Shaping pine or time travel, which is more likely?

[froglips]

Ok, I am considering joining the IHSYP International. (I Hate Southern Yellow Pine).

The HOW (Hillsborough Orange Woodworkers Meetup) is furiously working on the Popular Woodworking Skansen Bench.

We have big inside and outside radius curves in the legs that needed shaping.

We sawed them out ok, but after that geeze Louise what grief.

To date, we've tried most conceivable rasps, microplanes, spokeshaves and even the dreaded sandpaper.

None are coming close to working well. Rasps clog after a few passes, spokeshaves chatter like there's no tomorrow and sandpaper is just following the existing profile and removing summer wood faster.

So, to those who have worked in this evil, vile, despicable and downright ornery wood, any thoughts?

On the list to break out next are the drawknife and cabinet scraper.

If those don't help, I'll be sending out invitations to the Burning Bench 2010 :kamahlitu

Jim

 

[Trent Mason]

Jim,

Sorry to hear that folks are having such a rough time with it. :BangHead: The tenons, I wouldn't think, would be that hard, but the mortises are definitely a challenge in pine.

I just watched an episode of The Woodwright's Shop where Roy was making a table out of SYP. He started with a mortising chisel and basically tapped it in about an eighth of an inch, every eighth of an inch across the mortise. Then he scraped out the chips and followed with an auger. After that, he cleaned up the sides with the mortising chisel. These were through mortises, but they turned out as good as I've ever seen a mortise in pine. :thumbs_up:thumbs_up

 

[Mike Davis]

I have used a spokeshave in SYP with great success. Perhaps your spokeshave needs a tuneup? If chattering I would say the blade may be overextended. Or the seat may need flattening. It is sharp enough to slice tissue paper without tearing?

 

[FredP]

got a treadle router table?:rotflm:

 

[woodArtz]

It just struck me that we could use a template following sanding drum thingy... What do you think?

 

[CarvedTones]

"Rasps clog after a few passes" - true, but clamp a wire (yeah, I edited it) brush in a vise and you can get into a rhythm - wood, wood, brush, wood, wood, brush. Just be careful not to get going too fast and over shoot the brush; it really hurts when you poke a hundred tiny holes in your wrist (DAMHIKT).

 

[Mike Davis]

What's a "wife brush"?

 

[sushinutnc]

What's a "wife brush"?

That's the second cousin to a wire brush. :icon_thum (r and f... first finger, left hand)

 

[Don Alexander]

well i suppose that its possible to work with SYP if you are determined enough and have the patience................ but WHY anyone would want to is way beyond me :gar-La;

anything thats that frustrating to work with UGH pick something thats actually fun to work with :gar-Bi

 

[kirkpj01]

Have you tried one of the adjustable radius planes? Stanley made several including the #13 and #20. I see them come up on the popular on line auction site fairly often......

 

[mkepke]

I'm with Mike..the spokeshave should work fine. Is the spokeshave well tuned and..at the risk of asking an embarrassing question..are you planing with the grain ?

-Mark

 

[jhreed]

Template and router pattern bit.

 

[ehpoole]

Have you tried an oscillating spindle sander? Or even a router if appropriate?

I have cut curves on the bandsaw, then smoothed them with an osc. spindle sander without any issues, though on a smaller scale then benchtop legs (shelf brackets and other such items).

The challenge with SYP is the extreme difference in hardness between the early and late wood growth rings -- alternating layers of extremely soft wood followed by a layer of extremely hard wood.

I also had good luck with a random orbit sander and Norton 3X sandpaper.

Good luck!

100% Southern Yellow Pine:

 

[Mike Davis]

I believe this is for a hand tool class, is that right Jim?

I wish i had time to come over and help with the spokeshave it really is a more powerful tool than most realize.

 

[tjgreen]

Stanley surform or similar micro-plane? Or would that suffer the same fate as the rasp? They make curved surforms, I've seen them at Ace.

 

[ehpoole]

I believe this is for a hand tool class, is that right Jim?

My bad then. :dontknow:

In that case I did find that Norton 3X sandpaper with a hard/rigid sanding block worked quite well. Softer, conforming, sanding blocks and pads don't work well, though, because they're too soft to ride high on the late growth. I would think some extra coarse sandpaper wrapped around a large (diameter) dowel might work (much the same motion as a spoke shave).

I like the suggestion to try a microplane for the same.

Out of curiosity, what is the MC for this SYP? I ask because I didn't encounter any clogging issues (hand tools, sandpaper, or with power tools) with kiln dried SYP (8-10% MC), so was wondering if this is green/wet SYP?

Best of luck!

 

[willarda]

Try a sharp chisel cross grain to remove the bulk of the waste, then a cabinet rasp (Nicholson or even better an Auriou with a 8-10 grain cut.