Replies

1. 
   SteveSchoene | May 21, 2010 12:49pm | #1

   Tiger Maple

   Tiger or Curly maple is just one variant of maple.   Often sold at a premium, it is common enough that it isn't always graded out of maple stocks.  But the figure does make planing or jointing a challenge.  There are a number of approaches.   The most expensive is to have spiral cutters on those tools.  A finely set, VERY sharp hand plane also can work, especially with a steeper than "usual" blade angle, such as York Pitch (55°).  Abrasive tools also don't follow the figure so greatly.  Sometimes dampening the wood surface helps, and of course the blades must be VERY sharp.  Take light cuts as well. 

   All that said, the best solution is to save that curly maple for projects where the beauty of the figure can be shown off.  Get more ordinary, straight grained maple for the bench.  It's also more stable. 

2. 
   bduffin104 | May 23, 2010 11:25pm | #2

   I love that soft maple. Our local hardwood supplier keeps it in stock and there seems to be plenty with figured or tiger striped grain that sells for the same as common and is what I use a lot..

   I use two relatively inexpensive planers. The straight blade 15" Grizzly I use for getting rough lumber down to almost final size but does not provide a perfect finish as the serrated feed rollers leave marks with light passes and the blades are not always razor sharp. Then I use my 12" Delta portable for making only the light final pass. I keep the Delta equipped with very sharp blades and for some reason this tool provides a buttery smooth chip free (well, almost) surface even on the tiger grain maple. If I apply moderate upward pressure on the end of the board both entering and exiting the machine, I can avoid snipe. Very minimal sanding with a RO hand sander is all that's needed.

   Good dust and chip removal is essential. I had to modify the chip deflector on the  Delta to fit a dust collector boot on it. I could not get a really good surface until I was able to remove all the chips from the machine as the wood passed through.

   My method is not what you would call "high production" but works good for me on small projects.

   If the top you are building is wider than your planer then start by laying up sections just a little narrower than the planer and dress those larger sections individually before joining them together. That way you will  have only one or two joints to hand plane where I would use a freshly sharpened smoothing plane crossing the joint at an angle taking very thin shavings.

   It will be interesting to read some of the various methods other use.

   good luck, Bret