Hand planing long boards for workbench top

[tibi]

Good evening,

I am now hand planing boards of maple for my new workbench top. The total width of the workbench will be 600 mm. My original idea was to use two 250 mm boards and have a 100 mm well with a recessed board in the middle. But the maple boards were so twisted that I had to rip them in the middle and I will glue them after the dimensioning.

Currently, I have 4 boards that are approximately 1,9m long and 130 mm wide. They are all cupped, bowed, and severely twisted. The original thickness of the first board was 55 mm and after removing the twist and bow, I barely got 40 mm at the thinnest point.

My hand planing procedure is as follows:

1. place the board bow side up and use shims if it rocks on the workbench.
2. I find the highest point lengthwise and start planing there. If there is a cup I plane the middle of the board first and do not touch the edges. I always plane along the length and I do not do any cross or 45° planing. With a correctly set cap iron, there is almost no tear-out.
3. I remove all the cup so that the board is flat across the width and winding sticks will not rock. If the board is concave I just remove the bow in the center and simultaneously check for twist with the winding sticks.
4. Many YouTubers when demonstrating their way of planing will put winding sticks on both ends, mark the high spots, and plane diagonally from one high corner to the opposite high corner. I do it a little bit differently. If my board is 2 meters long, I divide the board into 5 or 6 segments. And I place winding sticks at each of those segments so I can see the twist along the board. If 4 segments are in the same plane and the last 2 get progressively in wind, I just plane the last two segments at the high side until they get into the same plane as the rest of the board. There is no need to plane full length from one high corner to the opposite high corner.

This process is not linear, so I do many of those things simultaneously (so as not to lose too much material) and I often check my progress with a straightedge and winding sticks.

there is one thing that I have noticed and I have seen no one talking about it. I did not even seen a concept of it. I will call it proximity planing. Sometimes when I want to plane a certain spot, I cannot get there, because the geometry of the plane, its length and the geometry of the board will not allow me to take a shaving there (it is a low spot - a valley around the hills). Then I start planing area that is adjacent to that place and that is higher . Gradually I can lower the surrounding area so that the spot I would like to plane becomes accessible. This way I am moving high spots where I want them to be and finally I remove them all so that the whole board is flat and level.

Does anyone have a concept how to do this (moving high spots and removing them) in the most efficient way with losing the least amount of material? I can do it in practice (my way - there are surely better ways), but it is rather difficult to explain with words.

Thank you.

 

[Ttrees]

Convex edit: concave/hollow side, sitting on the bench surface for me, so it stays put, (ideally on four corners)
may have to flip if necessary to progress.
no wedges for me, if something of such a length as a bench top is so far out that you'd need that,
you gotta question what thickness you might end up with.

The only proximity planing I use is what is in contact with the bench, anything else is fighting flat to me, there's no planing into a hollow, as the plane will become less hungry if trying to find spots
rather than identifying them with your eyes,
which will in turn make much use of short cuts progressively getting longer.

Planing corner to corner for me is for short boards, seeing as something longer is likely to
need more than a single swipe or two.

All the best
Tom

 

[Jacob]

Some overthinking going on here!
Forget about planing into hollows, it is impossible with a normal plane. Forget about "proximity planing"
Concentrate on removing high points/areas and eventually you will reach the bottom of the hollows! It's obvious really.
I'm planing a board here: Planing a board flat - Is there literally no light when testing with a straight edge?
PS what helps enormously is to have a reasonable camber on the plane blade. You are effectively "scooping" waste material off and only when level enough do you look at smoothing the surface, if at all.
I think 90% of the problems and dubious planing solutions talked about, are due to having straight blade edges, as produced by sharpening jigs and flat stones

 

[tibi]

Some overthinking going on here!
Forget about planing into hollows, it is impossible with a normal plane. Concentrate on removing high points and eventually you will reach the bottom of the hollows!
I'm planing a board here: Planing a board flat - Is there literally no light when testing with a straight edge?

I am not planing anything hollow on purpose. I am just removing high spots until they get to the lowest point on the board. When I am able to reach that lowest point by planing away the surrounding higher areas. I do it very similarly as you do, but I do not use plane as a straightedge but a lighter aluminum straight edge. I mark where the straightedge is rocking and remove that area. Then I find another place where it is rocking and remove that area. Until the board is flat. I simultaneously check for twist with winding sticks and remove the high corners accordingly.

