Planing figured woods?? especially Koa wood

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yellofins

Ron
Corporate Member
Hi Folks,
I'm having tear out issues with the Koa wood I've been working with.
I've sharpened blades on the jointer and the planer.
I've tried using a 50/50 spray mixture of fabric softener and water on the wood prior to planing.

No matter what I've tried I still get tear out on this highly figured wood.

When I use the sander there is no tear out but the sanding process "hides" some of the qualities of the wood.

Has anyone used a Byrd Head on Koa?
Does anyone with a Byrd Head in the Fuquay area want to experiment with Koa?

I'm getting ready to upgrade both the planer and the jointer to Byrd or Shelix heads but want to be sure they will work with Koa.

Any ideas or input would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
Ron
 

dkeller_nc

New User
David
Ron - This may be a very good application for an 18th century technique - a toothing plane. This is akin to using sandpaper or a rasp in that the much smaller teeth don't tear out heavily figured wood. Once you've leveled the surface with a toothed blade, you follow that up with a card scraper.

If you've several hundred feet of something readily available like curly maple to process, a toothing plane and a card scraper would be quite tedious - I'd think it'd be worth renting time on a wide belt sander. But with something as valuable as curly Koa, the hand tool approach may save you some $$ in the long run.

You can get a toothed blade for a number of L-N tools, and wooden toothing planes are pretty commonly available, and not very expensive at tool meets and dealers.
 

merrill77

Master Scrap Maker
Chris
How about try a hand scraper?

I'd suggest the same thing. I just used mine on some very curly maple...not even a hint of tearout or other difficulties. Plus, no noise and minimal sawdust...and some exercise, too :>

Chris
 

Travis Porter

Travis
Corporate Member
I have a planer with a shelix (that will be operational by the weekend) and a wide belt you can use, but I am in Wake Forest.

I have sanded some stuff to 220 grit with the wide belt and it was gorgeous.
 

scsmith42

New User
Scott Smith
Ron, I won a book on sharpening by Thomas Lie-Nelson at the picnic this past weekend, and last night happened to read the chapter about sharpening jointer / planer knives.

He recommends adding a 20 degree (or greater) back bevel to the knife in order to reduce tearout, and there is a section in the book that provides guidance on adding the bevel yourself with shop-made jigs and standard sharpening/honing stones.

TLN also references a book by Brian Burns titled "Double-Bevel Sharpening" which goes into detail about this technique as well.

You're welcome to borrow my book if you want to read up on this more.

Scott
 
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