A Knotty Problem

[Tom Bender]

Hand planing a piece of clear, straight grained Pine is a wonderful experience. I set it up for non woodworking visitors and it's always a hit. But throw in a knot and the world changes. Fine edges on hand tools and powered can be damaged as can the workpiece. And bits of wood can fly. Sometimes the adjacent wood grain is also troublesome. This is where experience matters so much. The right tool, technique and sharpness can all be challenged.

[Jimmy Harris]

Yeah, I work a lot of SYP and knots can be a serious problem, especially if they're hardened over with resin. I've also found that hand planes will ride up over the knot over time, leaving a small hump where the knot is. So I typically will attach the knot from different directions into the middle of the knot, over and over, and then make a full length pass. This also helps with the squirrely grain around the knot. Knotty pine is one of the most difficult woods to work, because it combines some of the hardest wood you'll find with some of the softest, all right next to each other.

Last week I was planing a board of hard maple that had a knot in it and I kept getting large chunks of tear out no matter which direction I approached it. After getting it "good enough", I took it over to the table say to rip it in half, near the knot, but not on it. My plan was to glue the two halves together and hide the knot and all of the tear out in the glue joint. But what I didn't realize, but should have, was the wood around the knot was darker because it was rotted or hardened from sap or something, which is what was giving me the large chunks of tear out. So when I ripped it on the table saw, it exploded when I got near the knot! I've never had a board do that to me. Shards of wood flew everywhere. Luckily, I wasn't hurt, as I was expecting something like kick back, so I was a safe distance away from the blade and the off to the side of the board. I learned a lesson that day, then forgot it, because I'm a cheapskate.

[Jim McCue]

When I was beginning I used lots of pine from Lowes. I didn't pay attention to the knots and found trouble whenever I needed to saw or drill right where a knot was. Probably took me too long to learn that lesson. I also paid no attention to where they were so they might appear front and center. Now I try to cut them out or at least move them to a less conspicuous spot. And certainly don't plan a saw cut or to drill a hole right into one.

I recently hand planed some basswood and it was downright pleasant. Probably good for beginner demonstrations.

[David Carroll]

I pretty much avoid knots wherever I can, but when they are unavoidable I just take my time and plane carefully. If one side of a board will be seen, then I plane one face very carefully. If I have thicknessing to do, I will do the bulk of it from the non-show side. I typically forego the scrub plane and start with a jack plane, I don't really care too much about blowout, as long as it doesn't affect the "show"side. Of course if the knot is on the edge, that's a different problem altogether.

Even with common pine No 2 (we used to call it) there are usually enough clear cuttings available for small projects. If I need long pieces, I will usually pay the price for select.

DC

[Jim Koepke]

Even with common pine No 2 (we used to call it) there are usually enough clear cuttings available for small projects. If I need long pieces, I will usually pay the price for select.

There is always a tape measure in my pocket. When selecting wood, care is taken to pick pieces for allowing to work around the knots. At times premium wood is bought for certain parts of a project.

jkt

[Eric Brown]

Try soaking the knots with denatured alcohol or Everclear. Use a low angle plane like you are doing end grain. Using those two together will make most knots manageable.

[John C Cox]

Another strategy is to make yourself a "Tooth" iron. I use the cheapie Buck Brothers irons and slot the bevel every 1/16" or so with a dremel cutting wheel. I only cut 1/16" deep or so. Sharpen as normal, and it will allow you to cut some really nasty stuff like knots and switchy grain relatively easily. Follow the "toothed" surface with a normal plane iron. Typically, it will plane all the little ribbons off without (much) trouble.