# Edge jointing & gaps



## Cynical Roland (Sep 12, 2016)

Hello,

Im new to this whole woodworking thing. Got my first table saw and been practicing to saw straight boards so I could glue them together. Aint that easy 
So I got few board with gaps. My question would be: Can you work with boards with small gaps (I attached photo of board with gap) or should it be a perfectly match and I should straighten them?
*My post looks a bit messy... :wheelchair:


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Personally I don't believe in gluing together sawn wood. The edges should be machined on a jointer prior to being glued together. The joint depends on the wood being tightly together and the coarseness of the saw cut prevents this. If you are going to do this you need to eliminate the gaps between the boards. Otherwise a lot of pressure would be needed to force the wood together. How ever much pressure needed to force the wood together is how much stress the wood will be putting on it to pull the joint apart. The best way to make a glue joint on a table saw is to make a sled to keep the wood straight against the fence. It also helps to use a really sharp blade. Any deflection of the blade when ripping the parts will cause the joint not to be straight.


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

Rather than going through it all again, maybe read through here first:
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f5/struggling-edge-jointing-145938/


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*here's the best tip*

Your table saw will NOT saw a straight edge on a board with a curved edge against the fence. So now what? You must start with a straight edge to get straight edges on the cut piece. So how do you do that? ....

Use a "straight line rip jig"

Here's what it looks like and how it works:
I made two sizes,one long enough for 8 footers and a 54" for shorter boards. I used 1/4" hardboard for the bottom and a 1 X 3" piece of Oak for the toggles to mount on. It looks like this:
   


Used the straight edge of a piece of Masonite to register against the fence, added a Oak 1 X 2 1/2" for support and some hold downs and off I went.....




Once I had one edge straight lined, I ripped the other edge parallel just using the fence alone. I worked great. :thumbsup:


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## Cynical Roland (Sep 12, 2016)

The "funny" thing is, that I made two straight edege boards and then decided to saw one in half against the fence. So the wider board from the photo is straight and the the smaller one.. well thats the result of splitting. I assume its lack of skill and practice. Then I started thinking I know nothing about mistakes and errors, can there be 1mm there and here or it cant. Just like the guy from previous post "*Struggling with edge jointing" *
Thanks for the information guys, it helped me. Much appreciated.


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