Planing boards flat

[Phil Mueller]

Being relatively new to woodworking (relative to many of you), my first experiences of planing boards flat are pretty clear in my mind. I watched dozens of youtube videos and took the advice of many here. I spent countless hours of frustration. It wasn’t until the Charlesworth video that it became clear to me what was going on and what I needed to look for. It allowed me to get closer to the flattening technique many here have suggested. When learning to cook, most start with a cookbook and advance from there. That was my experience and I hope it helps the OP as much as it did me.

[Travis Unruh]

Hi Jim,

The slab is about 19 inches corner to corner and is roughly 6 inches across. When I checked the plane as you described, it was flat to between .0015 and .002.

I went ahead and updated my location in my profile. Thanks for the advice!

[Jim Koepke]

Hi Jim,

The slab is about 19 inches corner to corner and is roughly 6 inches across. When I checked the plane as you described, it was flat to between .0015 and .002.

I went ahead and updated my location in my profile. Thanks for the advice!

Being out by 0.002" isn't bad for a jointer.

The comments on technique above are spot on about learning to locate and knock down the high spots.

Salem is a couple hours from here.

jtk

[Pat Barry]

I recommend that you don't get the Charlesworth video. His idea is that he will provide a method you can follow so that you will have success without really thinking about what is going on. We call this the cookbook approach. Your problem is the opposite: your are not really thinking about what could be causing the problems or how to solve them. A better approach, mentioned by several in this thread is to identify the high spots and plane only those spots. Check your progress often rather than blindly planing away.

I rather doubt that problems you describe come from the sole of the plane. You could give it a quick check with any kind of straight edge or ruler. It is not that having a very flat sole would not be helpful, but that the situation you describe suggests that you are not taking the kind of partial length shavings that would remedy the situation.

Really? The Charlesworth video's are well done and should be recommended viewing. Of course there are more than one way to accomplish most tasks. Working in the dark might be good for some.

[Warren Mickley]

Really? The Charlesworth video's are well done and should be recommended viewing. Of course there are more than one way to accomplish most tasks. Working in the dark might be good for some.

I think the difference is that Charlesworth is just planing to true up a board that has already been worked on a machine jointer. His techniques reflect that fact.

[Brian Eaton]

If I could piggyback on this thread...when flattening a board that has a cup to it, should start with the concave or convex face first?

[Phil Mueller]

Warren, your point is well taken. If starting from rough stock with considerable twist, cup, etc., David’s method could take forever to flatten. His method is probably best when dealing with thousands of an inch, not fractions.

Should probably also mention that when working on the convex side, there might be a need to shim underneath to keep the board from flattening artificially as you plane.

[James Pallas]

Starting out for myself I learned several lessons early on. The first and most important was to spend some time evaluating the material. Get out your tools for this first, leave the planes in the tool chest. I like string lines, long straight edges, winding sticks, crayons, chalk, and pencils. Look at the material picture what you are trying to get out of it and then evaluate. Ask yourself the question, can I get what I want out of this piece. ie. I have a 1" board 10' long and I need an 8' board 7/8" thick. You find your piece has. 1/2" bow and a1/4" twist. You may need to find another piece of material. Evaluate first! Or you are prepping a piece for another project. Once you find a board that will work then keep evaluating until you have a clear picture of what you are going to do to prepare your board. Now chose your weapon, saw?, scrub plane?, Jack plane, so forth and so on. Now you are ready to spend calories.
Jim

[david charlesworth]

Warren,

I wonder if your "roundness" has anything to do with the minute bumps that develop in my edges after repeated through shavings? Just a few thou".

It is not a claim. I started cabinetmaking in 1971, some 47 years ago.

David Charlesworth

[Simon MacGowen]

Too late to the party, but if you are still looking for an authoritative resource for flattening boards in a "cookbook" fashion, to borrow Warren's description, try the Essential Woodworker, R. Wearing, Lost Art Press. It describes a "mechanical, consistent method" that flattens a board with confidence. It is as fool-proof as any hand approach can be....Wearing should have named it as "The Very Board Flattening Technique for the Dummies." On removing high spots, a common beginner's mistake is to start from one end to the other end. Start where the high spot is about to begin. Some use a plane taking off approach while Paul Sellers lifts up the heel of the plane as soon as the plane passes the high spot. Try both to see which one works better for you.

Sorry, I just can't resist saying this: Guided practice (by reading, watching a video -- Charlesworth's or Sellers', or through the help of a skilled plane user) will make a huge difference here. After successfully planing a board flat, your next challenge, if you're in for it, is to plane an edge straight and square to its reference face freehand (not using a fence). Many many plane users struggle with it. James Krenov offers great advice on that topic (forgot the name of his book).

Simon

[Warren Mickley]

Warren,

I wonder if your "roundness" has anything to do with the minute bumps that develop in my edges after repeated through shavings? Just a few thou".

It is not a claim. I started cabinetmaking in 1971, some 47 years ago.

David Charlesworth

David, Here is what you wrote just two years ago on this forum:

"If you take five or ten shavings off these "Straight edges" they will develop a small hump.

Handplanes do not have the correct geometry to produce straight edges on their own.

Perfectly set up machines do, but they have a moving "in table" "or front sole" which hand planes do not.

I find few people who are happy with these facts!"

I tried this with my own plane, taking 10 and then 100 shavings with no apparent hump. As I wrote in response at the time, I would alter the plane if it performed in the manner you described.

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....ng-a-bow/page2

[Jim Koepke]

My early experience with this was a convex bowing of a board can be caused by one's technique.

Especially for beginners it is common for a person to press down on their plane while moving the plane forward. At the start there is increased pressure on the knob. As the full length of the plane is one the work there is a tendency to relax the pressure until the plane reaches the end of the piece being worked and downward pressure is applied on the tote.

Makes me want to go out and take some shavings to see how much variation can be had from one end to the other. Unfortunately my shop is undergoing some 'spring cleaning' at the moment and there are other chores in the greenhouse that need tending.

Another similar problem is if a long piece is being planed without support and is flexing.

jtk