Sean H Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 Hey everyone, I've been having a bit of trouble planing down a few species of wood, most notably Bloodwood, Paroba Rosa, Leopardwood and figured woods. The interlocking grain of these keeps causing little streaks of tearout, regardless of which way or how finely I plane them them. I've tried skewing my plane at different angles, adjusting the camber of the iron's grind, and so on. Up until now, I've been able to take rough stock of nearly any straight grained hardwood and get it glass smooth, flat and square with just my old Dunlap #5 and a 60.5 block plane (my only planes, btw). It seems that I may need another tool for cleaning up the more difficult woods, but I am not sure what that tool is: A smoothing plane like a #4 or 4.5? Card scrapers? Maybe just a higher angle plane? Thus far, when I encounter these grain problems I resort to getting the surface close to smooth but with plenty of extra material, then I go to town with sanding blocks to avoid any further tearout. Until I get a real shop and can afford a power planer, hand tools are my only option, but which one(s)? Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darnell Hagen Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 Difficult wood requires a higher cutting angle. On a bevel down plane, this is done by honing a back bevel on the blade. Don't skew the plane, as this reduces the effective cutting angle. Close the mouth up tight, place the chipbreaker close to the irons edge, take light cuts and keep your iron sharp sharp sharp. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean H Posted January 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 I sharpened up an iron as you said with a higher angle and a back bevel, tuned up Olga (my #5 Dunlap) as recommeneded and gave it a whirl. This definitly helped! I managed to plane a block of Bloodwood much closer to smooth with minimal tearout. Thanks for the advice! This should cut down on my sanding time by quite a bit. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted January 25, 2012 Report Share Posted January 25, 2012 I would use my drum sander and get zero tear out, then slick it up with a cabinet scraper. But I am trying to make a living and not a slave to hand tools. I have them and use them when they are the best choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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