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Casey Gooding
11-16-2007, 6:13 PM
I'm builing a Mission style desk chair for my wife. The Quarter sawn white Oak has been giving me fits when hand planing. Sometimes, I plain with the "Fuzz" and get massive tearout. So I turn it around and all is good. So the next piece I plane the same way and get massive tearout. So I turn it around and plane against the fuzz, this time it's fine.
IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!!
What's going on???
Help.

Casey
Greg Crawford
11-16-2007, 11:27 PM
Casey,

I'm finishing a project with QSWO, and had trouble hand planing as well. The best results I had were with my Veritas low angle jack plane with a 50 degree blade, giving a 62 degree cutting angle. I'd take very light passes with the mouth closed to almost nothing. I still got some slight tearout as the wood dulled the blade quickly.
Steve Wargo
11-17-2007, 12:07 AM
I did a large piece out of q-sawn red oak a while ago. It was the first time I'd used q-sawn oak. I didn't have any problems planing it but noticed that if the iron goes dull it will fuzz a bit. I just touched up the iron every 10 minutes or so. Worked well for me. FWIW I planed all the veneer as well. I prefer a planed look on large surfaces and usually try to do so. Q-sawn Red Oak Back Bar (http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=55600)
Dan Barr
11-17-2007, 7:10 AM
yup, fits is right.

i made a mission style bed out of some really really wavy grain QSWO and had the same experience. the grain looked like the mississippi river! :D

i changed directions with the grain as i planed the length of the board. that meant following the grain as best as i could with the various planes. I ended up using the transition plane, block plane, jointer plane and spot plane! then I followed up with vigorous sanding. thats the only way i could minimize/eliminate the tearout. (still got tearout on one piece.)

fits............ yup.

tought work, but i think its worth it.

v/r

dan
Marcus Ward
11-19-2007, 3:07 PM
Use a cabinet scraper like a Stanley #80. Almost everything I build is QSWO and you just have to be aware of how the grain runs when planing. Sometimes I have to plane the same board in 2 directions! Put a backbevel on your plane iron and use a hand scraper and it won't be so bad. I never sand, sandpaper (dust) is the devil. ;)