Hand planing, how deep should i cut?

[Craig Earls]

Assume that my handplanes are perfectly tuned (they aren't, but I am interested in a different question). I am going to flatten and edge joint a rough cut board of some smooth grained random hardwood. How deeply should I cut? In other words, how thick should the shavings be at different stages in the process?

I did search for this, but 'shavings' and 'thickness' come up in a lot of places unrelated to this question.

[Brian Hale]

It really depends on the plane and the wood but and if it'll be seen in the finished project here's some numbers based on my limited experience...

Scrub plane .006+

Followed by a #5 (with a cambered iron) .003 - .005

Followed by a #7 jointer .002 - .004

Followed by a #4 1/2 .001


Brian :)

[Craig Earls]

It really depends on the plane and the wood but and if it'll be seen in the finished project here's some numbers based on my limited experience...

Scrub plane .006+

Followed by a #5 (with a cambered iron) .003 - .005

Followed by a #7 jointer .002 - .004

Followed by a #4 1/2 .001


Brian :)

Boy was I wrong! I figured 0.03 to start and 0.005-0.009 to finish. Thanks..

[Don C Peterson]

At the start of flattening a board I pretty much take shavings as thick as I can and still push the plane (assuming the flattening isn't trivial). The plane is either a LN scrub plane or a Stanley #5 with a convex iron. If there's quite a bit of stock to be removed I start with the scrub and graduate to the #5, if the board is pretty flat I start with the #5.

I haven't measured them, but the scrub plane can take what I call chips rather than shavings... As the board starts to approach flatness, I switch to the #5 and the shavings get thinner and thinner until the board is "flat", not totally smooth, but flat. Then I run the board through a thickness planer on both sides to clean up any tearout remaining, and bring it to the thickness I need. From there on out it's very fine shavings and a very narrow mouth opening with either a low angle jack, or a #4 smoother.

For jointing it's usually a #7 from start to finish, gradually taking finer and finer shavings.

All of these planes have their irons sharpened with a convex edge. The scrub is the most convex, then the #5, and the LA Jack has the least effective convex curve on the iron.

[Doug Shepard]

At the start of flattening a board I pretty much take shavings as thick as I can and still push the plane (assuming the flattening isn't trivial). ...

That and whether I'm getting tearout is pretty much my gauge. I've never measured it and probably wouldn't want to. Knowing you have to take off say 1/8" due to cupping and you're only taking 0.00x at a time might be pretty discouraging when you do the math and realize how long you're going to be planing.

[Mark Stutz]

With the scrub, I take as big a chip as I can without undue tearout. Hard to get a real shaving as I go at a 45deg. angle to the grain. Shavings get progressively thinner the closer I get to flat. Depending on the grain, smoother shavings may be .001 for highly figured woods to much thicker as long as there is no tear out and the suface is acceptable. I don't usually shoot for a "thickness" but rather the result.

Mark

[Billy Chambless]

I don't usually shoot for a "thickness" but rather the result.


Wait... you mean the shavings aren't the product?


;)

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

With a hand plane, no more than 1/4" in a single pass.
More than that and I'd guess it'd get hard to push the blade through.

Seriously though how much "can" you cut~? I find that the wood and the plane will conspire to tell me when enough is enough. Then if I back off just a schosh I'll have it right.

[Hank Knight]

I have no idea how thick the shavings are I get when flattening and smoothing stock. They are however thick (or thin) I need them to be, within the limits of the tool. The thickest, of course come from the scrub plane, but often the job doesn't call for scrubbing off max thickness chips. Same with the planes that follow, ending with the smoother. The smoother is, I guess, a little different. I amost always want the smoother to take the thinnest possible shaving, especially on the last couple of passes.

Probably no help at all, but my $.02 anyway.

Hank

[Craig Earls]

With a hand plane, no more than 1/4" in a single pass.
More than that and I'd guess it'd get hard to push the blade through.

Seriously though how much "can" you cut~? I find that the wood and the plane will conspire to tell me when enough is enough. Then if I back off just a schosh I'll have it right.


The real root of my question was being able to tell when my plane is tuned up well enough. I am a complete newbie, and wasn't really sure how much a properly tuned hand plane SHOULD be able to remove.

[Mike Cutler]

Craig.

I like Brian Hale's answer. Although I admit I don't take cuts that heavy. I'm slow.
Go for thin shavings on all but the scrub to learn. The thinner the shaving the less material you are removing, the better control and feel you will develop.

[Don C Peterson]

I'd seriously suggest that you get with someone to get an idea of what a well tuned plane feels like. If we're talking about most bench planes the real test ins't how much but how little. Like I said a scrub plane with a reasonably sharp blade will hog off a lot of wood, but it takes a well tuned and honed plane to make fine shavings with no tearout.

There are so many variables with the types of wood and the specific characteristics of the particular board, that there is probably no one answer to your question though, it comes down to feel and experience. A mentor can seriously flatten that learning curve for you though, folks here at the Creek are notoriously willing to lend a hand. Let us know where you are and there may just be someone close by that can help.

[Zahid Naqvi]

I'd say just get your planes out, sharpen the blades as best as you can, and start making shavings. I bet within a short while you will discover the limitations of each plane. Experience is the best teacher, just try 'em out you will be surprised how much you can "figure things out" by just engaging in an activity. Keep an eye (and hand) on the board you are working on, the surface will also tell you what right or wrong you are doing.
A mentor would be great to have but if you don't have access to an experienced neander that doesn't mean you can't give it a swing on your own.

[Steveo O'Banion]

Just remember, the first cut is the deepest. :D

[Wilbur Pan]

I'd seriously suggest that you get with someone to get an idea of what a well tuned plane feels like.

I can't emphasize how right on Don is with this thought. Find someone to help, see a demonstration, take a lesson, but try to do this in real life if possible.

The internet is great, but there is nothing like real live experience to show you some things. I had someone demonstrate how well a well turned plane works, and it was a real eye opener. It was nothing like what I thought it would be from reading.

[Allan Froehlich]

My first passes usually result in shavings the thickness of a sheet of paper, but there is a little more to it than that. I personally limit the depth of the cut to the amount of effort required to push the plane. This results in different depths for different lumbers.