planing beach

[Matthew N. Masail]

I'm having a real hard time with this stuff. I'm trying to make a small hammer of out a block of beach, I squared it up and I'm trying to plane the chamfers but it's giving me hell. a blade that is still sharp enough to glide through oak full width is requiring a lot of force on the beach, this stuff is like steel. the end grain is especially hard to work.. so I guess I'm asking is this normal? I didn't know beach was sooo hard.

[Trevor Walsh]

I've found end grain to be touchy like that, but with a shallow cut I find that beech planes rather well, also saws and chisels well too. I would lessen the depth of cut significantly and give another go. I've also noticed a great difference between air dried (easier) and kilned stuff. Don't know if that helps you much though.

[Matthew N. Masail]

I also found that with a light cut I can get whispery shavings and a glass like surface, but I can't work with only light cuts... it takes much more force to plane than oak... most likely the stuff I have is klin dried. I guess I just need to learn how to work with very hard woods... starting with sharp tools. Thanks for the response.

[george wilson]

The beech I have used tons of isn't THAT hard. It isn't as hard as oak or hard maple. I'm wondering where you are getting such hard beech.

We have used American air dried beech for the many planes we made. I also have a stock of kiln dried European beechwood. Both are about the same hardness.

[Matthew N. Masail]

I'm in Israel and have no idea where it comes from.... I don't know if this is an indication of hardness but it can't dent or scratch it with my nail. I have a piece of oak that is harder than it, but it's still easier to plane..

[Shlomo Hoffmann]

Here is an excerpt for European Beech properties (likely what you have) from this web site http://www.musterkiste.com/en/holz/pro/1003_Beech.html (Bold italic is mine...)

Properties
Beech wood is medium to heavyweight. It is very hard and tough. It has good strength properties and high abrasion resistance.
Beech can shrink considerably and is subject to movement more than other woods. It should not be subject to moisture fluctuations before or during working.

Usage
Despite its hardness, beech wood can be worked easily. It can be cut, planed, drilled and milled....

The above stated is pretty much my experience as well with American Beech...

Are you sure your stuff is actually Beech? Pic perhaps?

[Zach Dillinger]

I'll be the next to say that beech isn't usually that hard to work. Sure, its pretty tough, but usually not difficult to work with. Are you sure you've got beech?

[Matthew N. Masail]

maybe it's not beach... in Hebrew we call it "Book", and the imported workbenches from Germany are made of it. I tried taking pics but I only have a phone cam so the quality isn't good enough to really see well.

[Shlomo Hoffmann]

Could be Teak?... Has high silica content in the wood and is tough on cutting edges...

[Matthew N. Masail]

no.... it's not teak... I have some teak, now I'm anxious about working on it. I'd like to clarify that I can work it and get whispery and thicker shavings, but only while the blades are at top condition (they are A2). and it's hard to push the planes on it. maybe I was just trying to do too much with the plane.

[Jim Koepke]

I often use a chisel on the end grain. One of my findings is that just like face grain end grain has a preferred direction of being worked.

Often it is just as easy or easier to put a chamfer on the end grain with a chisel instead of a plane. YMMV

jtk

[Jim Matthews]

A picture would be helpful.

How are you holding the hammer block? Beech is delightful to plane, with the grain.
End grain can be stubborn, but a light touch will yield excellent results.

[David Keller NC]

maybe it's not beach... in Hebrew we call it "Book", and the imported workbenches from Germany are made of it. I tried taking pics but I only have a phone cam so the quality isn't good enough to really see well.

Can't help with the Hebrew name, but what you might have is "Hornbeam" (Carpinus betulus). Another name for hornbeam is "ironwood", and it is very dense and extremely hard and tough.

[Matthew N. Masail]

the thing is, it looks exactly like beach, in color and texture... and it's a left over from a 50" X 6" X 2" thick slab... how much sense does it make that I'd have a slab that size of hornbeam, and more of it, considering that for the most part, only the more common and usable hardwoods are found in most wood supply houses in Israel, mostly maple, walnut, oak and beach. and sometimes other stuff, but no special or exotic woods on a regular basis. is hornbeam similar enough in appearance to pass as beach ?

I think I need to find a way to clamp it better, instead of a planing stop, going to try that now.

[george wilson]

The word "book" comes from the German word for beech. Beech was used on early book covers. So,I don't think Matthew is off track using his Hebrew word for beech correctly. German benches aren't made of hornbeam anyway. They are 99% of the time made from steamed beech.

