How hard is too hard to push?
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Tagged: plane rough unlevel wood
- This topic has 4 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 6 years ago by GfB.
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Planing store-bought wood is easy. I can do that all day long.
But what about found wood? When I am planing rough wood (e.g. pallet boards), how hard should I expect to be able to push on my plane? I’m afraid to push too hard, I don’t want to break my tote, flex my blade, or otherwise damage my tool. The pallet boards I have have divots, pits, valleys, etc.
Also, as far as the attack strategy on rough/unlevel wood, would it be best to start the blade shallow until you get it flattish, then bring the blade out a bit for final flattening/scubbing, then in again for smoothing?
- This topic was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by GfB.
It depends on the type of wood, sharpness of your plane, condition of the surface you are planing…If you’re planing store-bought pine, it is fairly soft of course while hardwood is more dense. That said, you shouldn’t ever need brute force to plane a piece of wood if your tool is properly sharpened/set. You may have to be more patient as you work down the high spots to get longer/fuller shavings but the process should not require that much more effort. You will just have more passes to bring the rough-shape down to a flatter surface that will allow you to take off larger shavings.
As far as your second question goes, I have yet to make a scrub plane but experience with my smoothing plane has tought me that extending the iron out too far in an effort to aggressively remove stock will more than likely result in a more difficult task than patiently taking down reasonable layers. Really, I don’t think there is much difference to the task other than requiring more patience and persistence with something that is rough vs. already dimensioned.
28 February 2018 at 1:21 am #486217With found wood, I would be more concerned with what dirt and grime is on the surface. That stuff can dull your plane iron in a second! Many will take a stiff wire brush and give the boards a good scrubbing. The other thing to look for, obviously, are nails and screws embedded in the wood.
If the boards are really wonky, twisted or cupped, I try and just work the areas that need bringing down first. With twist, itโs the two opposite corners. Once it looks by eye to be fairly flat, then I think about planing the entire surface.
Assuming a properly adjusted plane with a sharp blade any HARD is too HARD. I would try this procedure. Retract the blade into the plane to get no cut. Run your plane over the wood and insure the surface is not so rough that the front edge of the sole is catching. If this is the case you will need to plane across the grain to start flattening. If the sole moves freely along the grain insure you are planing with the grain. Slowly advance the blade until it just starts to cut- now stop advancing the blade. Your first couple passes will not remove much wood it should just kiss the top of the roughness. Each pass will remove more wood and the tool will need to be pushed firmer. If is starts to get so hard to push that your worried you may damage the plane you have too much blade out. I hope this helps.
[quote quote=486217]With found wood, I would be more concerned with what dirt and grime is on the surface. That stuff can dull your plane iron in a second! Many will take a stiff wire brush and give the boards a good scrubbing. The other thing to look for, obviously, are nails and screws embedded in the wood.[/quote]
Yeah, well aware of the nails/screws, and they can hide in old covered over holes, and I’ll find them with my plane iron. Won’t make me a happy camper.The idea of scrubbing to remove dirt is excellent.
[quote quote=488148]Assuming a properly adjusted plane with a sharp blade any HARD is too HARD. I would try this procedure. Retract the blade into the plane to get no cut. Run your plane over the wood and insure the surface is not so rough that the front edge of the sole is catching. If this is the case you will need to plane across the grain to start flattening. If the sole moves freely along the grain insure you are planing with the grain. Slowly advance the blade until it just starts to cut- now stop advancing the blade. Your first couple passes will not remove much wood it should just kiss the top of the roughness. Each pass will remove more wood and the tool will need to be pushed firmer. If is starts to get so hard to push that your worried you may damage the plane you have too much blade out. I hope this helps.[/quote]
Yes, it does help. I knew most of what you said, but you just brought the thoughts back to the surface. ๐ -
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