Smoothing plane: problem or supposed to be like this?

[Michael Titus]

I've cambered the edges of my smoothing plane iron so that it does not leave plane tracks, but it does leave slight "furrows" in the wood. As I plane, the ridges between the furrows are getting burnished and are shinier than adjacent wood. In other words, "shiny" plane tracks rather than torn plane tracks. Is this normal? The shiny tracks are visible through the finish (BLO). Thanks.

[Johnny Kleso]

A) Camber more
B) Take a Shallower Cut

Your Camber must be more than the depth of cut for finishing but you should also over lap your cuts by half so you leave not tracks..

IE: Start cut with blade 1/3 off the edge of the board, move plane over 1/2 the width of blade each for and every pass..

[Zahid Naqvi]

Johnny, unless I am misreading shouldn't he be cambering less? We want to make sure the smoothing plane does not have a camber to match a scrub plane. My understanding is that the camber on smoothers should be minimal, some recommendations I have read suggest just adding extra pressure on the corners during honing is enough. I am sure someone more knowledgeable than me will chime in soon.

[James Taglienti]

Is the sole free of dings that could be burnishing a little trail during the cut? Also how much of a camber are you using? On my smoothers its a few thousandths at most... Overlapping cuts work too. I have a Stanley plane with a rosewood sole that is laminated to the bottom... It used to do the same thing until i noticed a ding at the heel of the plane that was making a little pressure point while i planed. I cleaned it off and it works great now. What kind of wood are you planing? Have you tried it on other types?

[John Tallyn]

I don't camber my smoothing plane blades, I take a file and just ease the corners so they don't leave tracks. Seems to work for me, but there are a lot of more knowledgeable folks out there then I.

[Curt Putnam]

I believe the purpose of a smoother is to remove tracks from other tools. Therefore, the camber in a smoother should be enough (but no more) to avoid its leaving its own tracks.

IMO & YMMV

[Jim Matthews]

I think your burnished ridges are an indication that your blade is properly set for camber.

The method suggested was to make a series of overlapping passes on the board, from one side to the next as you follow grain. This method keeps the sole of the plane "riding high" on the surface while the cambered blade sculpts off the adjacent ridge.

Here's a link to the recommended camber for each size blade:http://www.finewoodworking.com/SkillsAndTechniques/SkillsAndTechniquesArticle.aspx?id=29711

[Johnny Kleso]

OK lt me clear this up..
If you have less Camber than depth of cut you have straight sides dragging on the side walls of the cut and if you skew the plane you are really burnishing the walls...

If you sharpen a camber on each side of your blade .006 (two pieces of paper stacked) each side you can make a .005 cut with out tracks
If you have dead flat blade which is very hard for me to sharpen on bench stones and you take more than .002 cut you may see tracks..
A .002 cuts is pretty much show boat depth like like .001 cuts, most woodworkers take .004 -.005 cuts to save time and arms ... Unless you have some super narly wood .003 is about what I mosty use for final cutting depth..

So over 2" wide cut your finish has a hollow .003-.004 hump to hump max if you have a .006 camber as your moving half a blade width each pass..

[Niels Cosman]

I camber my smoothing blades minimally with alternating finger pressure the result is probably no more than .4-.5 thousands at the corners. The shavings it makes taper off before they reach the full width of the plane. If the sole is defect free. You could have a couple of problems. One could be that you are taking too heavy cuts with your smoother thereby still having the edge of the blade in the margin of the cut. The other could be that your lateral adjustment could me off and you are digging in on side. I tend to treat my jointer blade in a similar way which does the heavy lifitng (heaver shavings) in fore-plane cleanup work. MY smoother is really just for final finishing.

I would be careful "easing" the edges of the blade, i do this with a heavy tip (camber) of the bevel just at the corner rather than stoning or filing perpendicularly (creates a flat or a burr that can drag in the cut). I do this on my blockplanes and LA Jack which I keep straight across.

[Andrew Gibson]

I tend to try to error on the side of too little camber on my smoothers. If it is leaving tracks, I will use the lateral adjuster and adjust the blade to only leave a track on the right, then work from left to right across the board.

