how to properly joint two boards with hand planes

[jonnyfontaine]

what's the proper technique for edge jointing two 8/4 boards with a hand plane? the widest plane iron i have is 2" with a slight crown, or camber to it... would this work or is it best to have a squared iron? i've jointed boards that when clamped together were still thinner than 2" but i'm not sure if that also works in this case, and the wood is close to it's final width so i don't wanna mess up and wind up with wood i can't use... thanks for all the advice

 

[CarvedTones]

I would not attempt it with a crowned plane. The plane blade width doesn't have to be as wide as the board if the sole is dead flat and you have some length (I know people who could do it with a #4; I could do it with a #5 but I wouldn't want to try if it was really close to final dimensions. I haven't done stuff that thick. I have done the face to face trick with thinner boards (put them in the vice face to face, edge plane and then join and it won't matter if you are slightly off square becaues they compensate).

 

[Mike Davis]

Is it a jointer plane? The length of the plane is as much important as the width in jointing. And the blade needs to be square across the end, the corners can be slightly rounded off.

Andy pretty much said the same as I was thinking, a little quicker on the keyboard.

 

[DaveO]

A squared iron would be the best for the final passes, but if the stock it very out of square a cambered iron will help to take it down quicker. As Mike said the length of the plane sole is most important when jointing flat. It will ride the high spots and take everything down to a flat plane. And as Andy mentioned orienting your stock face to face will help to equalize any discrepancy in the squareness.
You can do it a .001 at a time :icon_thum

Dave