations of the tools, the process, and (when need be) the work arounds.
He mentions it in the video on vices. I think one of the one about cast iron cheap ones. It is just a bunch of wood pieces on a dowel to act as distances in the other end of the vice to keep it paralel and transfer clamping power to the other side. Probably a trick picked up from one screw wood vices were distances in the other end of the vice are neccecary if clamping off center. I often just use an offcut of the piece i am working on.
@@borjesvensson8661 thank you, I'll check it out. I only have single screw vices at the moment and scrap wood works well enough but I'd like to see the rack stop in more detail. Appreciate you taking the time to help me Xx
I'm beginning to get into woodworking and this sort of video is perfect because it's concise, there's no tangents, and you aren't giving more information than necessary. One thing I don't like about most tutorials is how difficult to navigate all the information is; your videos are not like that.
Recently built a set of winding sticks from some scrap pieces of poplar. Stained one dark, left the other plain. Only problem is that now I know my workbench isn’t flat 😟. Wondering, where can I get a panel saw like yours? All I have are some very old hand saws that belonged to my wife’s grandfather.
Wouldn't extruded aluminum be better than wood for this? Almost as easy to cut as wood, relatively cheap, not affected by moisture or temperature changes, and since it's machine made it will be perfectly straight and parallel. Just but it, cut it to length, round of the edges and draw the black line.
Would making these by resawing instead of of a normal rip make them react better to moisture changes? The expansion and contraction would then be more similar between the two sticks that way, no?
The stock did not have the necessary thickness. Also thin stock tends to warp more than thicker stock. Resaw your stock for small parts drawers just when you need it, so just before doing the joinery... (if the wood has been in your shop a month or so this is less critical).
Remember folks, the winding sticks don't have to be the same height or length, they just have to be PARALLEL. So if you realize that one is messed up, just fix it and leave it parallel.
I think it's just completely different material, it's not intended to be in sync... but hearing the sound of the same action from different footage underneath is indeed pretty jarring
Hey Rex, I have a dumb question. Would the resin in pine cause any problem on your plane blade if it's not cleaned out? I think I may have left it uncleaned more than a few times after a couple of sessions.
Less than professional tip: your 4' and 2' levels double as winding sticks in a pinch. They're obviously not as nice as a fancy pair of dedicated winding sticks, but they're always near me when I'm working. I find it easier to have the 4' level further away from me because the extra length helps to exaggerate any twists I'm working against.
I thought I was the only one using levels!! I bought two super cheap extruded 24" levels. Turned out the vials were not true, so they ended up being free winding sticks after the big box store did not want to pay to ship them back.
Check out his minimum timber bench, or any of his others. The most recent is a machine tool build, but it could easily be done with hand tools. The Traveller’s Workbench is even cheaper and simpler. Both require about 5’ x 2’ for the bench plus some room to stand in front. The floor under it shouldn’t be carpeted.
The apartment could be a problem, but the furniture shouldn't be. Like many folks my very first project was building a workbench. Rex has some great videos that cover bootstrapping yourself from a small pile of hand tools to a basic low workbench then using that low bench to craft a full sized bench with a comfortable working surface and flexible work holding options. One of them even covers a take-down style bench which *might* help with your space constraints (work outside on pleasant days, perhaps).
I made my first mallet and my workbench sitting on some free facebook found lumber, on top of some low 2x4 sawhorses that i built from scraps from the Menards scrap pile. No need for anything fancy to get started.
The kitchen counter is usually less wobbly than any other raised surface in the apartment. Clamp some ply or mdf onto it. Or make a Japanese style planing board, a small tool box and work on the floor. My knees no longer like the latter, I'm quite out of shape and no longer as flexible. I worked with both methods. Or make a low bench! This can even double as a bench for your dinner table.
Why would you do that to rip a 14” piece of wood? What if you don’t have one? What if you want to use hand tools so you actually improve your hand skills?
Audio out of sync or editing overlaying the wrong audio at odd times? The noise of sawing when cutting to a different close up of sawing etc is sometimes off and its distracting.