[Jim Koepke]

I've cambered the edges of my smoothing plane iron so that it does not leave plane tracks, but it does leave slight "furrows" in the wood. As I plane, the ridges between the furrows are getting burnished and are shinier than adjacent wood. In other words, "shiny" plane tracks rather than torn plane tracks. Is this normal?

You do not mention what model of plane you are using. If you are using a bevel up model, then my answer would be a bit different. Most of my smoothing is done with bevel down planes.

It sounds like you are getting two problems at once. As others suggest, you may have too much camber on your blade. It also depends on how thick of a shaving you are trying to take. If you are taking a light shaving and still have problems, it may be the sole of your plane is burnishing your work.

An amazing thing is that all of the methods mentioned above will work in their own way. I have done a few of them. The one that Andrew suggests and over lapping cuts from one side to the other work for me. If there is a camber on my blades, it is usually very light. See my post on one way I camber blades:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?158373-My-Camber-Blade-Round-Tuit-Finally-Came

Also, when it comes to final smoothing as opposed to removing wood, my blades are sharp and set to a very light cut. Tracks are much less noticeable and easier to deal with when they are only .001 - .002" deep. Thinner cuts also mean less tear out if there is a spot of tricky grain.

As some have suggested, just a bit of extra pressure at the edges of the bevel when finishing the honing of a blade will make the edge of the shaving taper off and help to prevent tracks.

jtk

[Johnny Kleso]

Johnny, unless I am misreading shouldn't he be cambering less? We want to make sure the smoothing plane does not have a camber to match a scrub plane. My understanding is that the camber on smoothers should be minimal, some recommendations I have read suggest just adding extra pressure on the corners during honing is enough. I am sure someone more knowledgeable than me will chime in soon.

Maybe your right I read his post a few times..
I forget some folks get carried away...

I was visiting a new friend who has 60 maybe 80 planes and several videos on planes and everyone but his BU LV planes had the frogs set as far back as they could go.. Many had IBC blades and chip breakers.. I was amazed how he never read how to set the frog ( Frog Face dead even with Back Side of Mouth using straight edge)

[Michael Titus]

I'm using an ECE Primus Improved Smoothing Plane (wooden body and sole). It has a 50 degree bevel-down blade. I'm taking .002" shavings. I don't know how to accurately measure the camber, but I think it is too much (the shavings are only 3/4" wide). I think I over-cambered the blade because I didn't immediately recognize the transition from "torn" plane tracks to "burnished" plane tracks as I was testing the blade.

[David Weaver]

Yes, too much camber with a shaving that thickness on a smoother. Just flatten it out a little as you sharpen, or i guess do it all at one time. You shouldn't be able to see anything on the surface of the wood if you take a thin shaving on final passes and have the iron set up properly.

[Jim Koepke]

I don't know how to accurately measure the camber, but I think it is too much (the shavings are only 3/4" wide). I think I over-cambered the blade because I didn't immediately recognize the transition from "torn" plane tracks to "burnished" plane tracks as I was testing the blade.

I agree with too much camber.

Of course, some would say I have too little. I like to take as full width shaving as possible without tracks. Most of the time I do not camber my blades. They are used with a straight across bevel.

jtk

[Johnny Kleso]

Mike,
I do not ever have to add camber using bench stones IMHO..
I have a hard time getting the blade as flat as I want, camber is no problem..

Just try getting it as flat as you can and I think you will be good ...

[Tony Shea]

I do not ever have to add camber using bench stones IMHO..
I have a hard time getting the blade as flat as I want, camber is no problem..


I am the opposite Johnny. I am a stickler about keeping my stones flat though as I've run into issues early in my WW from out of flat stones. And flattening them often actually is much less work than waiting to flatten.

I typically have a hard time getting enough camber on my blades. And really have no issue at all creating a perfectly straight blade, but this is credit to my flat stones i guess.

[James Taglienti]

Could it be the lignum sole?

[George Beck]

I would check the sole of a wooden plane. Wear in front of the blade is not uncommon. Before using a wooden plane(most mine are) I lap the sole on a piece of 600 or 1500 grit sandpaper on a granite plate. It will not remove much wood but will leave shinny spots showing wear. You may well have a slight cup in front of the blade which nullifies the camber.