Hand planing an 80 inches board...


Calix

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Hi there!

I am actually very good at hand planing, but this is the first time I have to do this with an 80 inches long board. Well, I am very close to finish squaring this big chunk of wood, but the last edge is giving me a hard time. I end up with a convex edge every time, and I am doing the same thing I do with every other edge of every other board, except, this time this edge has a big knot right around the middle. I think I will have to use a big chisel to flat the edge right where the knot is, I think!

 

Does anybody has had the same situation before? Does that big knot really could be the reason of a non flat edge?

 

It is obvious I have to spend more time planing the knot, I believe the handplane does not hog the same amount of wood on a knot, so even when I make the same amount of passes on the entire edge, the board will be always thicker right on the knot.

 

Any commnet?

Thanks for your advise!

 

Armando.

 

 

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Take your plane to that edge, but start by planing a few inches in from the end of the board, and deliberately stop a few inches from the other end. Keep doing this until your plane stops taking a shaving. What you are trying to do is to deliberately make a concave surface on that edge.

 

Then start planing from one end of the board to the other. What should happen is that you’ll take a shaving at the beginning, not get much of a shaving in the middle, and then get a shaving when you get close to the other end of the board. As you keep going, the beginning and end shavings will get longer and longer, until you get a continuous shaving from end to end.

 

At that point, stop. You’ll have as flat an edge as you can get with your plane at that point.

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What Wilbur said but also work the knot down first. And make sure your plane iron is fresh off the stones.  This has happened to me in pine a few times...the sudden major change in hardness can cause the plane to skip over the the knot even if the blade is razor sharp and that one high spot can led to a fully convex edge.   This is why I work the knot down separately with a small plane first...actually been meaning to get a toothed iron for the sole purpose of work knots.

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What Wilbur said but also work the knot down first. And make sure your plane iron is fresh off the stones.  This has happened to me in pine a few times...the sudden major change in hardness can cause the plane to skip over the the knot even if the blade is razor sharp and that one high spot can led to a fully convex edge.   This is why I work the knot down separately with a small plane first...actually been meaning to get a toothed iron for the sole purpose of work knots.

Thanks for the advice ChrisG. I worked the knot with a chisel and my mallet, got a lot of tear out but that's OK, I won't use the board to make furniture. Anyway I finaly got a flat edge. This was a valuable lesson, I'll pay some extra bucks for good lumber but I will save a lot of time.

 

Greetings from Mexico!

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Take your plane to that edge, but start by planing a few inches in from the end of the board, and deliberately stop a few inches from the other end. Keep doing this until your plane stops taking a shaving. What you are trying to do is to deliberately make a concave surface on that edge.

 

Then start planing from one end of the board to the other. What should happen is that you’ll take a shaving at the beginning, not get much of a shaving in the middle, and then get a shaving when you get close to the other end of the board. As you keep going, the beginning and end shavings will get longer and longer, until you get a continuous shaving from end to end.

 

At that point, stop. You’ll have as flat an edge as you can get with your plane at that point.

Thanks for the advice Wilbur!

I find this technique very efective,and now that I got myself a Veritas jointer fence for my Record #7 it is even better, that helps me take full shavings very fast.

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