MACALALAD, MARIEL D.

BTLED-2ND YR

TESTING AND GUIDING TOOLS

TESTING TOOLS IN WOODWORKING

The work needs to test after sawing, cutting and smoothing of carpentry project. For this
reason, we use different testing tools in woodworking such as straight edge, winding
sticks, plumb bob, spirit level, try square etc. Without these a joiner can’t perform his
work accuracy. You should not require all the tools for all time. Different kinds of testing
tools are described as below.

Straight edge

The edges of Straight edge tools are quite straight and

parallel. They are made of wood or steel. The length of
them is from 12 inches to 70 inches, wide 3.5 to 6.3 cm
and thickness 0.15 to 0.5 cm. Normally it is used to test
edge and plane of a thing. They are also use for draw
a straight line.

Winding sticks

Normally winding sticks are used for testing the

defects of twist plane of wood board. It is 15 inches
long and 3.8 cm wide.
Plumb bob

The plumb bob looks like a “top”. It is made of

steel, brass or lead. Normally it is used for
testing the plane of door or windows are right
angle with the base. It has tapered on front side
and ring in the back side. The ring is used to
hang them with the rope or string. It is 113 to
170 gm weight.

Spirit levels

The spirit levels are used for

testing both the vertical and
horizontal surfaces level in
woodworking. These tools are
made of wood or lightweight
metal. Usually it is 65 cm long,
7.5 cm wide and 2cm thick. It
includes a small hole into a
hardwood stock which contains a glass tube that is filled with methylated spirit. During
testing an air bubble indicates the surface is straight or not. When the air bubble fix in
the middle, it indicates the surface is straight. Conversely if the surface is not plane then
the air bubble goes to the highest end. It is a brittle tool which can easily break. So, it
should be handling carefully. You can use it as a marking gauge.

Calipers

Calipers is looks like as divider. It is significant tools

for measuring. It is three types such as outside
calipers, inside calipers and spiring calipers. They
can be further classified as firm joint, lock joint and
spring joint.
Try square

Try square can be used for testing straightness of plane surface of a wood and the right
angles of edges. It has two main parts –
blade and handle (stock). Among them
blade is made of steel and stock is made
of wooden or cast iron. The blade is
fitted with the handle at right angles. The
blade is 15 cm to 30 cm long, 3.8 cm
wide and 0.15 cm thick.

Miter square

As like try square miter square also contains

blade and handle. The blade is made of steel
and handle is made of cast iron or brass. The
blade is set into the stock at an angle of 45°.
The length of the miter square is 20 cm to 35
cm.

Bevel square

The bevel square is also known as sliding bevel. It is

used for testing angles other than 90°. As like try
square they also include two parts – blade and
handle which are combined with a screw or wing
nut. The blade is made of steel whereas the handle
is made of cast iron or brass. The blade can be
rotated to any angle from 0 to 180 degrees. The
length of the sliding blade is from 15 cm to 30 cm.
They are available in four sizes from 6 inches to 13
inches. Joiner uses the surface plate for testing the
flatness, trueness of surfaces. You can also use in scribing work. It is made of cast iron,
graphite or glass.

Ruler

Rulers are used for fine, accurate

woodworking measurement. The most
uses rulers are 30 to 60 cm long.