[OP]
Member
I'm making a tabletop and thought it would be a good idea to use a plane to work down some height differences between boards. Unfortunately I got a gouge. I've been trying to sand it out, but with a 80" x 21" area, its a ton of sanding. I was thinking I could put a rougher belt on my sander or get a card scraper that won't catch the grain quite as easily. Any recommendations on best way to tackle this?
Contributor
Not sure how you get a gouge with a hand plane. Do you mean tear out? Sharpen the hand plane and set it for a very fine cut. Then skew the plane and feather out the area. You'll keep the top as flat as a rough grit belt sander for sure! A card scraper used to remove tear out will likely leave a divot. Not the greatest tool for making something flat.
Contributor
Just a thought - - call up some cabinet shops to see if they have a large drum sander and would run your piece through for a nominal cost.
Member
Do what Richard says. You will even it out over a large area and it will never be seen. Plane at a 45 degree angle to the grain. This will be far easier to finish sand than getting out a coarse belt and trying to get rid the sanding marks. Cheers
Every construction obeys the laws of physics. Whether we like or understand the result is of no interest to the universe.
Member
John,
I also was planing a table top and picked up the wrong plane and gouged it just as you described. I thought for sure it would need a wide belt, but a handscraper took it out beautifully. I would try this first.
Good luck.
Contributor
I was doing a tabletop this weekend and read the grain wrong in a couple places (and forgot the direction in a couple others) and had some tear out as well. I just scraped it out with a card scraper. Actually I scraped the whole top after planing, but I usually do that to get rid of any ridges left from the plane. If you don't curve the scrapper too much it blends in quite well.
I was originally going to run it though the Timesaver at the local high school, but it is being repaired, so I broke down and hand planed and scraped it instead.
Member
My fingers are hurting just thinking about that.Originally Posted by Andrew Seemann
Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.
Deep thought for the day:
Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.
Contributor
It was only a 28 x 44 top, so not too bad. Plus I had hand planed it, so I wasn't pulling out work hardened planer marks, just evening the tracks from a #3 smoother.My fingers are hurting just thinking about that.
Actually there are are a lot of ways to hold a card scraper comfortably that allow you to use it for a extended period of time; they just aren't the ones that are typically shown in books and videos. The "correct" position of two thumbs in the middle with two or three fingers behind the top corners is about as painful a way to use a card scraper as there is. Sometimes I wonder if it is the reason the card scraper isn't more popular.
Member
Wait! Don't leave us hanging here - what are some of the better ways to hold a card scraper?
Contributor
Getting more of your hand on the scraper, so you aren't putting as much pressure on individual fingers, helps a lot, as does changing grips frequently.
I tend to stand to the side of what I am scraping so I can "guide" the scraper with one hand by holding my fingers under the front side with my thumb on the back, and then I push with most of my fingers of my other hand on the back, parallel to the long side of the scraper. No one finger or thumb is doing much work this way. This also has the advantage of putting just enough pressure on the center of the scraper, so that the edges don't dig in, but not so much that you dish the work. You can rotate your guide hand as well and do other slight changes in grips.
Occasionally alternating between pushing and pulling helps, especially in the "correct" position. Using the scraper one handed helps rest the fingers of the other. And occasionally alternating between all six positions (sideways left, sideways right, away from your body, towards your body, right handed, left handed) helps even more. Also holding the scraper at a skew to the work can help keep it from bouncing or chattering.
It can also help to take a little lighter shaving. It is less strain on the fingers, and the scraper doesn't heat up as fast. If the scraper gets hot enough to be uncomfortable to hold, I always lighten up the pressure on both the scraper and the wood. I figure it is easier on my fingers and on the burr. I don't generally turn a big or aggressive burr, just one pass with the back of a carving chisel.
Experiment with different grips and techniques; the more different grips and attack angles and directions and skew angles you try, the more you will learn about using the tool. Some will work well, some won't work at all, and some will work better in some future situation you will run into. You really can't do too much damage with a scraper. If you do mess up, it is usually just a little more scraping to fix it; think of it as an opportunity for more practice
Member
Okay - this makes sense. I'll try some of these out. Thanks!
Member
I have a thickness planer and I have removed gouges by running the board through the planer taking a light pass.
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