Replies

1. 
   Scrit | Jan 08, 2004 07:03am | #1

   Next time try grinding a back bevel on your blade of 5 degrees or so (to give the equivalent of a York pitch), closing up the mouth and setting the chipbreaker very close to the edge of the blade. A thicker blade (like those sold by Ron Hock or Veritas) also helps reduce chatter and tearout as they don't flex as much. Providing your plane has a flat sole in front of the mouth (that might be worth checking, too) you should be able to reduce the tearout significantly - alternatively you could always buy a LN jointer with a York pitch frog, but my what a price for so few pieces it'll ever see.

   Which glue are you using? Some glues like UF (urea formaldehyde) or RF (resorcinol formaldehyde) are better at gap filling than others. If you concerned about joint strength you could always introduce a loose tongue into the joint (stop the ends of the grooves if you want to make it invisible), but I suspect you will probably find whatever glue you use produces a stronger joint than the wood itself, even with 5 to 10 percent of tearout.

   Scrit  

   
   

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   Edited 1/7/2004 11:06:34 PM ET by Scrit

2. 
   ian | Jan 08, 2004 01:15pm | #2

   Dustin

   were you planing with or against the grain ?

   this could be a factor

1. 
   Drose | Jan 09, 2004 08:38am | #6

   I was planing with the grain, but the maple is kinda curly, and the grain was pretty flat.  i tried to plane both ways and got tearout every where.  I put the board across my ww2 blade on the table saw, but have always read that a planed surface yields the best glue joint, so i was still trying to plane it.  The planed edges are just case sides with the tearout not affecting any of the joinery to come or even breaking the surface significantly.  I have a cabinet scraper.  Would that give me a better surface than sand paper?

   thank you

1. 
   ian | Jan 09, 2004 11:54am | #7

   Dunstin

   don't use the cabinet scraper, the tool is not designed to produce the long straight edge needed for jointing.  If you are just jointing the boards to make a case side, I'd be inclined to glue them together as they are.  There shouldn't be much force on the joint so even with 5-10% tearout there should be ample redundancy.  If it were a table top I'd be more concerned.

   Ian

2. 
   VeniciaL | Jan 09, 2004 05:12pm | #8

   Dustin,

   Maple is one of the most frustrating woods in this respect. Sometimes it seems there is no direction that the wood will allow planing without tearout. I find that I can usually find one direction to work, although it is just impossible to "read" the grain beforehand to find that direction.

   I would not hesitate to use the surface produced by the WW II blade for jointing.

   Curly maple really forces you to examine your planing technique and your blade sharpening skills. You CAN get tear-out free results with a VERY sharp blade, with the plane held skewed to the direction of travel set for a light cut. Sometimes it requires a low-set plane, sometimes a higher angle. But the key is edge sharpness. And that means a perfectly lapped back and a perfectly formed edge. And a high quality plane that really holds the iron firmly. The slightest tendancy to chatter and it won't work. This is one of those situations where spending a lot of money on a "high-end" tool is really justified. I use wooden body planes, and I believe that helps, but it's probably because I've gotten used to the particular behavior of the few I use.

   And the wood has to KNOW you know what you're doing.

   VL

3. 
   Ricky_Yu | Jan 08, 2004 02:02pm | #3

   I agree with Scrit that the joint may be strong enough, even without a spline. However, if your boards are not down to their final widths yet, I suggest taking them to the table saw and rip off the offending tearout. I assume the edges, while exhibiting tearout, is straight so that you can register them against the rip fence. Use a good ripping blade, like one that advertises a glue-line rip. Some light sanding afterwards may be in order, but use a sanding block to keep the edges square and sand evenly along the entire length.

4. 
   JohnWW | Jan 08, 2004 05:59pm | #4

   Dustin,

   What are you planing the face, the edges, or the tenon faces?

   John W.

5. 
   Andrew | Jan 08, 2004 09:30pm | #5

   First, try dampening the wood with some water from a spray bottle, and if that doesn't work, simply use your table saw to rip clean edges.