Re: Maple Workbench top planing problem

Yes the tob needs flattening.

The top is slightly twisted having stuck a straight edge across in different directions.

I am not looking for smooth. That is why I removed the varnish too. Boards just slid on it. Not sure why tops come with a finish on it, other than to prevent moisture from getting to them.

Tried at 45 degrees too. The thing that really gets me is the finger glue joints.. the grain can be two different directions on the glue up.
And when planing across the grain I have the same issue.

I'll continue with the jointer, but consider rebeveling. A couple of the tearouts went deep before I closed the mouth, so sanding isn't an option.

John Grossbohlin wrote:
"tiredofspam" <nospam.nospam.com> wrote in message news:rd2dncuEw7XecuvanZ2dnUVZ_qiinZ2d@xxxxxxxxxx
|I bought a maple slab from Woodcraft 2 years ago .. got a great buy.
| 2 1/4 30x57 for 129 ... used it for a setup bench..
|
| Now I want to use it for a workbench.
|
| So I used a cab scraper #80 to remove the varnish.
|
| Then I started to plane it.. tear out everywhere.
|
| This is a finger jointed glue up. I figured I could close the mouth on
| my #7 and plane across the grain, but some of this is quarter sawn, some
| is plain sawn, and the tear out is still occurring across.. every which way.
|
| I tried wetting it out, skewing doesn't help.
|
| Looking for advice on how to work it. I thought I had advanced in hand
| planing but I guess not.
|
| Next question... If I build my own top, do I orient the boards so that
| they plane easily? Is that what those of you who have built a top have
| done?

It's not clear to me from your post, did the top need to be flattened or just smoothed? If it just needs smoothing skip the No 7 and use a well tuned smoother set to take 1-2/1000s off and if need be a card scraper. Attack each board from the direction it planes best from... generally with the grain from one direction or the other. If you skew the plane a No 4 will take a relatively narrow cut so you may be able to work individual boards--particularly if you have some camber in the cutting edge. Use a tight mouth.

If it needs to be flattened first perhaps working at an angle e.g,. 45 degrees, to the length rather than across the width might yield better results and then move on to the smoother and card scraper skipping planing with the grain with the No 7.

Another point to consider is that if it's a work bench being flat is more important than smooth... smooth doesn't last long in my shop as tools, materials, etc., hit the surface but flat does. I take a card scraper to the surface occasionally to knock off any lumps.

John

PS. A York Pitch (e.g,. 50 degree) frog L-N No 4 handles these situations well if you are looking for an excuse to buy a new plane. ;~)





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