I thought about making winding sticks but it occurs to me that I might be able to use two "box" type 600mm spirit levels instead. As they are different colours I think it will be easy to see any twist - but I have not yet tried it.
Looks like you and I were commenting at the roughly the same time with the same idea. Your 600mm level is almost the same length as my 2', and I use my levels for winding regularly. I'm still going to make a nice pair of winding sticks one day, but the levels work great.
It's nice of you to offer us your tips and techniques. Nonetheless, I'm going to ask you a favor for your next videos. English isn't my first language, but I can cope with it reasonably well. However, there are many technical terms and expressions, pertaining to specific professions or fields, that escape me. Maybe I know their underlying meaning and its equivalent in my language, but can sometimes only relate if presented with its object or use first. This is the case with the present video: I could only know what winding sticks are and are for at the end of the video, when they were used to check whether a surface was warped. Until then, İ had no idea what was being made. This isn't the first video this happens. So, here's the favor I'm humbly asking of you: if possible, would you please start your videos with a brief introductory explanation of what the intended piece is and is for? Not just for me, of course, but for the hundreds or thousands of viewers that share my language shortcomings. That might increase our interest in the subject --- I was about to skip this video, thinking that "winding sticks" referred to sticks to wind ropes around; I rejected the notion that they could be something to be exposed to winds, it seemed unlikely.
I hear you and that's a reasonable request, but when I start with a lot of talking, people click away. I need to get right into the video to keep people watching. I know it's not ideal. I really am sorry.
@@RexKrueger Thank you for understanding the problem. Still, I didn't ask for any long explanation, just a brief one, like "These are winding sticks," while showing them being used (an introductory copy of what's at the end of the video would suffice, just three or four seconds of footing long).
Is anyone else having problems with payments in Patreon. They haven't processed my payment in months. I've tried several cards, all of which are cards I use frequently, but they all fail. I'm just about ready to throw in the towel.
@Rex Krueger Thanks Rex. I can still enjoy your videos here. My $7 per month doesn't make that much difference in the big picture, but I wonder if there are others who had the same issue and have given up.
Since this is an ideal beginners project, and people don't watch videos chronologically, I think you missed an opportunity to treat this as a video for people with little or no knowledge to woodworking. What on earth are winding sticks? (you only show it at the end) What's the best way to hold a marking gauge (pressure direction, tilt,...)? Explain the importance of the direction of the grain when marking and when planing. What is "cross" and "rip", etc... These don't have to be elaborate explanations - just touching on the basics. After all these years of (great) videos, you're understandably beginning to make assumptions about your audience. As a moderately experienced woodworker, I kind of skipped through the video. As a beginner, I would have been left with some frustration, both while watchin and mimicking your work.
Different experiences for different folks I suppose, but the audio didn't bother me at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. I like that he tries to offer the best visual shot that he has combined with the clearest commentary from all the footage he has taken. It is vastly more important to me that I can see the work as clearly as possible & have the best explanation possible than that the swiping sounds perfectly match up. - I also don't want our guy wasting tons of time recording & laying in separate voice over tracks just to spare me from the horror of de-synced tool sounds. I'd much rather he use that time to go into greater detail or make more videos … or heck, kick back for an extra hour enjoying a refreshing beverage / spending time with family / whatever it takes to avoid burnout.
What you're describing happens sometimes when listening over a Bluetooth device, i.e., headphones or car. The audio is synchronized when watching on a computer
Rex did mention before that the new workshop has really bad acoustics. I think you can see the blue sound baffles he has added to the walls to try and improve things.
Wow. I really do try to be open to opinions that differ from my own & cognizant of the myriad challenges other people may face that I'm not familiar enough with to fully understand their experiences. But this, this is just a level of hyper-sensitivity (or demandingness) that I cannot get my head around. Assuming you have normal hearing and the most basic audio equipment (I'm listening with the ~$15 pair of earbuds that came with my phone), this video is perfectly intelligible. It doesn't even have any specific audio defects: no clipping, no flutter, no harmonic distortion, no mixing issues and a reasonable noise floor. Rejecting otherwise compelling content just because because the audio isn't as fantastically crisp and detailed as you think it should he is ludicrous.