[Matthew N. Masail]

Thanks George ! they also call a table saw here a "cryzik" and a shaper a "fraizer"... drives my nuts ! it took my a while to understand what the hell they were talking about, meanwhile I was getting these "oy this kid knows nothing looks " and "what you don't know what a cryzik is!? " ....... sorry I'm not German, and neither are you!

I just clamped the piece firmly which allowed me to have both hands free to guide the plane, with right tecnique it is going very nicely.. zero tear out even using a low angle block plane, and a glass like surface. I guess it just takes a much force than I intecipated.... honestly all this sharpening (just got my first waterstones) and working with hardwood is taking some getting the hang of until it moves smoothly... up until now I've known nothing but softwood with hand tools.

[John McPhail]

It sounds like it's going to be a concentrated course in honing then :D

Off on a tangent with this question - what is the reason to steam beech?

I have some 8/4 beech acclimating in my shop right now, I haven't touched it yet but have been reading this with interest, thanks everybody.

[Shlomo Hoffmann]

Thanks for the lesson George....

Talking about linguistics, "Beech" in German is "Buche", which also stands for "Book" in English... Always knew about the books, but not about the beech... Now the name "Buchenwald" makes sense! Beech Forest!... and I used to think it was all about books...

BTW, "Book" for Beech is not an original Hebrew word; probably just an adoption from German/Yiddish... Might also be the source for our own Beech in English...

[Mike Holbrook]

Here is a picture:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16891057@N05/6894313974/lightbox/

The two end pieces on the right are European Steamed Beech (form Germany I was told). The heavily grained wood in the middle is Ash. The board on the bottom left with a darker center is Hickory. They are getting a little time to adapt to the humidity in my basement shop.

[James Owen]

The word "book" comes from the German word for beech. Beech was used on early book covers. So,I don't think Matthew is off track using his Hebrew word for beech correctly. German benches aren't made of hornbeam anyway. They are 99% of the time made from steamed beech.

Yes, but only indirectly.

The modern German words Buch (plural Bücher) -- "book" -- and Buche (plural Buchen) -- "beech" -- are somewhat related, but one has to go back to the Old Teutonic to find the connection. In those earlier times, the word Buch originally denoted the runes inscribed on a fruit or beech tree, and became associated with both "beech" and "letters"; the modern German word Buchstabe, meaning "letter of the alphabet", also derives from this early Rune/Tree association. See Friedrich Kluge's An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, for more detail.

[Matthew N. Masail]

It sounds like it's going to be a concentrated course in honing then :D

Off on a tangent with this question - what is the reason to steam beech?

I have some 8/4 beech acclimating in my shop right now, I haven't touched it yet but have been reading this with interest, thanks everybody.

I'd also like to know what exactly is the process of steaming beech... I assume it has to do with stability and maybe quick drying.
your right about the honing... it's been stone holder and strop making few weeks, and then learning how to use to damn things, but I'm finally getting comfortable. the unsettling part is, I have no idea if I am getting anything very sharp! although the chisels and planes slice through things nicely... I have no reference point... I am using the Veritas honing compound. I know "the proof is in the putting" bla bla bla it would still be nice if someone could give me some live feedback on that... anyone in the mood for visiting the holy land ? (-:

Mike, I like the Hickory the most. is it a hardwood? the beech looks about the same as I have .

[Mike Holbrook]

Matthew,

Ahh yes Hickory. Roy Underhill has a video on it on his Blog. It is a tough hardwood. Most wooden tool handles and many old solid wood tools in the US are Hickory as it has some spring to it as well as being very tough. The tree is a nut tree that grows wild all over the southeastern US. Hickory is a very durable hardwood and often under rated. It is most famous in the southeast as a wood to cook/smoke with. Hickory smoked turkey, ham, salmon, cheese......which is why I think it does not get more use for cabinets, furniture...

If my supplier has enough of it in shorts I will be making my workbench base out of it.

[Matthew N. Masail]

Mike, that sound like some great wood..... but wouldn't a little flexibility be a bad thing for a workbench base?

[Zach Dillinger]

Mike, that sound like some great wood..... but wouldn't a little flexibility be a bad thing for a workbench base?

It's flexible in a "thin axehandle with 4 pound head on it" kind of way. As a strongly built workbench base, with properly sized framing, it won't be flexible enough to notice, but will be nice and strong. A fine choice, if you can get it cheap enough.

