Hi,
I was given several S4S 5/4 hard maple boards, about 9″ wide and 4′ long that were bought online from a lumber supplier. The quality of the surfacing is what you would expect from an online retailer, decent but not usable. They have some noticeable twisting and cupping, just enough that they rock slightly and have a small visible gap down the centerline when placed on a flat surface.
I’ve been learning what I can about Western hand planes and intend to buy my first one, possibly two in the next few weeks and thought that flattening these boards would make for a good hands-on first project.
As I understand it when dimensioning and smoothing raw lumber the pecking order is usually: jack, jointing, smoothing. However, given that the boards have already been surfaced do I still want to start with a jack?
Thanks
Replies
Here's a great article by Andrew Hunter on flattening boards. Appears he starts with a jack plane to work out the wobble.
How to Prep Rough Lumber with Hand Tools
By Andrew Hunter #239–Mar/Apr 2014 Issue
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2014/02/05/how-to-prep-rough-lumber-with-hand-tools
Can you let us know what are your plans for this wood??
You can get by with just one plane. A No 4 is a good all around plane. Got watch Paul Seller's You Tube videos as he has lots of info. For quite a while all I had was one hand plane.
@ysu65
They will most likely be glued, cut to size, and finished as a replacement for some damaged (removable) shelves in a built-in wall unit.
Do you sharpen? Can you put a really first class edge on a plane blade? If that isn't part of your current skill set, any plane will just frustrate you.
I shave with a straight razor so my sharpening skills are dialed in pretty well. I also have a small Japanese block plane which I've sharpened a few times to good effect, though there was some trial and error involved. Overall I'm not concerned about the sharpening aspect.
Traditionally, the three planes (jack, jointer, smooth) were all different in length and in how the blades were sharpened. The jack is medium length, and the blade is sharpened with a very gentle arc across its width, as it is designed to take a fairly heavy cut, to remove wood quickly. (When surfacing rough lumber, it would be used after a scrub plane, which has a much more convex shape to the blade, and really rips the wood off.) The jointer plane is longer, to aid in straightening surfaces, and its blade is typically sharpened straight across, as you want an even cut for creating edge joints. The longer the plane, the straighter the resulting surface (assuming good technique from the user.) The smooth plane is shorter, and its iron is sharpened straight across with the corners rounded to keep them from digging in. It is used for final surfacing with a very light cut.
If you are only going to have one plane, try to get at least two irons. I would recommend at least a jack plane length, tho longer is better for what you intend to do. You will need to flatten the boards first, then plane the edges to be joined straight (or very slightly concave, called a "sprung" joint) and perpendicular to the flat surface. Don't try gluing up boards that are non-flat. A jointer plane can do this very well. Change to a blade sharped with the edges eased for final smoothing. A shorter smooth plane is more handy for final smoothing but not necessary.
I just glued up a 60" walnut top. My jointer and table saw did well, but not perfect enough to please me, so I refined the joints with a sharp jointer plane. It would have been very difficult to obtain the same results with a short smooth plane.
If the maple you have is hard maple, expect it to resist your plane a lot. You will know when the iron starts getting dull!
@jharveyb
Thanks for your explanation. I have a fascination with jointer planes (I don't know why) and was hoping to use this as an opportunity (excuse?) to get a #7 or possibly a #6 which seems a slightly more useful size for me. If I'm able to get a second plane at the same time then perhaps a #4 or similar. I don't own any of the big (electrical) shop tools and probably never will, but I think I can get by just fine with a jointer and smooth plane until I can fill out the range a bit more.
I started 35 years ago with a No 8 Record. I bought wood rough and finished it using only this plane. My first major project was a cherry blanket chest. It took me two weeks to dimension the wood (Insane I know)
My number 8 is still my favorite plane and I reach for it by default. The good news is the number and style of well made planes available today are myriad. I recommend you consider Lie Nielsen. You’ll own these planes for a lifetime. No need to skimp!
Make sure your plane irons are sharp. No woodworking tool performs adequately if it isn’t razor sharp.
Those two are what I would start with.
