Solid wood panels - what hand plane for smoothing

[Boris Nimipad]

Thank you for all advices and tips. I think I will try to get LN no 3 and LV custom 4 at first chance I get. I'd just like to have at least one plane from LV and LN.
I never thought of card scraper for this job, maybe I'll try it if I get one.

In a future I might use those kind of glue up panels but made from oak so I'm assuming that BD no3 or no4 will also be the best for smoothing?

[Robert Engel]

Thank you for all advices and tips. I think I will try to get LN no 3 and LV custom 4 at first chance I get. I'd just like to have at least one plane from LV and LN.
I never thought of card scraper for this job, maybe I'll try it if I get one.

In a future I might use those kind of glue up panels but made from oak so I'm assuming that BD no3 or no4 will also be the best for smoothing?

I think you’re going to get a lot of tear out due to shifting grain directions. Start on some scrap or the back side.

Let us know how it works out, but I’m pretty sure my advice ti leave it alone is the best

Tip - when you glue up a panel, orient the boards with same grain direction. Not always easy when trying to match grain, but if you’re hand planing it’s a priority.

[Kevin Jenness]

Well, I got sent to the woodshed, which was not a bad thing. I flattened the chipbreaker on my #4 smoother so it meets the blade cleanly, polished the nose and set it close to the freshly honed blade's tip, flattened the top pressure plate so it holds the chipbreaker and blade tight, and back-beveled the planes mouth so chips would not jam up with a close opening. I don't have any random laminated knotty spruce (nor will I) but I was able to get clean results on some quilted maple and reversing grain mahogany. So far so good, and thanks for the push.

I am primarily a wood machinist using hand tools at the margins. I have access to a wide belt sander so I normally go in that direction with gnarly wood, but it is nice to have the option.

[Scott Winners]

I realize I am late to the party here, but is nice to have options. I do have a Bailey #3 dialed in real nice, but I also have a suite of scrapers, and I got sandpaper. I think all are valid approaches, it just depends on what the wood requires in the moment. Card scrapers are very cheap for what they can do, I have some from both LV and LN. I prefer a carbide burnisher, but that discussion is a whole other can of worms.

[Jim Koepke]

I realize I am late to the party here, but is nice to have options. I do have a Bailey #3 dialed in real nice, but I also have a suite of scrapers, and I got sandpaper. I think all are valid approaches, it just depends on what the wood requires in the moment. Card scrapers are very cheap for what they can do, I have some from both LV and LN. I prefer a carbide burnisher, but that discussion is a whole other can of worms.

Scott, since my skill with planes has improved my use of sandpaper approaches zero. Mostly my sandpaper is used on the lathe or when working metal.

Other great tools for removing wood is rasps or floats.

jtk

[Jack Dover]

Hey Boris!

The issue is not with the plane. People like Mike or Robert (or may others on this forum) can get a glass smooth surface with a BORG plane (which is slightly better than a hunk of cast iron with some paint splashed). Your issue is with the material. You might find it hard to believe but there are woods that can't be planed, period.

Why do you think this board is glued and finger jointed? It's because these trees were not mature enough to produce a minimally acceptable board or made from offcuts. They have so many knots and glue lines to a square inch that I doubt there's any steel that will not chip - meaning you will spend 5 mins sharpening for every minute of planing. Maybe some M* steel from China at 65HRC would hold, but I doubt you'll get an angle low enough for planing this type of SPF, which really resembles a wet cardboard and glass sandwich. And this is the reason why they come sanded - even industrial planer blades can't stand it. They didn't bother to orient the grain either. Scraping pine has its own chapter in ICD-10 btw.

You have mentioned you're in EU (which country btw?), some parts of it don't gave access to the markets US guys enjoy. Having a premium tool is nice too. Just don't conflate owning a nice tool and being able to plane this particular board well, there's quite a long bridge between these.

You're correct about DIY furniture making, it's just it's the type of furniture screwed together with black drywall screws if you know what I'm talking about.

[Boris Nimipad]

About knots - these boards came in different grading. Grading A don't have any knots or at least it should have very little. Unfortunately the shop I'm buying from don't hold every grading, my boards are grading B with some knots. But they cut them to your measurements that's why I buy there

I'm from Slovenia, we don't have anything from LV or LN here, I order hand tools mainly from Germany.

