: Thanks for the replies. The first scarf I tried I did through the
: width, but I had calculated the length based on the 5/8"
: thickness. So the scarf is only 5:1.... I might glue it up with
: epoxy and see if it holds. Or could I move the boards and
: lengthen the joint by re-planing?

: I tried a second one today going through the thickness. I started
: by planing the top board till I got a good angle so that the
: plane would ride smoothly onto the bottom board. Things went
: well at first, but then I reached a point where I couldn't get
: the blade to cut any deeper (in spite of re-sharpening and
: playing with the blade extension). I canted the plane at an
: angle to the length of the boards, but I ended up
: "scalloping" the middle of the top board, for lack of
: a better way of describing it. The middle of the top board is
: deeper than the rest of the cut. Not sure what how to fix that
: one. I guess I should have bought some more cheap furring strips
: to practice on. I did one on furring strip that turned out
: pretty good. Of course, that's the best one so far....

: Thanks again for the information. I'll either end up with gunwales
: or cedar shavings. Anyone have a hamster?

: Eric

Scarf length is pretty easy, easier for most to convert the fraction to a decimal and multiply that. 5/8 = .625, for an 8:1 scarf multiply the .625 times 8 and you've got the length of the scarf.

Bill H.