Mike Holbrook
04-02-2016, 2:08 PM
While I was working on this board it occurred to me that, not long ago I had a problem picturing the process of leveling a board. There are a good many videos on leveling boards that demonstrate techniques. Unfortunately what one encounters in the shop is often not a perfect example of easy to work stock like they tend to use in many demonstrations. So I thought I would show a real life example, name the tools used and the process. All the experienced guys can probably just take a nap now, or read along and tell me where my process is flawed.
The Challenge
This is a piece of 8"x12"x1 1/4" Cherry that was moderately cupped. I am making a staging board for my shavehorse with it. During the process, as the grain became more visible, it became easy to see why this particular board is cupped where it is. I stopped my work at a point where I thought a picture might best illustrate the challenge and the process. One challenge I have had with this particular cherry is it tends to make stringy shavings that quickly clog a tight mouth, even when using a sharp blade.
The issue with many examples/step 1
The typical suggestion for leveling cupped/twisted boards is to run a cambered blade across the grain. The issue I find in doing this is, even with a moderate cup, a cupped board tends to rock, particularly on the convex side. My first step was to lock the board on my bench, with the concave side down, exposing the convex side. Many boards tend to rock less in this position unless there is twist too. I used a #5 1/2 restored Stanley plane with a moderately cambered blade going with the grain in the center of the board. The board was rough sawn, before I started, so I was not able to see the grain pattern well yet. Once I got the convex side closer to flat, I flipped the board over and hit both of the concave sides (outside edges) a few strokes with the 5 1/2. Checking the board on the surface of my bench I could see that most of the rocking was eliminated.
Step 2/issues
Next I got out my trusty 5 1/4 Stanley plane, with a heavily cambered Veritas blade in it, and started taking cross grain shavings. This plane usually works fast at leveling and leaves a wavy surface that other planes are easier to push across. If you look closely you should be able to see some of the track marks it left. Almost immediately I had a problem. The Veritas blade is relatively tight in the 5 1/4 planes mouth, even after I relieved it a little. Although the blade was sharp, the mouth started clogging with stringy shavings which were requiring me to release/remove the cap iron to dislodge.
Step 3/the right tool for this job
My # 5 Stanley also has a highly cambered blade in it. The wider blade (than the 5 1/4) is sometimes harder to push when one is taking thicker shavings in tricky grain. The #5 also has an original older SW Stanley blade that leaves more room in the mouth yet still cuts well for a good while. The #5 proved to be the best tool for this stage of this job. It got my board to the place where I took these pictures quickly.
Visual help
At this stage, as the pictures show, it became quite easy to see exactly how the grain ran and why the board cupped the way it did. It is also easy to see how the work got the boards close enough to flat to move to the leveling and smoothing phase. A little work with a jointer & or smooth plane should make this board ready for use.
Click pictures to enlarge
Concave side
335006
Convex side
335007
The Challenge
This is a piece of 8"x12"x1 1/4" Cherry that was moderately cupped. I am making a staging board for my shavehorse with it. During the process, as the grain became more visible, it became easy to see why this particular board is cupped where it is. I stopped my work at a point where I thought a picture might best illustrate the challenge and the process. One challenge I have had with this particular cherry is it tends to make stringy shavings that quickly clog a tight mouth, even when using a sharp blade.
The issue with many examples/step 1
The typical suggestion for leveling cupped/twisted boards is to run a cambered blade across the grain. The issue I find in doing this is, even with a moderate cup, a cupped board tends to rock, particularly on the convex side. My first step was to lock the board on my bench, with the concave side down, exposing the convex side. Many boards tend to rock less in this position unless there is twist too. I used a #5 1/2 restored Stanley plane with a moderately cambered blade going with the grain in the center of the board. The board was rough sawn, before I started, so I was not able to see the grain pattern well yet. Once I got the convex side closer to flat, I flipped the board over and hit both of the concave sides (outside edges) a few strokes with the 5 1/2. Checking the board on the surface of my bench I could see that most of the rocking was eliminated.
Step 2/issues
Next I got out my trusty 5 1/4 Stanley plane, with a heavily cambered Veritas blade in it, and started taking cross grain shavings. This plane usually works fast at leveling and leaves a wavy surface that other planes are easier to push across. If you look closely you should be able to see some of the track marks it left. Almost immediately I had a problem. The Veritas blade is relatively tight in the 5 1/4 planes mouth, even after I relieved it a little. Although the blade was sharp, the mouth started clogging with stringy shavings which were requiring me to release/remove the cap iron to dislodge.
Step 3/the right tool for this job
My # 5 Stanley also has a highly cambered blade in it. The wider blade (than the 5 1/4) is sometimes harder to push when one is taking thicker shavings in tricky grain. The #5 also has an original older SW Stanley blade that leaves more room in the mouth yet still cuts well for a good while. The #5 proved to be the best tool for this stage of this job. It got my board to the place where I took these pictures quickly.
Visual help
At this stage, as the pictures show, it became quite easy to see exactly how the grain ran and why the board cupped the way it did. It is also easy to see how the work got the boards close enough to flat to move to the leveling and smoothing phase. A little work with a jointer & or smooth plane should make this board ready for use.
Click pictures to enlarge
Concave side
335006
Convex side
335007