Love this book! ua-cam.com/users/postUgkxpCNxqmAkyjN6NPx1fyB7QiEFWyO5mUWL it is simply one-of-a-kind! I really love it, because karah explained all tools required to have the job done, not mentioning the fabulous diy pallets ideas. I'm pretty sure this will be a fresh start in my new endeavour. Amazon was great, they delivered on time. Thank you!
My winding sticks are just a 4' section of aluminum angle I cut into two pieces. I know spending time building tools gives a lot of people great joy, but my woodworking time is precious and I want to spend it making furniture.
I love your stuff. You take the fear out of doing woodwork. I have ADHD and PTSD and some days I look a project and end up talking myself out of it. In my head its to complex ,so i look up a video on how too ,which can make my head explode like “ o no it is has hard as I thought or they said just do X ,but it didn’t work when I did it WHHHHY. Because they missed explaining something.
But not you, you walk us through from start to finish simple easy(and when not easy you say so) after your videos I understand and feel “ I CAN DO THIS “ and off i go. Iv said it before YOU ROCK
I love how you showed how the cut ended up just as I'd done it, rather than perfect 'first time'.
The best winding sticks I've seen are simple aluminum angle. A 3/4 inch by 48 inch section at the big box store is around $8-$9. Cut it in half and you're good to go. Or buy 2 for that price and have some really long winding sticks. Really exaggerates the twist! 🙂If you are careful with them, they can also be used as a straight edge for marking lines.
Here's a suggestion for a variation on winding sticks that's worth considering, especially if you wear glasses because of nearsightedness. It's hard to sight both the near and far sticks while bending down to your workbench--too much head movement to catch the near stick over the top of the glasses and then the far sticks using the glasses. If you were standing on your head, then just shifting your eyes would work, but in the usual position, you have to move your head, possibly losing the relative position of the two sticks. I found that if you place a square or other perpendicular on the board at either end, you can judge the alignment of the verticals easily, giving you the same information as with traditional placement of the winding sticks. Just adjust your gaze without moving your head. The best part of this technique is that every woodworking workshop has plenty of squares (adjustable and roofing) that you can position on the boards.
That actually is a great tip! Thank you
Speed square work very well for this method.
Another tip is to blacken the leading edge of the closest square - using a Sharpy - which makes sighting the clean edge of the far edge easier.
My winding sticks are two piece of oak flooring, ca 2-1/2 inches wide and 3/8ths thick. Trued with a plane and table saw (can't beat the fence for parallelism), and one side of one of them covered with a strip of blue tape. I drilled holes in one end and hang them over the bench. I've used them for around 20 years now.
I totally agree. It is nice to have perfectly parallel fancy winding sticks but it is not necessary. As long as they are identical (could even be weighted many degrees one way or the other) and have sufficient visual contrast, they will work. My winding sticks were made very quickly from a scrap of 3 foot 2"x1" cut in half lengthwise, planed together in the vice, both marked in the centre with a sharpie and one marked for about 3" at the tops of both ends. I then marked one end of both so I knew which way to orientate them in use. They work perfectly, maybe 10 minutes work at most...?
Great video! Graham Blackburn also talked about winding sticks recently, and both of you made the same point-it doesn't have to be fancy! I made two oak planing stops a couple of years ago; basically two sticks to place against bench dogs or hold fasts in my low roman. I wanted to make some winding sticks and realized I could just use the two sticks. So I squared them off and cleaned them up. They work fine, although I don't have the contrasting wood.
Red Shorts 😂
Love the simplicity. You're right. We tend to get fancy. Simpler is often better.
For my first set of winding sticks (which I still use) I spent $10 at Home Depot for a 36 inch piece of 3/4" aluminum angle bar and cut it in half.
Great video Rex! Thank you! That being said, I spend my 20 minutes by driving to the old Home Depot and buying a 24" piece of one inch aluminum angle iron. I cut it in half and painted on red. Boom done. Still, if I need more...
Always great! Thanks for doing what you do.
I bought two 24" wood and brass-reinforced levels (early 1900's). Most of the sight glasses were broke so they were cheap and look good hanging on the wall when not in use.
