Help preparing a rough sawn Ash board

[Andrew Hughes]

I’ve found some woods just cannot be hand planed after kiln dried.
Kiln dried with knots doesn’t sound like fun.

Good Luck

[Stephen Rosenthal]

Just finished paring off a number of Cocobolo dowels from the sides of a project with my rarely used LN chisel plane. Was very fast and left a perfect surface. I’ve often thought about selling it but can now envision a number of uses for it. I know you probably don’t have one, but considering that it utilizes a slicing action and Cocobolo end grain is likely as hard as a knot in ash, any reason why it wouldn’t be the perfect tool for the job?

[Rafael Herrera]

I spent some time on the plank last night. I adjusted the chip breaker closer to the edge, installed the cambered cutter in the no. 5 plane, and planed diagonally. I think it was better than my previous times. I need to sharpen the blades for my next session, my no 3 was not cutting. I also have a 5 1/4 and a 5 1/2 that I have not tuned yet. I'll try those in the next few days.

[Mike Brady]

In my experience building projects from white ash, including a large work bench, I found it very difficult to plane without tearout. It sounds like you are getting some good advice on technique. When I flatten my workbench top, I first work with a 5-1/2 that has a toothed iron in it. I finish up with a scraper or scraper plane. This is not the same as furniture work where even a small amount of tearout is problematic. I'll have to try the super-close -set chip breaker. Just be aware that ash is very porous, and a grain filler may have to be applied before the topcoat if you want a glassy smooth result.

[Stew Denton]

Tom,

Do you have a link to the discussion on David Weavers technique?

Thanks and regards,

Stew

[Tom Trees]

Tom,

Do you have a link to the discussion on David Weavers technique?

Thanks and regards,

Stew

The're is an article named Setting the Cap Iron on Wood Central,
and here one of a few videos he has made on the subject
I


That's the best I can do for ya.
Maybe some tips might help like checking your ends often, which might catch you out as there's more effort to keep on top of being square
since your not hollowing the work out as much,
and in the haste of getting rid of tearout from the scrub/jack may distract oneself.
You still can hog off a whole lot with it set close.
If you get tearout still, maybe switch to a narrower iron like a no.4 or no.5.
This will mean that the setting you have on the plane your using, is what one might call a reduced tearout or a less influenced cap iron setting for that particular piece of timber.
This range of influences will depend on what works for other folk on their timber.

I have a feeling the condition on the sole of the plane has a more important role to play rather than with a larger cambered iron, for two reasons I can think of...

The first obvious one is still being able to take a narrow shaving with a reduced tearout setting that's a bit closer than a 32" from the iron.
Nice for the times one piece is a bit more cantankerous than the rest on my no.51/2, but not bad enough for the no.4 to come out.

The second being, I've started working on shorter stock after working on long lengths for some time, this has only become obvious to me.
Since I use reclaimed door components and such, the irons need honing often from planing varnish and crud off.
I noticed that my unfettled no.5 1/2 was tending to take a heavier bite at the beginning of the cut and it was causing an inconsistency, not all that noticeable when working door stiles
but I'll bet I would notice it more now, but it took these short lengths of cranky grain stock with an iron which was dull (would still do a few swipes easily on the next piece of iroko though)
Another noticeable thing is the plane refusing to cut in the middle of a reasonably flat edge, I think I will give this plane a kiss and experiment in the future.


Tom

[lowell holmes]

I would start with a belt sander and finish with a plane.

https://www.homedepot.com/s/planer?NCNI-5

[Rafael Herrera]

So far using my heavy camber blade on an enlarged mouth Wards Master no. 5 plane has been the most effective. Using the blade with a MF no 9 was not effective.

I have cleaned out most of the rough areas on the top of the plank. I cleaned some tears and created new ones, it's not bad at the moment. I need to figure out what to do with the bottom, maybe use a hand held belt sander.

I also used a 5 1/2 with a lightly cambered blade to continue smoothing the surface and it has worked relatively well.

I tried to use a no. 3 plane to try to clean up the areas around the knots and it wasn't effective at all, it kept stopping on its track. There's something goofy with this plane, I need to keep tuning it.

I also tried to set the chip breaker close to the edge with a no.4 and no.5 planes with no significant improvement. I think I'll continue to use the 5 1/2 to level the surface a little more and try again with the smoother with the close to edge chip breaker.
Lowell, I rather not use power tools. I was reminded of why last Sunday while making some boxes for a beekeeper friend. Donning the respirator, ear muffs and goggles before using the table saw is a pain; on top of that the goggles didn't seal well and I was getting dust in my eyes.

[Anuj Prateek]

As you can see in the picture, there is a large knot in the middle of the slab. As I try to clean it up I get deep tears.

Noob advise, to be taken with grain of salt.

Recently, when I was flattening a board, some knots were causing tear outs, uneven cuts and no cuts.

I took a 1/4" chisel and relived the knot and a little surrounding area. During planning I had to do it few times whenever plane would start hitting the knot. But it solved the problem.

[lowell holmes]

A thickness planer makes shavings, not dust.

[Bill McDermott]

Knots are hard.
They are essentially a dense section of end grain in the middle of your face grain board. When I have problems with end grain (and knots), I use some denatured alcohol to soften it up. It always helps. It might make some of the other suggestions even easier. The other thing is to slice at the knot. Don't plane (or chisel) it head on. Use the blade as if you were whittling that specific location working from the edge to the center of the knot. Anyway, knots are hard. Nothing changes that.

I've noticed that Ash often tears out where the cathedral peaks feather out to nothing. It got me to the point that I broke down and used the sander on a top that need to be perfect. Then again, your slab has enough checks and anomalies that I wonder if a more rustic finish will work on your project? A little tear out is not always a deal breaker.

Good news is that you have a live edge slab with lots of character. Straight grain pine would have been boring.

[Rafael Herrera]

Bill, thank you for the suggestion, I had never heard of using alcohol to soften the knots, I'll give it a try. I wonder if mineral spirits could also work, it won't evaporate as fast and will not leave a noticeable residue.

I made some progress in the last few days, I've been paring down the board as there was some dry rot from laying down outside several years without cover. Here is the board before I cut the ends and some of the sides, I sprayed some water to highlight the grain. The light colored wood on the right edge is dry rotted wood. The worst is in the upper right corner.

Rafael

P.S. I also found this page informative regarding solvents: https://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/a_primer_on_solvents

[Jim Koepke]

Rafael, that is a pretty piece of wood for a coffee table.

You may want to install a couple of butterfly dutchmen into the crack to keep it from splitting any more.

jtk

[Rafael Herrera]

Here is what the board looks like at the moment, I wetted it with mineral spirits to accentuate the grain. There are a few stains that I will try to remove with oxalic acid. I've never done a live edge coffee table, but since this is my first try, I'm experimenting.

The other side is still a little bit rough and has a large knot hole. I'll just clean it up a little bit further.

I will be inserting the butterflies next and start searching for legs. Any suggestions regarding attaching legs to a slab? It is not perfectly flat. Three legs or four legs?

Rafael

[Jim Koepke]

Any suggestions regarding attaching legs to a slab? It is not perfectly flat. Three legs or four legs?

As to attaching the legs, either a frame or battens would work. Another would be to build a trestle type support. This is similar in some ways to using battens with a different leg design.

With a frame to support the slab, L-shaped buttons in slots along the aprons would hold the slab while allowing for wood movement. With battens holding the legs it would be necessary to have slots so as the slab wood moved the screws wouldn't cause binding against the battens.

jtk