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View Full Version : Using a flat plane on a turned piece?



Steve Mathews
07-17-2017, 7:43 PM
In the following Ishtani video a piece that was turned on a lathe seems to be finished with a flat plane. I don't understand why this is necessary. Doesn't it leave the finish with flat spots? The part that shows the sequence begins around 7:25 minutes into the video.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxVQHps1IDw&t=4s

Prashun Patel
07-17-2017, 9:26 PM
I always finish my turned table legs with a plane. The vertical flats are negligible compared to the benefit of removing the horizontal ridges. If your tapers are straight then it trues them up perfectly.

I have even used a block plane while the piece is on the lathe. Know your speed, wood, and plane though....

Steve Mathews
07-17-2017, 10:06 PM
I always finish my turned table legs with a plane. The vertical flats are negligible compared to the benefit of removing the horizontal ridges. If your tapers are straight then it trues them up perfectly.

I have even used a block plane while the piece is on the lathe. Know your speed, wood, and plane though....

I thought that might be the answer but couldn't the same thing be accomplished with the proper use of a skew chisel?

Prashun Patel
07-18-2017, 6:21 AM
this makes it easy to make the leg straight, not just smooth.

Brice Rogers
07-18-2017, 6:04 PM
I suspect that if a person glued a, say, 6" -10" long piece of sandpaper to a flat board, etc. that it could do about the same and wouldn't leave any flat areas. In fact, maybe use one of those sanding guides for automobiles that are about 10" long.

Don Orr
07-19-2017, 10:16 AM
It's also possible that the plane and cutter are concave. I tried to go through fame by frame and think I found 1 or 2 that seem to show this. It would certainly put a nice smooth finish on the leg.

Russell Neyman
07-21-2017, 12:42 PM
This conversation triggers a thought I have carried over from my cabinet-making:

The last step before applying a finish is ALWAYS sanding WITH THE GRAIN with a very fine grit, yet we turners often sand strictly with the machine on, creating an across-the-grain orientation. With the lathe off, I hand sand with 400, following the grain. That makes a huge difference.

The cutting action of an extremely sharp plane grainwise will give the piece an appealing hand-hewn look. Of course, this may be nearly impossible with many bowls, and it probably is limited to vessels with endgrain orientation. I haven't done it, but now that you've mentioned it, I will.