Excellent work Rex! Getting some Paul Sellers vibes here 😊
finally made some of these about two months ago - out of pine with construction crayon as the contrast in the corners. not exactly fancy, but they sure work great!
might inlay some magnets in whenever i buy more epoxy, just to keep them together
My, you show us how to make a simple set of winding sticks and the world erupts with dozens of alternative methods and systems. 🥴 Some guys are never satisfied. Thank you for sharing. Have a great day and stay safe. 🙂🙂
love it, I've made a few winding sticks like that before, and learned a few things from this video. Nowadays I have bandsaw identical to yours, and thankfully it's tuned well enough that I usually just rip a couple of ofcuts with the fence and use those in a pinch when I lose my handmade ones in the clutter. lol
Thanks for this, I've been collecting tools for a bit now and have been too nervous to select a first project. I think making a pair of winding sticks might be perfect to build some confidence.
Thanks Rex! This video answered some of the question I've had about wooden winding sticks. My first set of winding sticks was made from 1-1/4" aluminum angle because I felt that this material would be much more stable than wood. They have served me well. Thanks again.
Very well explained. Thank you.
exelent, thanks a lot. i am looking forward to work with precise handtools when i have my workshop installed
A simple but quite essential project.
Wholly Khau! I haven't got anywhere near enough patience to go through all that for two sticks, especially when I have trouble keeping the sole of a plane perpendicular to the sides of the piece. (I do keep practicing, though.) I'll just keep watching you and learning. 😊
Maybe making some is the best way of practicing and giving you something you can use at the end instead of firewood
You only need the edges parallel to each other along the length. Square to the side doesn’t matter.
A faster way to winding sticks is get some aluminum angle, cut it in two pieces and paint contrasting colors along the long side of each piece.
I am in the middle of building a Paul Sellers bench but I had to stop and make good winding sticks. Red oak stained dark with a maple inlay left natural. Works great for older eyes to see.
Thanks for making this one. I need a pair of winding sticks that work and aren’t a piece of art. Great job.
Winding sticks can also be improvised. I've used regular levels (not the bubble just the straight edge), squares you can stand up, I suppose you could even set two planes on their sides.
Been a good year with all these new Rex videos! I swear it’s like you read my mind…. Been procrastinating making my own winding sticks in fear I will screw it up!
The brass does have the advantage of being nearly immune to warping movements. Making one brass & the other of bronze could give the contrast too.
I have nothing to say really, but I appreciate your content, and wish to help with the yt-algorithms.
Thank you for the video. Unrelated note: I felt sympathy pain in my back every time you lean over your bench. Reminds me discomforts of planing pallet wood boards on my B&D Workmate.
Excellent video, thanks for all the explanation 👍
Thanks for the reminder, just what I needed to prompt me to make another pair of these. First time I have seen this, but for me the audio kept jumping in and out of sync on different clips in the edit. It could be a problem this end of course, but it isn't likely because other UA-cam videos aren't doing that for me at the moment. Worth looking into anyway. I'll view again in a few days and see if it goes away.
The content is still good and I understood everything that was going on, so it isn't a big deal.
The old instuction book i have say winding sticks should ideally made from a stable wood with straight even wood with standing grain split from the same board. They should then be hold together with lose pegs so you always use them the same orientation and planed together for eveness. Keeping them together should also make it easier to spot movement in the sticks. An optional thing was to put a bevel on the outside like on rulers. Inlay was not mentioned i think but it was recomended as a good project to learn accurate planing for new craftsmen. Wich means i probably should stop writing and actually make a pair!
This was a great video. It had a very different feel to what we have had in the past but loved it.
Good video Rex.
Great project-and an interesting change of video style. Not the usual high energy heavily edited video, but a more simply Paul Sellers-esque video instead. Trying something different, or a one time thing?
By the way, love the marker as an inlay alternative! I'd always been intimidated by inlaying, but this is doable by a simple worker like me!
I like how you show the whole process. Great video (except for the audio synchronization, which did not bug me a lot).
