Help flattening a board

[James Phillips]

I really am tired of cutting down and edge gluing to get large panels using my 6 in jointer, so I have become enamored with hand planes. I bought and tuned a #4 and a #5 (Woodriver) both cut like a charm. I am pretty good with the smoother, but will still take any advice that you pros have, but I really need some tips on flattening boards. I have a good bench and work ethic to go along with the planes.

[James Owen]

James,

Here's one technique:

(I'm also in Albuquerque; PM me if you want to get together on this.)

_____

Hand planing (rough) lumber to dimension is not hard:

Ideally, you need 5 planes: a scrub plane, a #5, a #7 or #8, a #4 or #4½, and a low angle block plane, but you can get away with a #5 and a low angle block plane -- it's just a little harder. (Or you can use wooden equivalents.)

You'll also need a good straight edge, an accurate try or combination square, a marking/panel gauge, and a pair of winding sticks (you can make these yourself). A card scraper (with holder, if desired) is also handy.

Select a board face for the reference face. Use a pair of winding sticks and a straight edge to determine the high and low spots. Mark the high spots and use the scrub plane to reduce them to the approximate level of the rest of the board. Check for twist with the winding sticks. Correct with the scrub, as necessary. By this time, you should have a roughly flat (length and width) board with no twist and with a lot of troughs in it. Use the #5 to remove the troughs made by the scrub plane. (Planing diagonally or straight across the grain in both directions with the scrub plane and the #5 to remove the scrub troughs will significantly reduce tearout in most woods. Then follow up with the #5 by planing with the grain.) Once the troughs are mostly gone, use the #7 or #8 with the grain to plane the face flat. Once you get full length and full width shavings, your board is very, very close to FLAT. Check with the straight edge and winding sticks. Correct as necessary. Finish up with the smoothing plane (#4 or # 4½). Use the scraper on gnarly grain that gives your smoother a hard time, but be careful not to scrape a dip into the wood. Part 1 of 6, complete.

Mark this face as your reference face. All other measurements of square, etc., will come from this face.

Select one long edge, and use the #5 to roughly flatten/smooth it, and then use the #7/#8 to make it straight and square to the reference face. To do this, use your straight edge to find any local high spots and trim those with the #5 first. Then use the jointer plane to flatten. Be careful to keep the edge square to the reference face. Mark this edge as your reference edge. Part 2 of 6, complete.

Use the reference edge and the try/combination square to mark one of the short edges square. Use a crosscut saw to saw (on the waste side!) almost to the marked line, if necessary. You can use the #5 to rough plane it flat and square to both the reference face and edge -- if the short edge is 4 to 6 or more inches wide; if not, then start with the LA block plane. (Chamfering the edges down to your cutting line will reduce tear out on the corner edges; alternative methods are to clamp a sacrificial piece of wood to the edge and let it tear out instead of your board, or to plane in from each outside edge.) Use the LA block plane to clean it up. Mark the other short edge to the desired length (saw it to rough length, if necessary) and do the same thing to the other short edge. Parts 3 and 4 of 6, complete.

Use your combination square or a marking/panel gauge to mark the other (unplaned) long edge to the desired finished width. Saw to rough width, if necessary. As you did for the reference long edge, use the #5 to roughly smooth it down almost to the cutting line, and then use the #7/#8 to make it straight and square to the reference face. Check for straight and square to the reference face and to the 2 short edges. All 4 edges should now be square to the reference face and square to each other. Part 5 of 6, complete.

Use your marking gauge, basing off the reference face, to mark the thickness of your board around all 4 edges. Flip the board over to the unplaned face and use the scrub plane to plane down almost to the marked reference lines (The bottoms of the troughs should be about 1/16th to 1/8th inch above the cutting line). Use the #5, and the #7 or #8, as before on the reference face, to make this face flat and square. Finish up with the smoothing plane and, as necessary, the scraper. Part 6 of 6, complete.

At this time, you should have a board with 2 flat, smooth, and parallel faces, 4 flat and square edges (long edges parallel to each other, as well as short edges parallel to each other, and all 4 edges square to the two faces and to each other), and of the required thickness, length, and width, ready for whatever needs to be done next.

The first board you do by hand will take what seems like an inordinately long time, but with just a little bit of practice, it becomes nearly as fast as -- and often faster than -- putting a board through a jointer, thickness planer, and sanding sequence.

If you have a shooting board, you can use it to assist with steps 2, 3, 4, and 5.

A couple of things to keep in mind:

Keep your plane irons SHARP!! Your iron is sharp enough if you are able to take fine shavings (not saw dust) from end grain pine – even with a jack plane or a jointer.

If you have only a couple of planes, open the mouth up for the initial rougher planing, and close the mouth for the finer, finish planing.

Let the plane do the work -- don't force it.

Skewing the plane often helps to reduce tear out and makes planing easier.

Take deliberate, slow-to-moderate speed planing strokes. This helps maintain the plane vertical to the surface/edge of the board, and gives you better control over the quality of the planing.

To help keep the edges square to the reference face, keep the tote (rear handle) vertical (you can usually do this by feel); you can also help keep the edges square by hooking your thumb around the rear of the front knob and curling your fingers under the plane sole against the face of the board, using your fingers as a kind of fence (don’t do this if you’ll end up with a finger full of splinters).

Try to keep the amount of wood removed from each face roughly equal; otherwise any internal stresses present may cause the board to warp or cup again, after you have put all that work and effort into making it flat.

Expect to get a good upper body work out!

The listed sequence is not the only sequence that this can be done in, but it works quite well. YMMV.

Good luck, and have fun! There's nothing quite like the sense of accomplishment you get when you have taken a piece of rough-sawn timber and turned it into a nicely finished, dimensioned board, using only hand-powered tools.

[Jim Koepke]

(I'm also in Albuquerque; PM me if you want to get together on this.)



Now there is an offer you should take.

The only thing I could ad is to mark you pieces so when you glue up panels to let you know which way to align them so any planing after glue up will have the grain all running the same way.

jim