#6s are cheaper on the used market because most people like longer planes for jointing and shorter planes for roughing and smoothing. I did make do with a really nice Ohio #O6 I got about 4 years ago at a flea market for the first several years of woodworking. It had a tapered laminated blade which I liked. I still have it but now have found other longer jointers that I would use on a long board. (My current favorite is a long infill that looks owner made.)
To start, you can get by with just one plane. Certainly for this project. Get a #4 size. Buy a good plane, not new big box crap. You'll just get frustrated. Sharpen it really well. You can do everything on this project with it. It will be slower than starting with the heavier cut of a jack, but it will still get it done.
You can reevaluate your future planing needs after this is done.
Discussions about planes can get pretty heated, as everyone has their personal favorites, but from what you describe I would not reach for a number 4, instead without hesitation it would be my Lie-Neilson model 62 bevel up, the most versatile plane in my arsenal and the one I reach for most often. It can function as a jointer, scrub, smoother and with a spare blade or two ground at different angles handle the gnarliest of grain. It would be ideal for what you are looking to do. Although I fell into the trap of, you gotta get a #4 as your first plane adage, I reach for my 62 two to three times for every time I reach for the #4.
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2010/12/09/one-bench-plane-can-do-it-all
I would have to agree with esch5995. I probably have 20 hand planes, some old, some new, and some hand made. But the one that I think is the most useful and versatile is my Veritas low angle jack plane.
Its odd that a 4S4 board would be warped/twisted. Someone paid good money for board that were supposed to be dead flat! That said, regardless of the method used, removing the warps and twists will mean refinishing the surface after ward. I do this quite often on boards too large for my jointer or planer. If it is a really rough board, and/or badly warped I will start with a scrub plane at 45 degrees to the grain. Then use a Jack angled to the grain as kind of an intermediate scrub. Keep checking with a straight edge for level, flat untwisted. Then a jointer plane to knock off the high points. (note, up to about 20" x 20" you could use your jack for this step as well if you don't have a jointer plane). Then I finish off with the smoother plane to refinish the surface. The boards you describe should not be out by much, in which case you can likely skip the scrub plane and start with the jack plane angled to the grain. One one side is done, use a marking gauge to mark off the thickness you want using the good face you just made as the reference. Then repeat the steps on the other side coming down to your scribe line. In this case as the boards in theory were somewhat flat at some point you shouldn't need to remove much material and it shouldn't take long at all. Have fun!
I dare anyone to anyone to order a S4S board and have it arrive perfectly flat. Wood moves because of changes in environment, primarily humidity, and the shipping process exposes those boards to a myriad of different environments dooming them to cup and warp. I know of no serious woodworker who buys S4S wood because we know it will never be flat. We buy our wood in the rough, acclimate it to the conditions of our shop, then go through the milling process, often over a week or two. Even with all these precautions our wood still does not remain flat for long.
Thanks everyone for your feedback. I obviously have some decisions to make regarding the model.
@esch5995 I've been reading a lot recently about the pros/cons of BU vs. BD designs, some extremely in-depth and highly technical. It seems to be a highly contentious subject though I can see where a new user like myself could benefit, at least in certain respects, from a BU model.
As for buying new or used I haven't decided yet. Being on a budget buying used does present an opportunity to buy multiple models. It also forces me to learn how they work by restoring them. Paul Sellers has inspired me in this regard. I'm familiar with the usual suspects of current manufacturers like LN, Clifton, and Veritas and some of the ultra boutique makers like Holtey etc. which will always be out of reach for me, but it's still fun to look.
Whichever model I choose it will be my first Western plane and unlikely my last so I don't think I can go too far wrong with either a jointer or jack for this particular and very modest first milling project. Of course BD or BU is another matter.
Finished flattening a couple of 12" x 8' pieces of sapele with planes, prior to running through a friend's planer to get them to thickness. They were rough, slightly cupped, with some waves and twist near the end of one. I uses a #5, a#605 and a #7. Builds muscles and character.
After the plane(s), the next thing to have is a good straightedge about 4 feet in length. Without this, you will experience some frustration. Second comes chalk, and several sticks of it.