There is some Bob Ross spirit in this kind of video. Thanx, it’s relaxing!
thank you
Might be helpful to define the thing and it's purpose up front for craft specific terms/objects. Sometimes people are new, or regional language variations use a different word. Always easier to build when you know purpose and goal. Otherwise great video as always walking through process and considerations.
Lovely video and I get your point. I use plywood for shop furniture and my favorite depth gauge is just a dowel press fit through a straight piece of pine. In the case of winding sticks, however, your talking about 'forever' tools that you make once and use until you drop. While I greatly respect Mr. Blackburn, it seems to me that winding sticks should be as perfect as one can make them. And the light/dark inlays make them easier to use. So, as much as I enjoyed this video, we'll just have to agree to disagree as to your central theme.
Feels like you need a vacation Rex 🤔
Really excellent work, Rex! Thanks for all the tips! 😃
You could try ebonizing the wood as well, to make the dark line. It's just a mixture of vinegar and steel wool.
Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Definitely a great skill builder. Who would buy them? Well, some people use 2 pieces of aluminium extrusion. But I'd rather build my skills.
I tend to use my wooden quickly made winding sticks as stock for projects...
Maybe I should put shellac on them.
That's why I use the aluminium extrusions. They are less likely to be cannibalised into another project...
Hi Rex. Perhaps it would be useful if you show us how you keep the saw plumb.
I suppose the blue beetle wood is from trees with red needle blight.
thanks
Am I the only one who had that old commercial pop in their head "Who wears short shorts ???" followed by "Rex wears short shorts". All joking aside, thanks again for another nice and informative video Rex, I need to get back into the shop and make some more winding sticks and other things of that sort so this was perfect.
I'm puzzled: since you re-paralleled the sticks after ripping the original blank, was it necessary to parallel the opposite sides of the blank before ripping?
It only makes it easier to square it afterwards.
I think a pair of windingsticks should really be of the straightest and evenest piece of wood you have with standing growth rings to minimize movment. In that case squaring up the sides beforehand would help ensure that the grain runs the same in both pieces. Rex woood has curving grain so that wont help.
When you already had two parallel edges, why did you not just resaw splitting the already parallel edges, possibly slightly out of square to get both halves a fatter edge to stand on, and then just clean up the sawed face?
Because the stock is less than an inch thick. Resawing would have given me 2 very wide, thin boards.
I did just that with the square section of a hardwood table leg (Mahogany I think) works well if there is enough stock to give you a stable set of sticks. They turned out nice and being hardwood look 'fancy'
Wonderful Jigs
Love your videos. They are very informative and just what I needed to start working. I did a very bad shoe rack that I am extra proud of. And a chicken coop.
Do you have any ideas for a pedal powered lathe diy? Would it work for simple stuff?
Your marking technique for the rip line is how I find the center of a square. I really don't like the corner to corner technique as it's hard to confirm you are on one corner let alone two. Then you have to do it again. If the thing is square (90s all round) then doing a line from each edge would give you a good spot to eyeball a drill bit or whatever you need.
Nice video, and we'll explained. One question regarding sawing. I have seen others mentioned that we should not start sawing by pulling as doing so would make the saw jump and make little mountain and valley that would make it harder to make the next push stroke. Maybe it is different for rip cut. Do you have an opinion regarding this?
Good video as always. Sound delay from main camera to other two cameras is a bit distracting.
I would only use 50 year aged Brazilian rosewood for my winding sticks. I just need to find some so I can get started.
Maybe set your sights elsewhere then you could get it done sooner
@@spycedezynuk Never!
Just reading all your comments 😂😂😂😂 I get a good laugh from you lol 😂
Rex, I sight along the bottom of my winding sticks. So I only need to be concerned about the flatness of one edge on each stick.
That's pretty clever
How does that even work? How do you see the bottom of the back stick when by definition it’s obscured by the front one?
@@richardsinger01 Sight from just below the 2 sticks instead of just above them.
Great video! Love watching your process, and the reminder that hand work can be just as effective and even more satisfying. But I guess I'd like a little clarification on something.
