Replies

1. 
   CKing62 | Apr 25, 2002 01:49am | #1

   I've used a jack plane and a smoothing plane with extremely sharp blades and skewed them to the wood but still had a straight push or pull. This may not be the answer your looking for but it worked grest for me.

   Chris

2. 
   Andrew | Apr 25, 2002 01:59am | #2

   you can use a damp cloth or a spray bottle to moisten the woods surface. this has worked for me when i'm planing tricky grain. just remember to dry off any metal on your thickness planer that may have gotten damp. hope this helps

3. 
   chairmake1 | Apr 25, 2002 02:55am | #3

   The misting of the surface on the wood just before sending it thru

   the planer is a good trick and works if you take very light passes

   when you get it close to the thickness that you want then it's best

   to use hand planes. Make sure that they are very sharp and then finish up with a card scraper.

   With this type of surface treatment- use oil to make the grain really pop.

   good luck,

   Robert

1. 
   RLMillard | Apr 25, 2002 04:45am | #4

   I have found it helpful when planing curly maple (or any figured wood) to put a back bevel on the planer knives. This may make the machine work harder, so take a lighter cut. This back bevel makes more of a scraping cut. When used in combination with the wetting technique described above, you can get some excellent finish cuts. I still follow with a very sharp, finely set hand plane or hand scraper.

4. 
   forestgirl | Apr 25, 2002 08:40am | #5

   If you have a sly streak in you, you could use this situation as an excuse to buy the new Delta 2-speed planer.  ;-)

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl   ;-)

1. 
   tck | Apr 25, 2002 03:57pm | #6

   Thanks to all for good advice on preventing the tearout, but what do I do with the tearout I already have? Any suggestions. This wood's too expensive to screw up. I've used curly maple quite a bit in the past and never had this amount of tearout. I put new blades in the planer (Delta 12 1/2") just before planing the maple, so I would assume they're sharp. I also take very light passes with each cut (1/32"). FG, maybe I should scheme to get the new 2 speed:)

   Edited 4/25/2002 12:20:37 PM ET by TCKLINGER

1. 
   schriner | Apr 26, 2002 06:07pm | #8

   With _some_ success I have made a slurry with dust from sanding the wood to be filled and the finish to be used later.  I've used a water based finish for this and a polyurethane finish.  The water base was kind of successful, it filled the holes, but I didn't like the way it looked, didn't really like the waterbase finish look at all though.  The poly was a finish from FWW mag involving wiped on 1/2 fast drying poly and 1/2 vm&p naptha.  I love this finish.  The filling with this was very successful.  Looked almost like wood figure.

1. 
   tck | Apr 26, 2002 06:28pm | #9

   Thanks, Ken. I have tried that method using clear shellac as the binder and it did look fairly good. I think I read somewhere about using clear epoxy to fill the tearout. Does this work? What happens to the epoxy when you sand it? Does it remain clear or does it cloud up?

1. 
   schriner | Apr 27, 2002 02:10am | #10

   Oh, thanks for the comment about shellac.  I had forgotten using that in the same manner also.  Poly works just as well as shellac.  I would only use poly under poly though.  I'd feel comfortable trying shellac under anything, including water based.  Sorry, I've not used epoxy for wood filling ever.

   When you used shellac, did you mix it with sanded sawdust, or just put heavy shellac in the divots?  Thanks!

2. 
   tck | Apr 29, 2002 05:01pm | #11

   Mixed with sanded sawdust. Works well, except it seems to get darker than the surrounding wood when finished.

5. 
   trynhrd | Apr 26, 2002 02:23am | #7

      My limited understanding of working with figured woods suggests

   that tear out should be expected with planning due to the configuration

   of the fibers. I sat on a small cash of highly figured 'fiddle back' maple for

   2 years until I could afford a drum sander. The results were worth the wait.