Planing, what am I doing wrong?

[Jan Bianchi]

I am planning the top to the lower half of the cherry hutch I am building. These boards were machined planed before glue up, but I thought I'd try hand planing the final surface rather than sanding. After flattening by planing across the grain and diagonally, I am trying to do the final smoothing, but I keep getting tear out.

I'm getting good long thin curls, freqently the width of the mouth. But at least at some point along most of the overlapping runs I'm either getting, or not cleaning up, tear out--or at least not getting a smooth surface. It feels smooth, but a glance down the top in reflected light shows many spots that don't reflect the light. I am using a #4 Lie Nielsen. Is this a function of the blade not being sharp enough, the mouth not being closed down enough or just poor technique? I'm already below 7/8 inch, though not yet to 3/4 in thickness. I have a 55 degree frog but have never used it. Any suggestions other than practice which I already know I need?

[george wilson]

Have you read the long posts about setting the chip breaker properly? The chip breaker needs to be fitted to the plane blade very closely so chips cannot get underneath it. The chip breaker needs to be set a few thousandths from the cutting edge of the iron. An easy way to do this is to hold the plane iron with the chip breaker in place vertically pressing against a piece of wood. Tighten the chip breaker on place. Make sure it hasn't crept over the cutting edge. There will be a very thin line of light just below the chip breaker,which is the cutting edge just barely protruding. The chip breaker needs to be so close to the cutting edge that out is actually below the surface of the wood when it is being planed. That way,it effectively bends back the chip being planed severely enough that it prevents the wood from tearing,even if you plane the wrong way,plane figured wood,etc.. If you can do the setting correctly,you will have no more trouble with chipping out.

Of course,the edge needs to be sharp,and straight,so it doesn't go beneath the chip breaker near the edges of the iron. The very ends of the cutting edge can be angled some,to keep it from leaving tracks.

[Jim Koepke]

All of what George said and a reemphasis on getting the blade sharp.

Google > setting a cap iron <. It is written by David Weaver over on WoodCentral. For me it came up as the top hit on a Google search.

jtk

[Alan Schwabacher]

Here is a link to a version of the cap iron video with English subtitles:
http://giantcypress.net/post/23159548132/this-is-the-full-version-of-the-video-created-by?8de140f8

[Steve Voigt]

Not to be overly obvious, but are you planing with the grain?
If you do what George says, you can get a tearout-free surface planing either direction, but still it makes it easier to go the right way.

[Jan Bianchi]

Have you read the long posts about setting the chip breaker properly? The chip breaker needs to be fitted to the plane blade very closely so chips cannot get underneath it. The chip breaker needs to be set a few thousandths from the cutting edge of the iron. An easy way to do this is to hold the plane iron with the chip breaker in place vertically pressing against a piece of wood. Tighten the chip breaker on place. Make sure it hasn't crept over the cutting edge. There will be a very thin line of light just below the chip breaker,which is the cutting edge just barely protruding. The chip breaker needs to be so close to the cutting edge that out is actually below the surface of the wood when it is being planed. That way,it effectively bends back the chip being planed severely enough that it prevents the wood from tearing,even if you plane the wrong way,plane figured wood,etc.. If you can do the setting correctly,you will have no more trouble with chipping out.

Of course,the edge needs to be sharp,and straight,so it doesn't go beneath the chip breaker near the edges of the iron. The very ends of the cutting edge can be angled some,to keep it from leaving tracks.

Much improved. Yes the chip breaker was set back too far. After setting it as you suggested, I was able to clean up a small area in just a minute without making more problems for myself. Thanks. I don't do this often enough remember all the mechanics, so it's great to have someone to ask.

[Jim Matthews]

Not to over simplify this, as it's the rare plank that is easy from end to end -
but a really sharp blade is essential. I thought my tools were sharp until
I received proper instruction on honing. If you can plane Pine end grain, your blade is genuinely sharp.

For smoothing a board as you've described, the blade should present a curved edge to the surface,
with the sides ever so slightly raised, like a smile.

As Steve mentioned above, grain direction may not be constant, and that is a common cause of tear out.

There are devotees of the card scraper here, but I use Bahco Carbide scraper to clean up tear out.

It happens. Handling tear out is a test of your advancing skills.