Greetings all,
This may have already been discussed but I didn’t find it. I have a nice jointer plane, but seem to have sloppy technique. When jointing a 36 inch pine board for a chest, I noticed that I was creating a concave surface – higher on the ends than in the middle. This was happening even though the plane was used over the entire length of the board. Any suggestions as to what I am doing wrong?
Tom Burke
Replies
I think there are a couple of possibilities.
1. That the surface the pine was on is not flat and that is being translated to the board. Pine is less stiff than many woods and would exacerbate this problem.
2. The board wasn't flat to start with and the plane isn't of sufficient length to correct that problem.
3. That you may be applying uneven pressure throughout the stroke. It's not always easy to engage the blade into the wood at the beginning of the stroke and slacking at the end is easy to do also.
4. You may be jointing too much. Jointing is usually done to eliminate marks from power equipment and to produce an absolutely flat surface and generally takes very few strokes. A lot of plane use can produce an uneven surface if you don't have some marks to work against. For example, I sometimes take short stock that won't fit through power equipment and rethickness it by hand. To do so requires a clear scribe at the desired thickness around all four sides. Simply running a plane across the surface is insufficient to get an evenly thicknessed board. You have to pay attention to areas that are "becoming" high or low and plane accordingly. If you're paying attention you do get a flat, evenly thicknessed surface. However, the plane doesn't necessarily produce that surface automatically due to its inherent flatness. There is some operator feedback required.
Jointer Plane
Recommend you buy the DVD "HANDPLANE BASICS" "A Better Way to Use Bench Planes with Christopher Schwarz". He is the editor of Popular Woodworking and Woodworking Magazine. Excellent DVD!
This DVD will teach you the correct handplane techniques for preparing boards for finishing. Your comment indicates that you are compounding the errors. The DVD is well worth the price for us hand tool types that learned the wrong technique at the onset of developing our woodworking skills.
Wish you well!
Rex Featherston
Possible causes for the concave surface
Tom:
It would be helpful to know what brand of jointer plane you have. If it is a Bailey style it is possible that the sole has a slight hump in front of the mouth. This will act as a fulcrum and cause the plane to rock in use, giving you a concave edge. I would check the plane for flatness. The toe, mouth, and heel need to be flat and in line with each other. It's okay for the plane's sole to be slightly concave between the toe and mouth and/or the mouth and heel. The easiest way to check this is to retract the iron so it isn't protruding and use a magic marker to paint the sole of the plane. Using 400 grit paper on a flat reference surface (tablesaw wing, jointer bed, piece of MDF, whatever you've got) move the plane back and forth in a straight line on the sandpaper for a few strokes and then check to see where the marker ink has been removed. If you do an Internet search on how to flatten a plane sole you can find multiple sets of instructions.
gdblake
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