Braces - Part 1

Now that the bracewood billets are all ripped and split, I needed to clean them up a bit before I glue them on. The surfaces that are glued needs to be smooth and either flat or slightly curved depending on where it goes. The best way to do this is with a joiner. But since I don't have a joiner, the best way for me to do this is with a hand plane.

As you can see, I mounted my plane in a vice upside down and then ran the bottom surface of the braces over them. This works very well, and doesn't take too long. This also allows me to roughly shape them to the proper 15' or 30' radius as necessary prior to sanding. I also cleaned/squared up the sides and top a bit, but those three surfaces will be shaped after they are glued on.