Well, I'm using spax wood screws and dovels with glue and even some pocket holes

[Eric Erb]

Hello Boris! I have a cousin in Ljubljana! I had big trouble with hand planes until I took a class on hand tool woodworking. The planes were nothing special ( they were bevel down with a cap iron). What mattered the most was sharpness. These planes were perfect, I’d never even seen an edge quite like that. We made dovetail boxes and the plane went across the face and end grain perfectly. I hope this helps.

[Alan Schwabacher]

It's true that it's easiest to plane straight grained stock in the right direction, and build up your skills later.

But learning to plane wood with reversing grain can be done without long experience if you make sure to sharpen well and to properly use the cap iron. Look at the post by Kevin Jeness in this thread: he tried it successfully based on impetus from earlier suggestions in this thread.

While I like scrapers, partly because their simplicity appeals to me, softwood does not always respond well to scraping. It is probably not the best choice here where the OP wants a polished surface.

[Kevin Jenness]

Hello Boris! I have a cousin in Ljubljana! I had big trouble with hand planes until I took a class on hand tool woodworking. The planes were nothing special ( they were bevel down with a cap iron). What mattered the most was sharpness. These planes were perfect, I’d never even seen an edge quite like that. We made dovetail boxes and the plane went across the face and end grain perfectly. I hope this helps.

I would say that sharpness is necessary but not sufficient. I have been using hand planes for decades with middling results, and my sharpening has not changed much. What really made a difference for me in planing contrary grain was getting the cap iron well fitted and held down evenly on the blade with the leading edge polished and set close to the blade's edge.

[steven c newman]

I learned long ago how to "read" the grain...and then move the plane according....key being to work with the grain, and not try to go against it. Question I usually have...why are they fighting the grain in the first place? Secondly...see-through shavings are very nice and pretty to see...when one is try to just show off......however, such thin shavings fail to get the actual work DONE, unless one has the entire day to do the task.

I tend to work with either Quarter sawn Ash, or just plain old Pine....Mainly with 100 yr old planes.....Guess it is more about the skill of the operator, than who made the plane.......

[Kevin Jenness]

why are they fighting the grain in the first place?

Guess it is more about the skill of the operator, than who made the plane.......

There's plenty of wood where you can't just "go with the grain"- curly, knotty, ribbon stripe, etc. Some of the skill is in setting up the plane to deal with those ornery pieces.

[Andrew Seemann]

Slovenia? I'm jealous, not only can you go to Vesele Stajerke concerts in person, but you can understand them also

I don't know that I would pick knotty spruce to learn hand planing on, especially that nasty, splintery Nordic stuff. On a practical consideration, if your wood has been rough sanded to 80 grit already, you are going to be hitting embedded grit in that wood as you plane, dulling your blade as you fight those knots and the reversing grain around them. Card scrapers are great on hardwoods, but they don't work well on softwoods, especially spruce with its hard and soft rings.

Learning hand tool skills is great, and planing is a wonderful way to work wood, but I'd recommend using your random orbit sander for this project, and learn your hand tool skills on wood more friendly to planing and less destructive to your planes.

Navihanke actually toured the US and came to my state, but I was unable to make the show. Drat it all! My dad played accordion and I grew up playing the family polka band, so I appreciate the younger generations keeping the music alive

[Jim Koepke]

why are they fighting the grain in the first place? Secondly...see-through shavings are very nice and pretty to see...when one is try to just show off......however, such thin shavings fail to get the actual work DONE, unless one has the entire day to do the task.

There's plenty of wood where you can't just "go with the grain"- curly, knotty, ribbon stripe, etc. Some of the skill is in setting up the plane to deal with those ornery pieces.

Besides this Kevin the OP is working with panels made of glued up end cuts and mill scrap. The pieces are not oriented with the grain going the same way.

If Shavings Could Talk.jpg

The title of this image is, "If Shavings Could Talk." One thing they could say is, "if you want to remove a 1/16" from this edge it will take you a lot of work."

A thin shaving is helpful to not only determine if the blade is sharp but can be useful when setting the lateral adjustment.

A thin shaving for final smoothing doesn't create more work like a tear out prone thicker shaving does.

In cases with squirrelly grain, taking a thin shaving or two against the majority of the grain can tame the area with reversing grain while leaving the rest in great shape. This requires using the chip breaker effectively.

There is a time for making thick shavings and other times for taking as thin of a shaving as is possible. Unless of course one wants a rustic look rendered by tear out from monster shavings.

jtk

[Kevin Jenness]

This is a pretty clear video on the why and how of tuning and setting a chipbreaker for minimal tearout https://www.theenglishwoodworker.com...ear-out-video/