You mentioned a couple of things that seem a little out of concert. One is that the sticks don't need to be perfect, and can even be high at one side as long as both profiles are identical.
The other was talking about seasonal expansion.
Given that the two sticks are taken from the same piece of wood, wouldn't the most likely scenario be that the expansion would be uniform?
Also, is it imperative that the sighting edge be edge grain rather than face grain? It would seem that using face grain as your top and bottom plane would relegate any shift to an axis that would have no impact. I realize that potential for board sag is more likely along the face, but given the final dimensions of the piece, it seems pretty unlikely.
So am I missing something, or is the possibility for expanding and contracting less of an issue on something of this scale?
Great questions … or at least questions I'm also interested in. Sadly I don't have enough knowledge to contribute meaningfully to the conversation beyond trying to help it get noticed!
@@Psittacus_erithacus I appreciate that. For all I know, I'm making a mountain out of a knothole. But I'm always curious to learn more and make sure the effort I expend isn't wasted, either in outcome or in over protection.
I love this channel, though. One of the few guys left who really gets into good solid explanations of the tools, the process, and (when need be) the work arounds.
Do you have a video on the rack-stop you used in your vice when doing the long rip cut?
He mentions it in the video on vices. I think one of the one about cast iron cheap ones. It is just a bunch of wood pieces on a dowel to act as distances in the other end of the vice to keep it paralel and transfer clamping power to the other side. Probably a trick picked up from one screw wood vices were distances in the other end of the vice are neccecary if clamping off center. I often just use an offcut of the piece i am working on.
@@borjesvensson8661 thank you, I'll check it out. I only have single screw vices at the moment and scrap wood works well enough but I'd like to see the rack stop in more detail. Appreciate you taking the time to help me Xx
Pinch that work!
I'm beginning to get into woodworking and this sort of video is perfect because it's concise, there's no tangents, and you aren't giving more information than necessary. One thing I don't like about most tutorials is how difficult to navigate all the information is; your videos are not like that.
When was wood first used?
2 nails, a pencil and a scrap piece of wood make a great center mark gauge
Recently built a set of winding sticks from some scrap pieces of poplar. Stained one dark, left the other plain. Only problem is that now I know my workbench isn’t flat 😟. Wondering, where can I get a panel saw like yours? All I have are some very old hand saws that belonged to my wife’s grandfather.
Mine is from Tay tools. Made in the UK. Good price.
I can’t find your friend Austin on Instagram. Does he sell that fore plane somewhere I can go to see it?
Wouldn't extruded aluminum be better than wood for this? Almost as easy to cut as wood, relatively cheap, not affected by moisture or temperature changes, and since it's machine made it will be perfectly straight and parallel. Just but it, cut it to length, round of the edges and draw the black line.
Would making these by resawing instead of of a normal rip make them react better to moisture changes? The expansion and contraction would then be more similar between the two sticks that way, no?
The stock did not have the necessary thickness. Also thin stock tends to warp more than thicker stock. Resaw your stock for small parts drawers just when you need it, so just before doing the joinery... (if the wood has been in your shop a month or so this is less critical).
What’s the logic here?
Red shorts increases accuracy by 20% 😂
Remember folks, the winding sticks don't have to be the same height or length, they just have to be PARALLEL. So if you realize that one is messed up, just fix it and leave it parallel.
Quote: "I can see one little problem".
My response: "It's not a problem, it's a challenge".
Something is off with the audio sync on the close up shots.
I think it's just completely different material, it's not intended to be in sync... but hearing the sound of the same action from different footage underneath is indeed pretty jarring
No one:
Me: First let me create my winding sticks to create my winding sticks.
Table saw?
Just buy 2 1$ wood rulers and plane the bottom sharpy two rectangles and bam cheap fast and easy
Hey Rex, I have a dumb question. Would the resin in pine cause any problem on your plane blade if it's not cleaned out? I think I may have left it uncleaned more than a few times after a couple of sessions.
If you're getting resin on your tools, then you need to clean them. This wood was dry, so no issues for me.
Oiled wood planes are suprisingly good at keeping resin in check
You'd say it is a blasphemy, but I use two offcuts of aluminium profile as a winding sticks... And they work.
