Benchtop planer problems - deep cuts

[Justin Crabtree]

I purchased a Makita 2012NB 12" planer after reading all the great reviews about it. I've been making some hard maple cutting boards and have been running them through the planer. I plane them down little by little and the planer leaves a beautiful finish, BUT there always are a few spots where it seems to dig in deep and take out 1mm deep cuts below the normal level.

Is there anything I can do to prevent this? I've tried waxing the infeed/outfeed/main tables, but that didn't help. I also put new blades on so I know it's not an issue with the blading being sharp. Is it just that the planer can't handle hard maple?

I've attached some pictures that will hopefully show what it is doing. Any help would be appreciated.

http://www.havokclothing.com/images/temporary/planer1.jpg

http://www.havokclothing.com/images/temporary/planer2.jpg

[Michael Wildt]

I'm a beginner in this, but it sure looks like tear out to me. Basically the wood grain is going in the wrong direction so when the cutter head is cutting the top it ends up tearing it a bit. Just like when you move your hand over your face. One direction, down, you don't feel the hairs. Opposite you feel them.
You could try to send it through the planner in opposite direction. Only draw back there is that other pieces might get this problem. Guess one should pay attention to this before glue'ing the pieces together.

Maybe sanding it is the only way to bring it to finish from here, or take ultra thin cuts, but I'll let the experts correct me from here.

Michael

[Tom Veatch]

Justin, I believe what you are seeing is called "tear-out". It happens most often where there are grain reversals in the work piece.

I can't see the edge of the particular piece that is seeing the effect but I'm willing to bet that an edge view of that particular stick would show the grain sloping upward in the direction of the board travel through the planer at the places where the tear-out is happening.

When you laminate the pieces, try to make sure the grain in each piece slopes toward the planed surface in the same direction, then feed the piece through the planer in a direction such that the planer blades are moving nearly parallel to the grain as they exit the piece.

Other than that, I don't think there's a simple solution other than very light cuts with very sharp blades.

[Gary McKown]

What you are experiencing is chipout, quite common when planing hard maple (and other species) in the "uphill" direction. Your glue-ups obviously have places here and there where the grain reverses direction and the planer knives dig up little divots instead of smoothly slicing the fibers. It is really hard to avoid unless you have quite straight-grained wood, and orient the pieces so the grain is all in one direction. It sometimes helps to take VERY small bites (less than 1/64") with sharp knives, but about the only practical way to avoid it on cutting boards is to sand the surface instead of planing - a wide belt or drum sander if possible but it can be done with a belt sander followed by ROS.

Hope this helps.

[Justin Crabtree]

Thanks for all of the help. So would the planer best be replaced with something like a drum sander if i'm going to be working with hard maple a lot? Also, would a drum sander work similar to a thickness planer if I need to shave the cutting board down say 1/8" at most? If so, what is a good drum sander that won't break the bank...$500-$600 budget.

[glenn bradley]

Thanks for all of the help. So would the planer best be replaced with something like a drum sander if i'm going to be working with hard maple a lot?

Chipout, Tearout, pick your term. Maple, like some other woods; oak and ash to name a couple, can give you trouble when machining against the grain. I am the last person to talk someone out of rationalizing their way into a new tool but, simply orienting your grain carefully would be a lot cheaper.

You may have noticed posts here about blowout (yet another term) when using the router table. The fix is generally correct grain approach here as well. Your jointer will do it too on these (and other) woods.

[Tony Bilello]

Thanks for all of the help. So would the planer best be replaced with something like a drum sander if i'm going to be working with hard maple a lot? Also, would a drum sander work similar to a thickness planer if I need to shave the cutting board down say 1/8" at most? If so, what is a good drum sander that won't break the bank...$500-$600 budget.

Checking the direction of the grain run only works with straight grain. The tear-out here is almost in the middle of the board and not much you can do for that.
I also dont think that swapping out a planer for a drum sander is your answer. Both would be beter. Plane down to less than 1/16" (more like a 1/32")from where you need to be and sand out the rest, either with a drum sander or any kind you have. You will still need a planer.

[Jim Becker]

That's tear out and not atypical with wood that has changing grain like that shown. You can clean the project up with a very sharp hand plane and good technique. And I agree...a drum sander isn't going to do much for you. It will take a million passes to reduce the thickness of the whole slab enough to get below the tearout. A big wide belt would work but those are major expensive to buy. Perhaps a local cabinet shop who has one would run it through for you for a fee.

[john bateman]

I have found that wetting the surface will reduce the amount of tearout a bit. Just brush or sponge on some water before your last 2 passes on the planer...and make the depth of cut very shallow.

[Alan Schwabacher]

Very sharp planer knives and shallow passes help. If you use a lot of curly maple and hard to plane stock, you can sharpen your planer knives with a bit of back bevel, which reduces tearout on difficult wood, but increases the work on the planer. For details see the chapter called "scraping in" David Charlesworth's Furniture-Making Techniques vol 1. That chapter discusses several other methods for dealing with difficult grain using hand tools. Not surprisingly, a hand scraper is useful.

[Prashun Patel]

I've recently learned how to use a card scraper. Cheap, and makes quick work of fixing minor tearouts.

I also prefer to plane before glueup. Gives u more control.

[Mike McCann]

you did not say how wide the glue is. IF you can try sending it in at an angle this way you avoid the blades hitting straight on and can help eliminate some of the tear out.

[Eric DeSilva]

I also dont think that swapping out a planer for a drum sander is your answer.

Amen. I'd hate to think of taking off 1/8" with my 18/36 sander. My only experience with cutting boards were end grain boards, but I was getting burning from the drum sander taking passes that couldn't have been much more than a couple thousands of an inch...