flattening a tabletop...

[Mark Vaughn]

can someone give me a short list of what planes to use in what order to flatten a glued up panel?

[Chris Padilla]

If the panel is large, a 747 is often needed but if it is small, a Cessna will do just fine! ;)

Seriously, I'm a beginner neander but for flattening, you want a rather long plane like a #7 or thereabout...wouldn't you? :o

[John Erhardt]

I think the short answer here is that you want a #6, #7 or #8. Flatten with one of those, then smooth (#4 1/2, #4, #3, whatever your preferred smoothing plane). Then scrape/sand.

The long answer is that it depends on the dimensions of your panel, and it depends on whether or not it's already pretty close to your final thickness. It also might depend on the amount of twist or cup in your panel. You'd typically reach for a #5 (set for a heavier cut) or a scrub plane as your first step if you needed to knock down a lot of material.

If you've got interlocking grain, then the answer could get a bit longer still...

J

[Mark Stutz]

Not knowing your level of experience with handplanes or WW in general, I'll start by saying that IMO the most important tools are winding sticks and a straightedge. I often use the edge of my jointer plane. You need to identify the high spots with winding sticks and then use a jack or try plane to bring down these high spots. If the glue up is good, then this part may not be needed. Then use the jointer at a diagonal, then across the piece and finally with the grain, repeatedly checking with the straightedge and sinding sticks. Finish up with the smoother. Sound s lot more complicated than it is. Chris Schwarze has a very good DVD out on this kind of work.

[Greg Cole]

The longer the sole the better of a flattener it'll be, there are numerous choices. I use a LV #6 followed by a #4 then maybe a little scraping IF necessary.
If your glue up was successful it shouldn't be too much of a chore IMO.

Cheers.
Greg

[JayStPeter]

It depends. Usually I'm pretty careful with panel glueups and just have to smooth out some minor variations around the joints. I usually use a #5 I have setup to cut more like a smoother for this. I usually follow up with either a smoother or sander.
When I had to flatten my bench top, I started with a #5 set to take big gnarly cuts. I used it to grind down the high spots, then used a jointer plane (mine happens to be a LV LA Jointer) to flatten.
I have used to LA Jointer setup to take thin shavings to flatten some large panel glueups as well. For some reason, I like the feel of a #5 best of all my planes so I tend to use it for everything I can.

[Johnny Kleso]

Short List is No5 or No6 and a Striaght Edge.....

Best set up is a cambered blade on No5 and flattened with a No6

First find your high spots and knock them down..

Then you start flattening the pannel with a herring bone pattern with a No5 side to side then side to side the other way... Then the lenght..

You will want to try and line up the grain of the boards so they all go the same way before glue up..

Look at the sides of the board and see which way the grain runs out, this will help stop tear out when planeing..

[Mark Vaughn]

thanks for the info, now if i could figure out how to sharpen a plane without ending up with 5 different bevels

[Mark Stutz]

thanks for the info, now if i could figure out how to sharpen a plane without ending up with 5 different bevels

Ahhh, yes.;) Been there done that. Although I am gradually teaching myself, and getting the hang of freehand sharpening, it takes lots of repitition to get good. I'd guess that most of us weekend WWers started out at least using a jig of some sort to get us started. The Eclipse style works very well and is fairly inexpensive to get you started. Hollow grinding does make freehanding it much easier IMO, since you have 2 refence points on which to balance the blade on the stone. If you want a good tutorial, look at Joel's description on the TFWW site.

Mark

[Alex Yeilding]

Ahhh, yes.;) If you want a good tutorial, look at Joel's description on the TFWW site.

Or his DVD on the subject for a whopping $10 or so. For some reason (probably a learning style thing) that "clicked" for me more than the write-up, although the content is essentially the same.

[Charles Shenk]

...and if you have highly figured wood, you could start with a "toothed" blade. :)