Why not use that table saw you got sitting over there?
Use a table saw for a couple of winding sticks?
Yes, for sure. I'm not scared of that saw, but I might be in the wrong room.
@@richardsinger01
Less than professional tip: your 4' and 2' levels double as winding sticks in a pinch. They're obviously not as nice as a fancy pair of dedicated winding sticks, but they're always near me when I'm working. I find it easier to have the 4' level further away from me because the extra length helps to exaggerate any twists I'm working against.
I see your levels and raise you two #5 planes on their sides
@fisharmor that works too! I wish I had two #5s to try it with haha.
I use 2’ levels as winding sticks. Always within arm’s reach of the bench.
I use aluminium U profiles. Had them kicking around from another project and just use these off cuts
I thought I was the only one using levels!! I bought two super cheap extruded 24" levels. Turned out the vials were not true, so they ended up being free winding sticks after the big box store did not want to pay to ship them back.
Any link to find Austin and his planes other than insta?
Sorry, that's all there is.
... and his youtube ua-cam.com/video/wnBF-dGo3ks/v-deo.html
Well, if you are a patron, which you clearly are, you can ask him on the forum :^)
@Austin V Papp It's you!
I so wish I could do woodworking :( sadly, no room in my apartment, and my ikea furniture is way too wobbly to plane anything on it
Check out his minimum timber bench, or any of his others. The most recent is a machine tool build, but it could easily be done with hand tools. The Traveller’s Workbench is even cheaper and simpler. Both require about 5’ x 2’ for the bench plus some room to stand in front.
The floor under it shouldn’t be carpeted.
The apartment could be a problem, but the furniture shouldn't be. Like many folks my very first project was building a workbench. Rex has some great videos that cover bootstrapping yourself from a small pile of hand tools to a basic low workbench then using that low bench to craft a full sized bench with a comfortable working surface and flexible work holding options. One of them even covers a take-down style bench which *might* help with your space constraints (work outside on pleasant days, perhaps).
I made my first mallet and my workbench sitting on some free facebook found lumber, on top of some low 2x4 sawhorses that i built from scraps from the Menards scrap pile. No need for anything fancy to get started.
The kitchen counter is usually less wobbly than any other raised surface in the apartment. Clamp some ply or mdf onto it.
Or make a Japanese style planing board, a small tool box and work on the floor.
My knees no longer like the latter, I'm quite out of shape and no longer as flexible. I worked with both methods.
Or make a low bench! This can even double as a bench for your dinner table.
Its so dificult to work in imperial. Mesuring in SI is so easier and more precise
So hmm... what is a "winding stick" anyway? 🤔 Asking for a friend 😅
Personally I would say less then an inch of wood is critical but o.k.
Do you mean you can't cut this with a table saw?
Why would you do that to rip a 14” piece of wood? What if you don’t have one? What if you want to use hand tools so you actually improve your hand skills?
Audio out of sync or editing overlaying the wrong audio at odd times? The noise of sawing when cutting to a different close up of sawing etc is sometimes off and its distracting.
I thought about making winding sticks but it occurs to me that I might be able to use two "box" type 600mm spirit levels instead.
As they are different colours I think it will be easy to see any twist - but I have not yet tried it.
Looks like you and I were commenting at the roughly the same time with the same idea. Your 600mm level is almost the same length as my 2', and I use my levels for winding regularly. I'm still going to make a nice pair of winding sticks one day, but the levels work great.
It's nice of you to offer us your tips and techniques. Nonetheless, I'm going to ask you a favor for your next videos.
English isn't my first language, but I can cope with it reasonably well. However, there are many technical terms and expressions, pertaining to specific professions or fields, that escape me. Maybe I know their underlying meaning and its equivalent in my language, but can sometimes only relate if presented with its object or use first. This is the case with the present video: I could only know what winding sticks are and are for at the end of the video, when they were used to check whether a surface was warped. Until then, İ had no idea what was being made. This isn't the first video this happens. So, here's the favor I'm humbly asking of you: if possible, would you please start your videos with a brief introductory explanation of what the intended piece is and is for? Not just for me, of course, but for the hundreds or thousands of viewers that share my language shortcomings. That might increase our interest in the subject --- I was about to skip this video, thinking that "winding sticks" referred to sticks to wind ropes around; I rejected the notion that they could be something to be exposed to winds, it seemed unlikely.