[Chris Fournier]

Steamed Euro beech isn't quite as dense as our hard maple and given the way it grows the grain is very predictable in most all instances. I an awful lot of it and it is pleasant to work with hand tools (the odd ornery piece excepted). Now our native North American beech is a horse of another colour and it can be challenging at times.

[Mike Holbrook]

Since I am making my workbench top out of Euro Beech I thought it would be interesting to make the base from the quintessential Southern hardwood, Hickory. When I was checking out the hardwood at my supplier they suggested the Beech. Once I saw it and the predictable grain that Chris refers to it just looked easier to work than the grain in the Ash, the other hardwood I was considering. Plus I have a compact Hammer workbench with a German beech top that I have been very happy with.

Right, Hickory is flexible in a handle as compared to steel, iron or other very hard wood like hard maple. Even in steel the knife guys talk about tough steel vs hard steel. A steel that has a little "flex" in it stays sharp and often makes a better tool than steel with a very high hardness that ends up being brittle under certain pressures. In the 5 3/4 x 3 1/2" legs of a bench I think Hickory will be a very sturdy base. I suspect it might be a chore to flatten a whole bench top made of Hickory though. Maybe a little more test than I want to give my recently made Purple Heart planes, even with my HNT Gordon HSS steel iron.

Here is Roy's Hickory video. I think since it is educational it is ok to post the link:
http://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/video/3100/3103.html

[george wilson]

Buch is associated with beech ,at least. I just Googled it to be sure,though I already knew it for years(but sometimes old info can get confused in my old head). It can mean someone living near beech trees,or beech itself. What's the problem? I am not an expert by any means on Yiddish,but it seems like a lot of Yiddish is based on German words. A German might say "Dunkaschern(sp?),while in yiddish they say "Dunkashane". Matthew's word for beech fits the German very closely.

The derivation of the name for books coming from German roots in beech is still true.

[Zach Dillinger]

English itself is a Germanic language, so lots of words sound similar. I believe Yiddish is as well.

[george wilson]

Correct,Zach. We got lots of German based words from early influxes of Germanic peoples into the British Isles. Kirk (sp?) is German for church,our word. There are many other associations.

Since books were invented a long time ago,perhaps earlier German applies? I'm not bothering to Google this further. Matthew's word "books" was close to beech,books,etc..

[Jack Curtis]

English itself is a Germanic language, so lots of words sound similar. I believe Yiddish is as well.

Really about half Germanic, usually the most common words. The other half is Latin.

[Justin Green]

George - danke shön - the ö is what gives it the "er"-ish sound in German, if I remember my high school German correctly. I never did really master the pronunciation of the umlaut O, or any other letters with the umlaut. But they're easier than some of the Arabic pronunciations, which sound an awfull lot like you're clearing your throat.

[george wilson]

I was just spelling phonetically . I never took any languages,but have been able to pick them up,at least when I was younger. Petra,our German employee,says I speak with no accent when I do say something in German to her.

[Halgeir Wold]

Just for information - beech in scandinavian languages, is boek - although oe is written with the scandinavian versions of slashed O or dotted O ( in sweedish)

[Matthew N. Masail]

Since I am making my workbench top out of Euro Beech I thought it would be interesting to make the base from the quintessential Southern hardwood, Hickory. When I was checking out the hardwood at my supplier they suggested the Beech. Once I saw it and the predictable grain that Chris refers to it just looked easier to work than the grain in the Ash, the other hardwood I was considering. Plus I have a compact Hammer workbench with a German beech top that I have been very happy with.

Right, Hickory is flexible in a handle as compared to steel, iron or other very hard wood like hard maple. Even in steel the knife guys talk about tough steel vs hard steel. A steel that has a little "flex" in it stays sharp and often makes a better tool than steel with a very high hardness that ends up being brittle under certain pressures. In the 5 3/4 x 3 1/2" legs of a bench I think Hickory will be a very sturdy base. I suspect it might be a chore to flatten a whole bench top made of Hickory though. Maybe a little more test than I want to give my recently made Purple Heart planes, even with my HNT Gordon HSS steel iron.

Here is Roy's Hickory video. I think since it is educational it is ok to post the link:
http://www.pbs.org/woodwrightsshop/video/3100/3103.html

Thanks Mike ! that's a great vid. Good luck with your bench!

[James Carmichael]

Dang, the title of this thread gave me visions of girls in bikinis planing on a beach, not "beech"!