Coop Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 I bought a 3' x 5" piece of be maple today to use for drawer fronts of a small jewelry box. This board is so fine that my woodworking manhood took complete control of this purchase. The guy at Rockler chopped this piece off of a longer board with their miter saw and the entire cut was black. I didn't know this stuff was that hard. After I got home with this prize, I remembered seeing somewhere that be maple is not the easiest to mill. The latest thread I could find here was in 2011 and it wasn't encouraging. Is there a recommended method of taking this piece from 1" to 1/2"? I have a planer, jointer and ds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Yes sir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 I'd be halving it on the band saw then using a drum sander to flatten the milling marks. The birdseye maple I have worked on hated the planer, little guys kept popping out on me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Be careful when finish planing it Ken. It's so easy to pull out the eyes(real tearout I guess ) just go carefully with a very sharp blade. I make guitar necks from the stuff and the results can be spectacular Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 May even want to consider a sand back method with analine dyes. It's incredible when done well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 I was thinking of running it thru the jointer as much as possible, as the blades are much sharper than the planner. Or, might just take the planner blades off and get them as sharp as possible. Also thinking of using the bs to remove as much as possible before running it thru the ds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 BE can be tricky. White or Brown BE? FYI: White is the more desirable, more costly (Brown is just about $8+/bf with White around $12/bf) and, unfortunately, the hardest to work. In general, if you find highly figured white, you should get the entire stick… It’s better than 50/50 that something’s going to go wrong so having the extra stock never hurts – and if nothing goes wrong, you can make something else I’ve processed just under 900bf of high-figure BE over the past ten years (purchased 1200bf and down to my last 300), and made just about every mistake in the book… In fact, I’m taking a break from milling some at the moment… There are a variety of techniques to work high-figure BE – too many for a post. Take a few photos of the stick and drop me a PM... BTW: BE isn’t Tiger --- you don’t trace coat high-figure White BE – the dyes bleed into the eyes and soften the effect… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Hhh, with all due respect, some people absolutely do dye it. I was at a guitar show a few weeks ago and one of the luthiers had half a dozen birds eye guitars both acoustic and electric that had been beautifully dyed bright vivid colors. It may not be your preference but it is done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Brendon, you are swinging the pendulum too far one way. Dye and trace coat are two different concepts. Trace coating any highly figured wood must be done with extreme care. Over penetration into the figure must always be on your mind as you act. You can dye, but the sand back will almost certainly be brutal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Guess I need to go read up on the differences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Yup... There are techniques to dye Birdseye, but success is not guaranteed… Bleed-through is the big concern… There are three different absorption levels in very close proximity… For success, you need a good deal of testing to dial-it-in… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 I don't know why anyone would wanna dye it anyway...it's more beautiful in its natural state...only downhill from there. For milling, Shelix head and drum sander are your friends. I just milled my first batch of birdseye with my new heads, and it comes out flawless end to end. Drum sander not even needed. Without one or the other, it can be a real nightmare. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Thanks for all of the responses. I had recently sharpened my new the blades in my jointer with my new Deulen sharpener and sharpened my planer blades this morning. I edge jointed the board first, just in case it became sawdust in my hands. It came thru great. I then jointed one face, again with fantastic results. Then took it to the planer. This thing is so smooth, I may not even run it thru the ds. I sound like a commercial for this new sharpener, but I'm sold! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 11, 2015 Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Is that the wooden paper towel roll looking deal sharpener? If it's that easy and don't cost arm+leg, I might have to pick one up. I haven't yet found a place that will sharpen my knives for less than they cost new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2015 Never thought about it like that but yeah, it would pass. I bought the 12" model to sharpen my planer blades. It was $80 something. I'm going to send it to RichardA for his review Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 I guess I'll just get on the waiting list then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janello Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 A really sharp BU smoother or jack with a 50 deg iron will work on birdseye pretty well too. If your into that sorta thing. For a few small drawer fronts it wouldn't be all that much work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 I guess I'll just get on the waiting list then. When I send it to Richard, I will print two more shipping labels, one from him to you and you to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 Sweet man, I look forward to giving it a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 Sweet man, I look forward to giving it a try. Hang in there young'un, I've got 3 sets of planer blades to sharpen, and I just got my old butt outa back surgery, I might be a few days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 Hang in there young'un, I've got 3 sets of planer blades to sharpen, and I just got my old butt outa back surgery, I might be a few days! Yeah Richard you're right. Ken did you get that, Richard wants me to try it out first so his old back can rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 Yeah Richard you're right. Ken did you get that, Richard wants me to try it out first so his old back can rest. Ah, I see you're dyslexic, and can't read properly, that's okay, someday you'll learn how to deal with that......... Oh, by the way, I sharpened 3 sets of DeWalt 735 planer blades, one set of OEM blades and two sets of Infinity's thicker and much better blades... I installed the OEM blades and ran a 3/4 piece of figured maple through that had some tear out from the previous planning. After 5 trips through the planer, the tear out was 90% gone and the board was now 3/8 thick.. The sharpness that the Deullen jig put on the blades was way better than new! I haven't put the Infinity blades in yet, but from the results od the OEM blades and the look of the edge on the Infinity blades, I'd say the jig is well worth the purchase. OEM blades sell for about $60 The Infinity blades sell for about $80, and both are considered disposable. If you can get 3 to 5 honings on the blades you have saved on the OEM blades about $150 to $250 ... On the Infinity blades you'll save between $240 and $480.... The jig costs about $90. You folks figure it out. To me it's more than worth thr spending some of my Old Man's check that the US government sends me every month............ It's on the way Brendon.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 I a sitting on the porch anxiously waiting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcarswell Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 You gotta have someone re saw that for you. I can't imagine wasting out half of that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wouldwurker Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 Coop, is your camera broken? Where's the pic of this board? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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