is it quite normal to have to plane one stock face, with reversing fibers, from both ends (opposite planing versus)? I mean that some times I am not able to obtain a good surface, planing all the stock lenght following one direction. I have to reverse planing direction where there was a branch. Or is it more an issue of not enough experience?

Is it quite normal? It depends. It is quite normal if you choose challenging boards, use challenging woods or even if the grain isn’t straight. If you choose straight-grained, non-figured stock, it’s abnormal (but will still happen if you plane in the wrong direction). As you watch more and more of Paul’s videos, and get more experience, you’ll get a better sense of what the grain patterns are telling you.

I just finished a project with some very curly cherry, and getting it planed with no tearout was a big challenge. My wife called the grain pattern “party cherry” because it reminded her of streamers and confetti. If you have also chosen some curly cherry, or just some lower-grade stuff with knots and other defects, you might well have a tough time.

Until your skills have a chance to come up a bit, maybe give yourself a break and avoid crazy jungle woods, highly figured woods, knots and pretty much everything except dead straight-grained, clear stock. It will reduce the number of variables you have to juggle at once, and be a bit more forgiving.

If your cherry board looks like this, run away:

Remember, you can use multiple tools: Planes to get to flat and to dimension (but just a bit fat) and then a #80 scraper and card scraper to get rid of the tear out. You do need to make sure that the tearout isn’t so bad that you won’t be able to deal with it with the scraper. Being sharp, having the cap iron closer to the edge, skewing the plane, changing direction, using more diagonal-like strokes (watch out for blowing out the edge, “spelching”), and other tricks can all help.

It’s possible to work wood from a tree that was just cut down 5 minutes ago — in fact, the wood will be much easier to work. So if your cherry isn’t fully dried yet, that’s probably not your issue. The cherry not being dried yet will come back to haunt you as you mill it up and the wood moves and twists and warps as it releases the bound moisture you are exposing to the atmosphere.
I see you have one face side already done and marked — if that face comes badly out of flat, then it’s probably the moisture issue. If it stays nice and flat, your wood was likely close enough to equilibrium.

What I do see right near your big tear-out is what Paul often terms an “undulation” in the grain. You’ve got a touch of party cherry there. What’s happening is the grain is rising towards the surface of the board, then going back down away from the surface. As you plane in a certain direction, all goes well, but the other direction is a train wreck.

If you look at the area around your tear-out, you can see the shadow or three-dimensional look to the wood which is a dead giveaway. Here’s a more exaggerated example, this is my party cherry on the drawer face, you can easily see the wood grain rising and falling away like ribbons:

Great advice from Ed above, both technically and the trick with the denatured alcohol. I used a variant of that – merhylated spirits I think you might call it – to help tame some of the end grain in the base. It can make a gigantic difference on end grain.

Good eye @ed – the sides of the top were done with a number 18 and the front and back with a number 16, then some work with a curved card scraper. Hard to see in the picture, but I also used a kinda/sorta #2 ish scratch stock for a tiny hollow to blend the step where the base meets the carcass

I assume we are discussing real tearout and not just blotchiness Cherry often shows under stains and finishes. If that shows up despite your best efforts with planes and scrapers, fine sanding to grit levels higher than most folks normally do can be a cure. Hand sanding to 600 grit CAMI ( ~1200 FEPA) is not too much. Make sure you work up the grits.

If it’s actual tearout, You can try a higher pitch, but that doesn’t mean you have to invest in a new plane or even a new iron.

If you have a bevel up plane, just take a few strokes on your highest grit stone and try. You don’t have to work the whole bevel. It’s a good use of a micro bevel and a honing guide will help with consistency.

You can also do it with a bevel down plane by taking a few strokes on the top side ( flat side) of the iron. To make the pitch 55°, for example, hone a 10° bevel with your finest grit on the top side, The small back bevel can be removed on your next full sharpening regime with the iron if it doesn’t work for you.

The goal is to have a minuscule bevel on that side so it doesn’t require removing a large burr or wire edge and doesn’t interfere with your cap iron setting. A large back bevel isn’t necessary and is harder to remove on your next sharpening.

Before you try this be aware that really, really sharp cures a lot of Ills with softer domestic hardwoods like cherry and walnut, at least the American varieties. I have no experience with the European varieties.