What to do if i don't have a joiner?

[Legolas]

How can I true up the front and back plates with no light
coming through if I don't have a joiner? Can I use a 2x4
with sand paper on it? Problem is some 2x4's aren't straight.

Any other ideas?

[B. Howard]

Shooting board and a hand plane.

IMG_3548.JPG

[Ben-Had]

If the gap is wide you might want to hand plane to start but to get really flat you need a flat surface. I use my Veritas straight edge from Lee Valley when I need to. I get close clamp the halves together put PSA paper on the straight edge, cross hatch the edge and sand off the lines. This is the tool I use (others use a 24" level if the edge is flat enough) :

Cast iron wing or top of a table saw and sandpaper.

-tommy

[johnnparchem]

I mostly use a plane and a shooting board, but I also have a 2' * 4" tempered piece of plate glass that I used sticky sandpaper on. I would hold the two plates together and sand. If after sanding and l ended up with gaps on the ends, I put a little bit of tape under the glass in the center and sanded some more. I did 6 or 8 plates that way.

[Ben-Had]

I mostly use a plane and a shooting board, but I also have a 2' * 4" tempered piece of plate glass that I used sticky sandpaper on. I would hold the two plates together and sand. If after sanding and l ended up with gaps on the ends, I put a little bit of tape under the glass in the center and sanded some more. I did 6 or 8 plates that way.

I use to do the table saw and plate glass style but I would end up with gaps on the end like John. The straight edge eliminated that for me and took it off just as quick.

[Tom West]

While the joint can be made by sanding, I think a better joint is made by a planed surface. It is well worth the effort to learn to sharpen ,set up a plane and use it to do the edges for the joint. Use a cheap or junk top and practice, practice until one gets it.
Tom

[Legolas]

I love this forum. Thank you to everyone so wiling to share
their ideas. I'm a new builder and need lots of help but it
makes it so much fun when you guys care enough to
answer questions.....

[tippie53]

As you get more into it you will acquire the tooling.
A good plane is a handy tool. Learn to set them up as they don't work well out of the box