Planing board w/ changing grain direction

jfynyson

Jeremy
User
I’m trying to true up a piece of birch for practicing hand cut joinery and just wanted to plane the edge grain for the heck of it to make it feel smooth. In doing so I noticed the grain goes from uphill to downhill on the same face due to a knot on the board’s face.

I’ve tried a Stanley #4 smoother as well as my Veritas low angle jack but I cannot get the edge flat across the entire length. I tried a shooting board and just in the vise.

Is there even a way to do this other than getting it close then finish with a card scraper ?
 

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Graywolf

Board of Directors, President
Richard
Staff member
Corporate Member
Mike is right, plane in different directions, and the scraper will help around the knot. You picked a fun board!
 

jfynyson

Jeremy
User
Perfect thanks ! I tried the card scraper after posting this and it helped for sure but I didn't think to start in the middle of the knot. It still felt a little rough even though I had good shavings. Is this simply where sanding has to come into play ?
 

Graywolf

Board of Directors, President
Richard
Staff member
Corporate Member
You just study the grain and follow it and it will tell you what you need to do.
 

Rwe2156

DrBob
Senior User
Its a challenge for even the most experienced.

Be sure blade is extremely sharp, cap iron within 2-3mm of edge, mouth closed as much as possible, take very thin shavings (<.002")

There are other ways to address, such as high bevel angle on a LA plane, or an accessory high angle frog (the only one I know of is Lie Nielsen)
 

jfynyson

Jeremy
User
This what I do, but even steeper angles, front and back bevels.

Nice solution. Did you just buy an old plane and fix it up just for this or did you buy a replacement blade and chip break and modify it for this or did you just buy Rob's set up he sell's ?
 

Willemjm

Willem
Corporate Member
Nice solution. Did you just buy an old plane and fix it up just for this or did you buy a replacement blade and chip break and modify it for this or did you just buy Rob's set up he sell's ?
I purchased an extra plane iron, no need to replace the chip breaker.
 

Gofor

Mark
Corporate Member
One advantage of the bevel up plane. Just change the bevel on the blade to suit the occasion. I have the Veritas Bevel-up Jack plane with three different bevelled blades (25, 38, and 50) as well as a toothed blade, which with my scraper plane, handles almost every situation. The toothed blade excels in working down resinous knots, and the heavier weight of the jack plane helps maintain momentum through the cut if you have the room to use the larger plane, allthough they also have a block and a smoother in the bevel up design. With the 12 degree bed, the above blades give me attack-angle choices of 37, 50, and 62 degrees.
 

jfynyson

Jeremy
User
One advantage of the bevel up plane. Just change the bevel on the blade to suit the occasion. I have the Veritas Bevel-up Jack plane with three different bevelled blades (25, 38, and 50) as well as a toothed blade, which with my scraper plane, handles almost every situation. The toothed blade excels in working down resinous knots, and the heavier weight of the jack plane helps maintain momentum through the cut if you have the room to use the larger plane, allthough they also have a block and a smoother in the bevel up design. With the 12 degree bed, the above blades give me attack-angle choices of 37, 50, and 62 degrees.

this was another idea I’ve been wondering about. Veritas LAJP came with the 25deg blade. Would you recommend jumping to the 50 deg first ?
 

Gofor

Mark
Corporate Member
this was another idea I’ve been wondering about. Veritas LAJP came with the 25deg blade. Would you recommend jumping to the 50 deg first ?

That is a tough call if you are talking about purchasing a new blade. The 38 degree blade will give you same angle as a high angle (York pitch) frog on the bevel down plane. While this works well on figured woods, knots are an extreme case. The combined 62 degree angle of the 50 blade would give you an angle more similar to a scraper plane, and a bit more than a 55 degree frog (Middle pitch). With the particular knot you pictured, I would use the blade you have to work from both sides as close as possible to the knot, but not past it. Then go with the high angle or a cabinet scraper like Mike pictured to level the knot itself down to the surrounding edges. In reality, that particular knot is a "best case scenario" in that it is oriented parallel to the length of the board, making it fairly easy to work down with a card scraper.

When it comes to purchasing a new blade: If you buy one at 50 degrees and find you aren't happy with it, or have little use for that angle, you can always reestablish the primary bevel down to 35 or so degrees to give you a blade that will see more use. If you purchase the 38 degree blade and find you need more angle, you will lose more usable length by raising the bevel angle. In my case, it have found the best blade to work down most knots is the toothed blade, working on the knot itself and then finishing with a cabinet scraper. I seldom use the 50 degree blade overall, keeping the 38 degree loaded in the plane for most work. It is a little harder to push than the 25 degree, but I run into much fewer problems whenever the grain in the board swaps directions (most commonly when squaring the edge) but occasionally on the flat surface. If you work a lot of knotty woods, you may want to consider the toothed blade.

Yeah, I know: Too Much info and I didn't really answer your question. Gonna blame the "stay at home boredom blues"
 
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