I have 5" thick slab of walnut 6' long, bark on, that I've had for a few years. It has not been planed since I had it kiln dried. It measures almost 2' at its widest point. The sawmill I work with does not have a planer that big.
What would be the ideal hand plane to flatten this slab so I can make a coffee table out of it?
I have 2 others similar in size so I don't mind paying for a very good one.
Member
I think the ideal solution would be to use a router sled to flatten. Using a router sled is already time consuming, I can't imagine what hand planing a piece like that would take...
Contributor
If it is relatively twist free and doesn't need a lot of work, a jack plane and then a #7 or #8. At least that's how I would approach it.
Member
Yeah, I guess it would depend on how flat it is now...Originally Posted by Jacob Mac
Contributor
Too bad you aren't around here, there is a private mill operator who does have large enough equipment.
Your selection of planes would depend on how much material needs to be removed to satisfactorily flatten the surface. If it has deep saw marks you may want to camber a blade in a jack plane or even a jumbo jack like a #6. Then a less cambered blade or a straight blade in the #6 could be used to get it all the way to finish or use a smoother if you want a super smooth suface.
You could also maybe get by without the 'scrub' plane and just use a jointer like a #7 or #8. This would be the option if there weren't any deep saw marks or other areas that needed a lot of material removed.
The suggestion by Jacob is also valid. That is almost the standard of woodworking by hand. Rough wood gets hit with a jack plane set up like a scrub plane and then the long planes come in behind to make a large flat surface.
There is more than one way to do this.
From the wording of your question it sounds like this would be your first hand plane. Is that correct?
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Guest
You really need two planes. The first is called a scrub plane, and is used cross-grain or at an angle to the direction of the board's grain to hog wood.
The second plane is used to further level and smooth the board's surface. A jack (No.5 or 5-1/2), a foreplane (No.6) or jointer (No 7 or 8) would do the job.
A third plane would be useful for final finishing. A No. 4 or 4-1/2 would do the job.
Alternately, you could use a No.4 or No.5 as a scrub plane if you opened the mouth and ground the blade with a large curvature, and then used the same plane for later operations with a straight blade. There is a reason they called the No.5 a "Jack Plane," as in "Jack-of-all-Trades."
Yes sir. Other than a 7" long MintCraft.
So it looks like I'd save a lot of money if I could find someone with a power planer big enough.
But then I wouldn't have all those nice planes.
I have lots of time. Temps here are far to cold to use the lathe in the garage. A lathe I have to drag to the overhead door opening and place fans behind me. Too cold for that.
And I refuse to use the HF bagged dust collector. Otherwise I could fire up a heater and work out in the garage.
I thought maybe hand planing in the house would not kick up fine dust?
Am I correct about that?
I became very sick a few years ago working in the garage without proper dust removal. Took me months to get over that.
Contributor
One thing about using hand planes, it would most likely knock out the need for lots of shop heating and it also does not require a dust collector. You could also do it inside the house if you wanted. To do the work, first you would need a sturdy work surface (bench/table/etc) to work on and would require that you shim or wedge the bottom surface so it was stable before starting if the slab is not fairly flat and a way to prevent the slab from moving while you are planning it. Woodworking benches are designed to do this, but any sturdy work surface of sufficient size probably can be adapted to do the work. The other guys told you about the planes, but for me, a scrub plane would only be used if the slab is way out of flat. But yeah, basic procedure is jack plane for main wood removal to get rid of humps, twist, main saw marks, etc - try or jointer plane for flattening the whole slab into one plane, then a smoother plane to get it pretty. Do one side (maybe minus the smoothing), then use that side as a bench reference to mark a consistent thickness line near the edge (or at a pre-determined thickness) of the unplanned surface. Repeat for second side. Will keep you warm and, more importantly, start you on the road to learning how to sharpen plane irons (and chisels as well). The iron sharpening will be an important part of the process. It is the kind of work that you can start and stop at any point without hurting the overall operation other than to affect the time line.
David
Member
Just Google "course medium fine hand planing" there are endless articles. But be careful. The hand plane thing is addicting.
Contributor
Where are you located? If you were close enough I do have a thickness planer that big. I'm sure there are others on the forum that could help you with this.
Member
Unless you get into period reenactment or are electron-deprived, knock the bulk of the work out with a handheld planer (DeWalt 3-1/4"...$130 new), then move to hand planes. A 5" thick x 24" x 6' live edged coffee table will look little heavy, so thinning to 2"-3" would seem to be a part of the job.
Another option is to work the surface with an adze following the hand-held power planer if the more rustic, hand-hewn look appeals. Steep learning curve and steel-toed boots for the adze, but at 5" thickness, you could lose a lot of wood along the way to minimum competence (in sharpening and use) before getting close to the 2-1/2" thickness that I might be tempted to use for a live-edge table of that size. Like work with an axe or even a vigorously-used plane, adze work will keep you reasonably warm, so a little winter chill in the work area should not be a big problem.
Contributor
Quite agree.A 5" thick x 24" x 6' live edged coffee table will look little heavy, so thinning to 2"-3" would seem to be a part of the job.
However, planing away 2" is not doable. I suggest that you take the slab to a mill or someone with a VERY large bandsaw (pro shop), and have them resaw it for you.
If you cannot find someone with large enough equipment, then you will be faced with ripping the 24" wide board into widths that you can manage. Number them, then resaw to 2 1/2", and glue them back in the same order.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Friend of the Creek
Bill, I can’t add much to the above, except my experience is that when cross grain planing (jack/scrub), it results in a lot more shavings/dust than you would get from long grain planing. Just something to keep in mind if you decide to do this in the house.
Contributor
Search for flattening slabs with handplanes you tube videos. David Moore furniture has a good YouTube on this. There are others you should checkout as well. The process is similar to flattening any board with hand planes. Many here have flattened wide work bench tops using handplanes. With sharp equipment it isn’t that hard and can be done in a few hours. The key is to take your time and have sharp blades. If you are drawn to hand tool work then eventually you likely will want either a number 5 jack ore bevel down jack plane and a no 7 or 8 jointer and a no 4 smoother plus a little block plane. This assumes you go with western style metal handplanes. Those four planes are common items in most western style hand tool shops and pretty much address flattening, smoothing and jointing needs for standard cabinetry and furniture making.
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