Winding Sticks

These simple tools are essential for dimensioning lumber by hand or machine.

- Logan Wittmer

It's hard to believe that something as simple as a pair of parallel pieces of stock can be a highly precise tool for flattening stock. However, once you've used a pair of winding sticks and understand how to use them, they'll become your go-to partner for wrangling rough stock.

1 You can make (or buy) winding sticks in a variety of profiles. I find myself leaning towards the narrower topped version.

Winding sticks can be as simple or as fancy as you'd like. A few pieces of quarter-sawn stock milled flat, square, and parallel will suffice just fine. Or, you can opt for a fancy pair—the ones I have here are from Will Adams at Honey Brook Tools. If you choose to make your own, there are a couple of things to remember.

First, as I mentioned, quarter-sawn stock is preferable. It moves less than flat or plain-sawn material and will remain true and accurate. Oftentimes, winding sticks will have a few different inlays. The first designates the winding stick's center (brass rod in the pair above). Knowing the center point helps quickly position the winding sticks centered on your material. Another type of inlay you may find is contrasting inlays along the top — a long, narrow strip or a pair of inlays along each end. These help gauge the level of the sticks (you'll see an example of this in a photo in a little bit).