White oak, esp quarter sawn, can be a bear to plane. I've found that a
super sharp blade is a good start, tight mouth required. But even then,
my Knight high angle smoother can't do everything. I use my LN112 to
finish off the grain reversals, and a card scraper for other bits where
my patience runs out.

My dull 05 with a wide mouth created boatloads more work than I was
ready for on my last tabletop. And a certain lunchbox p)w#r planer just
made it worse.

Nebraska Rod TerMaat asked:

>
> Question 3: Tear out - planing some white oak. There were sections
> where the grain seemed to change directions and my planed surface goes
> from smooth to jagged. Is this more of an angle of the blade issue,
> wrong plane, or ID10T error.

--
Kirk Eppler in Half Moon Bay, CA Process Development Engineering
Eppler.Kirk@g...

Thank you all for your past answers to my questions. I have learned a
lot reading these messages daily.

Question 1: I just bought my first set of planes of the bay and found
that I am missing the adjustment mechanism on the 220 block plane. The
thumb screw is there, but the part that contacts the blade (in the
slots) is missing. What a bummer. I was hoping to clean and sharpen it
last night. That is one definite drawback to not being able to handle /
examine the item before purchase. Live and learn. Is this part worth
pursuing at the present time, or should I just buy another and hope for
better luck next time. Does someone offer parts for sale?

I did get a nice wooden jack plane a ragged coffin smother and a wooden
rabbit plane all for under 20 bucks. So I am not complaining.

Question 2: Flattening a board. My method for identifying high spots is
to mist my reference surface and lay the board on the surface. The high
spots show by absorbing the water. Is this an ok method? It seems to
work well for me, but does not help the surface of my table saw (gift
from father in-law) which is the flattest item I could think to use.

Question 3: Tear out - planing some white oak. There were sections where
the grain seemed to change directions and my planed surface goes from
smooth to jagged. Is this more of an angle of the blade issue, wrong
plane, or ID10T error.

Question 4: Recommendations for wood that has nice properties and works
easy with hand tools. So far walnut is my favorite, but the dark color
is not appropriate for all applications. I have found that white oak is
too hard for my tastes, I also seem to like soft maple. Other options
other than pine or popular?

nebraska rod

short bio.

Born, raised, and rarely leave Nebraska. Biochemistry degree. Work as
computer programmer for insurance company (more $ and no microscopes -
that give me headaches). Been a amateur galoot for a while, but never
real good. This may be because of wrong tools, no training, or no
skills. My dad tells me it is because "Code jockeys" are not meant to
build things. Starting my first adult ed class tonight - it is power
tool based.

The appeal of hand tools has taken me because of the Zen like quietness
of the process, and that I can work at night without the misses telling
me to be quite. I am currently working on a toolbox to carry my hand
tools built with white oak and walnut. Thus far everything has been done
with hand tools including ripping the (hard as stone) white oak.

I have a special affinity for Japanese saws, methods, and hand planes.
Oh yes, I am 33 have a only 1 wife and 1 son (8) and live in Lincoln.
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Soft maple, walnut, and beech are all good US species woods to work.  Also
any fruitwood ( pear, apple, etc) are good to work and are traditional
furniture woods, they just are not commercial varieties.

Frank Filippone
red735i@e...

>Question 4:
>Recommendations for wood that has nice properties and works easy with hand

Native Walnut. I've worked with some walnut that came from the
northwest corner of Kansas. It is a treat to work with. Buttery
responsiveness to sharp blades and chisels, great finished product
grain and a completely hypnotizing aroma while being worked.

-Clif in Dallas

Welcome to the porch Rod, you're in the right place for some zen
woodworking.

you asked. . .
>Question 2: Flattening a board. My method for identifying high spots is
>to mist my reference surface
i confess I've never done this, or heard of it being done on wood. The
fact of absorbing water will alter the timber you're trying to
dimension.

The common way is to use a long plane, which provides its own reference
surface. If you span the board with one corner of the plane you can
squint down and check for light. You will see deviations down to about
10 thou. Jeffs site has excellent instructions on the procedure, and I
can do no better than advise you go there.

>Question 3: Tear out - planing some white oak. There were sections
>where the grain

Start by adjusting for a finer shaving, perhaps a much finer shaving.
and resharpen your blade. If you haven't already, look at the references
to how to sharpen. The famous scary sharp with a roller jig of some sort
is a near foolproof way of getting a good sharp edge. Once you're
familiar with what a *sharp* blade does, you know what to aim for using
any other sharpening method. Apprentices used to do sharpening because
its a long old job on an oilstone, and it's a fundamental skill and item
of knowledge all woodworkers must have to be any good at their chosen
pastime. If a really shrp blade set for a fine shaving still has some
tear out, then alter the direction of the cut to favour the tear out.
One never planes *into* the grain, so if the grain, viewed 'sideways'
runs like ///// plane left to right, if it's \\\\ go right to left (or
turn the work around of course) The next step would be to move to a
smoothing plane with a very tight set mouth, and an even sharper blade.
Then you might finally need to resort to scrapers.

Or throw away that component and remake it from more tractable timber. -
Success sarts with the timber selection for appearance *and grain
direction* you know.

and finally
>Question 4:
Recommendations for wood that has nice properties and works easy with
hand

tools.

This is personal preference stuff - I like oak, for its appearance,
strength, and the smell when I'm working it. Chestnut, Ash maybe. Beech
is good, but plain in appearance. i try not to use foreign hardwoods
these days.

You may receive lots of 'conflicting' opinions - there are lots of
ways of working with wood. We spent most of human kinds history
inventing them..

Enjoy

Richard Wilson Yorkshireman Galoot

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