Replies

1. 
   RMillard | Nov 10, 2006 01:53pm | #1

   Wetting the wood just a few minutes before planing helps considerably.Be sure to wax your plane bottom and never let the plane sit on a wet surface, as it will leave a stain. After planing wet wood, I take the iron out and wipe it down, or take a few strokes on dry wood, to make sure it doesn't rust.

    At the risk of stating the obvious, the plane iron must be impeccably sharp. While a dedicated high angle frog plane certainly helps, nearly the same results can be had by honing a very small back bevel on the iron ( on a bevel down plane).  A very light cut is also in order. I'm sure others will say that a tight throat is essential, but of the many factors influencing a planed surface, this is by far the least important. On my planes I set the frog so that the iron is supported as close to cutting edge as possible, and pay no attention to the throat. On many planes, a tight throat will leave the last bit of iron unsupported and can lead to chatter.

   Rob Millard

   
   

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   Edited 11/10/2006 10:48 pm ET by RMillard

2. 
   derekcohen | Nov 10, 2006 03:01pm | #2

   Everything that Rob said ... plus add a 15 degree backbevel to increase the cutting angle to 60 degrees.

   Regards from Perth

   Derek

3. 
   Ronaway | Nov 10, 2006 05:45pm | #3

   Derek and Rob have given you some great things to consider to improve the performance of your planes on the curly maple. I will only add that you need to take notice of grain direction and plane the direction that gives you the best results. Now you may think that this is obvious, however reading the grain in curly maple can be a bit harder than in less figured woods. I found that running my hand over the wood gave me a better indication of planing direction that anything that I could ascertain from visual inspection. If you have two smoothers using them in tandem can be a real advantage. Set both for a light cut but one a bit heavier that the other. Work the high spots down with the one set heavier and do the final passes with the plane set light. This speeds the work along and lets you do more work between sharpenings. I also agree that a tight throat is only an advantage as long as the plane iron is well supported on the back.

   Ron

   Ron

1. 
   lare | Nov 11, 2006 03:01pm | #4

   Thank you all for your replies. Ronaway I absolutiely agree with you about grain direction. I can't read it at all and end up running a plane each way to see which is better. Sounds like a back bevel will help and I do have extra blades so I'll play with that and see how we go. Thank you.

1. 
   pzgren | Nov 13, 2006 10:26pm | #5

     The advice about a sharp iron is probably the most important single thing to get you good results (if it won't pull whispy, curly shavings off end-grain pine, it ain't sharp enough yet...). Also, if you find places where the plane just won't do anything for you, try a card scraper with a fresh burr on that area; just be careful not to scrape a hollow into your board.

     Good luck!Tschüß!

   Mit freundlichen holzbearbeitungischen Grüßen aus dem Land der Rio Grande!!

   James

2. 
   daryl | Nov 14, 2006 06:40pm | #6

   Anyone who knows me knows I am my woodworking club's handplane wonk. I love old infills, new ones, wood ones, I use them all. I also use a lot of curly maple-in many ways it's my favorite wood to work, since the finish is so beautiful. That said, the only planes I've found that will a actually plane it well is two of my Japanese smoothers. Also one heavy bladed infill smoother. Yes the blade has to be very sharp, surgically so. The throat opening has to be microscopic--that is actually more important than the sharp blade, since the wood takes so many directions almost at once. It will scrape easily. However, there is nothing wrong with sanding it. The Egyptians practiced abrasive finishing thousands of years ago, so just consider it maintaining an old tradition.The idea of wetting the wood will work in a jointer (well, lightly dampening it anyway); don't do it with a hand plane. The last thing you need is unwanted moisture either on an iron blade and plane, or on a wood plane. If you do plane, take very angled strokes, and be prepared to shift that angle at any time; long strokes only work with the Japanese planes--the irons are so hefty, when sharp they will slice through anything. And changing the angle of attack changes the angle of incidence, sort of like having a 50 degree plane.

1. 
   RMillard | Nov 15, 2006 03:16am | #7

    

   Daryl,

   Everyone has their own methods, but the wetting of the wood is not an idea; I do it every time I plane curly maple ( especially with molding planes). My LN 4 1/2 with the high angle frog will leave a flawless surface on highly figured maple,  but an even more predictable one with a wetted surface. If one were worried about the moisture, paint thinner will also work. I've tried it both ways, but since the water caused no problems, and the thinner has an odor, I go with the water.

   Rob Millard