I hear you and that's a reasonable request, but when I start with a lot of talking, people click away. I need to get right into the video to keep people watching. I know it's not ideal. I really am sorry.
@@RexKrueger Thank you for understanding the problem. Still, I didn't ask for any long explanation, just a brief one, like "These are winding sticks," while showing them being used (an introductory copy of what's at the end of the video would suffice, just three or four seconds of footing long).
Still don’t know what a winding stick is.
seeing/hearing some weird out-of-sync audio.
Is it just me or is the sound off on this video?
Is anyone else having problems with payments in Patreon. They haven't processed my payment in months. I've tried several cards, all of which are cards I use frequently, but they all fail. I'm just about ready to throw in the towel.
I'm really sorry you're having trouble. I wish I could help.
@Rex Krueger Thanks Rex. I can still enjoy your videos here. My $7 per month doesn't make that much difference in the big picture, but I wonder if there are others who had the same issue and have given up.
Since this is an ideal beginners project, and people don't watch videos chronologically, I think you missed an opportunity to treat this as a video for people with little or no knowledge to woodworking. What on earth are winding sticks? (you only show it at the end) What's the best way to hold a marking gauge (pressure direction, tilt,...)? Explain the importance of the direction of the grain when marking and when planing. What is "cross" and "rip", etc...
These don't have to be elaborate explanations - just touching on the basics.
After all these years of (great) videos, you're understandably beginning to make assumptions about your audience.
As a moderately experienced woodworker, I kind of skipped through the video. As a beginner, I would have been left with some frustration, both while watchin and mimicking your work.
No clue what a winding stick is.
Please Rex, give more attention to the editing quality. The unsincronized audio is killing us....
Different experiences for different folks I suppose, but the audio didn't bother me at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. I like that he tries to offer the best visual shot that he has combined with the clearest commentary from all the footage he has taken. It is vastly more important to me that I can see the work as clearly as possible & have the best explanation possible than that the swiping sounds perfectly match up.
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I also don't want our guy wasting tons of time recording & laying in separate voice over tracks just to spare me from the horror of de-synced tool sounds. I'd much rather he use that time to go into greater detail or make more videos … or heck, kick back for an extra hour enjoying a refreshing beverage / spending time with family / whatever it takes to avoid burnout.
Just drink a few beers your concern will fade
What you're describing happens sometimes when listening over a Bluetooth device, i.e., headphones or car. The audio is synchronized when watching on a computer
@@thisguy1297 Amen!❤
Didn’t bother me.
pff.if I make 2 similar pieces out of whatever.....takes me 2-3 minutes....why a 18 minutes video about how to make this ????
Rex I'm sorry but your videos have become unwatchable to me because the mic quality is so poor.
I think his mic sounds fine. Maybe it's on your side?
@@chrisstearns10 it's definitely worse than it used to be. Not quite unlistenable, but rather reminiscent of 2009 UA-cam
Rex did mention before that the new workshop has really bad acoustics. I think you can see the blue sound baffles he has added to the walls to try and improve things.
Wow. I really do try to be open to opinions that differ from my own & cognizant of the myriad challenges other people may face that I'm not familiar enough with to fully understand their experiences. But this, this is just a level of hyper-sensitivity (or demandingness) that I cannot get my head around. Assuming you have normal hearing and the most basic audio equipment (I'm listening with the ~$15 pair of earbuds that came with my phone), this video is perfectly intelligible. It doesn't even have any specific audio defects: no clipping, no flutter, no harmonic distortion, no mixing issues and a reasonable noise floor. Rejecting otherwise compelling content just because because the audio isn't as fantastically crisp and detailed as you think it should he is ludicrous.
@@bacicinvatteneaca I am sure he is still doing some things to make it better. Maybe give him a few more videos before you cut him off?