{"id":8068,"date":"2025-09-09T02:58:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T06:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/?p=8068"},"modified":"2025-09-09T18:00:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T22:00:08","slug":"measure-with-plastic-shim-stock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/2025\/09\/09\/measure-with-plastic-shim-stock\/","title":{"rendered":"Measure with plastic shim stock"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

These small pieces have been cut and labeled from readily available sheets. Having had them for many years, they get lots of use. They are a quick way to<\/strong> assess small measurements<\/strong> without having to stare and dwell over minute ruler values, or evaluate confusing visual input.<\/p>\n

The product is TTC PSS5A 14 Piece Plastic Shim Stock Assortment – 5\u201d x 20\u201d Color Coded Sheets.<\/p>\n

(Note that I also put a few thicker wooden examples in the upper photo.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Some practical examples:<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can slide a shim under a straight edge or square to check how much a piece is flat or out of square. Then, you quickly translate the .004\u201d gap to a few fine strokes with the plane.<\/p>\n

Similarly, you can assess the sole of a new plane, or a worn wooden plane sole.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How much gap of the tenon walls with the sides of the mortise? How far off square is a machine blade?<\/p>\n

How much edge of a door frame do I need to plane away? (Or,<\/strong> how<\/strong> much did I goof up?)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Assess the amount of a sharpened curve (or accuracy of straightness) in a plane blade. Get the amount of the appearance. You can remember the appearance visually but also keep in mind the numerical amount for future sharpening.<\/p>\n

Evaluate the flatness, or an appropriate curve, of a hand plane. Below:<\/strong> checking the desired inward curve of the sole of a Yoshihiro Yamamoto plane.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

There are many other uses! The basic idea is numerically evaluating with the shim stock and relating it to the direct visual assessment. You are adding to your perceptive ability<\/strong> in your work.<\/p>\n

Added:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The fine reader points out (see comments) the less expensive stainless metal gauge sets<\/strong> available. I have long had similar ones (see photo below)<\/strong>. Yes, they too are effective and handy, though I do not use them nearly as much. Somehow, I like the separate, colored, multiple in every size, and multi-reproducibility in every size for the plastic<\/strong> ones.<\/p>\n

Still, you might like the $7 metal ones instead of the $45 plastic set for your purposes. Amazon, of course. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These small pieces have been cut and labeled from readily available sheets. Having had them for many years, they get lots of use. They are a quick way to assess small measurements without having to stare and dwell over minute ruler values, or evaluate confusing visual input. The product is TTC PSS5A 14 Piece Plastic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tools-and-shop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8068"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8089,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8068\/revisions\/8089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rpwoodwork.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}