 

[Just4Fun]

I will call it proximity planing. Sometimes when I want to plane a certain spot, I cannot get there, because the geometry of the plane, its length and the geometry of the board will not allow me to take a shaving there (it is a low spot - a valley around the hills). Then I start planing area that is adjacent to that place and that is higher .

I don't understand this. I thought you were flattening the boards, not smoothing them. When I flatten boards I want to plane the high spots, not the low spots. What am I missing here?

 

[Jacob]

I am not planing anything hollow on purpose. I am just removing high spots until they get to the lowest point on the board. When I am able to reach that lowest point by planing away the surrounding higher areas. I do it very similarly as you do, but I do not use plane as a straightedge but a lighter aluminum straight edge. I mark where the straightedge is rocking and remove that area. Then I find another place where it is rocking and remove that area. Until the board is flat. I simultaneously check for twist with winding sticks and remove the high corners accordingly.

Sounds like you've got it - but mark up the whole board not just sections. You can scribble heavier or double pencil lines where more needs removing. Basically just remove the marks and then repeat.
I use the plane edge because it's already in my hand and it gives that convenient shadow to make the light more distinct. It's very quick.
For removing a lot of material planing across at 45º is easier, faster and less prone to tear out.

 

[tibi]

I don't understand this. I thought you were flattening the boards, not smoothing them. When I flatten boards I want to plane the high spots, not the low spots. What am I missing here?

I will show you an example. This is a maple board that has a wave contour. I have started to plane it and the white areas in red squares are high spots. I have made a few swipes with no.5 plane.
My point is that I cannot deliberately decide to plane those brown low areas, unless I plane the high spots first, because the geometry of the plane does not allow me to get the cutter to the low spot. And the geometry of every board and every plane is different. So I just need to plane away and extend the white regions until they overlap and cover the whole board. Then I need to remove twist and remove all the regions where a straightedge pivots (i.e. high spots).

If I used no. 8 plane or a block plane, the white areas (high spots) would be dramatically different after the same number of strokes than when I used no. 5 plane.

 

[Jacob]

I will show you an example. This is a maple board that has a wave contour. I have started to plane it and the white areas in red squares are high spots. I have made a few swipes with no.5 plane.
My point is that I cannot deliberately decide to plane those brown low areas, unless I plane the high spots first, because the geometry of the plane does not allow me to get the cutter to the low spot. And the geometry of every board and every plane is different. So I just need to plane away and extend the white regions until they overlap and cover the whole board. Then I need to remove twist and remove all the regions where a straightedge pivots (i.e. high spots).

If I used no. 8 plane or a block plane, the white areas (high spots) would be dramatically different after the same number of strokes than when I used no. 5 plane.


View attachment 161156

Sounds like normal planing to me, except planing flat, removing twist, straightening, are done simultaneously in mind.
I use a 5 1/2 most of the time for speed, and a 7 for when nearer to flat. Block plane doesn't come into it at any point.
PS I use a machine mostly, but often still have to hand plane bigger pieces on one face before they are machined, if too difficult to handle over the top of the planer.

 

[tibi]

Sounds like normal planing to me, except planing flat, removing twist, straightening, are done simultaneously in mind.
I use a 5 1/2 most of the time for speed, and a 7 for when nearer to flat. Block plane doesn't come into it at any point.

Yes, of course. I would not use a block plane for that board. But I just wanted to make a point, that the white areas would look completely different if I used a block plane. There would be more white areas with block plane, as it is very short and it would get into the valleys easily. There would be far less white areas with no.8 for the same amount of strokes, because it it very long and it will bridge over the valleys and take only the very high spots off. And gradually, it will lower the high spots until the whole board is in plane (while also checking for twist and removing it).

 

[paulrbarnard]

Convex edit: concave/hollow side, sitting on the bench surface for me, so it stays put, (ideally on four corners)
may have to flip if necessary to progress.
no wedges for me, if something of such a length as a bench top is so far out that you'd need that,
you gotta question what thickness you might end up with.

The only proximity planing I use is what is in contact with the bench, anything else is fighting flat to me, there's no planing into a hollow, as the plane will become less hungry if trying to find spots
rather than identifying them with your eyes,
which will in turn make much use of short cuts progressively getting longer.

Planing corner to corner for me is for short boards, seeing as something longer is likely to
need more than a single swipe or two.

All the best
Tom

I agree that concave side down is usually a good starting point. There are exceptions. Firstly if the stock is thin then you will finish up putting a convex in the top as the center deflects into the hollow underneath. The other case is when there is twist along with the concave surface. It is often easier to wedge to get the board sitting in the correct plane for the finished surface and then doing a quick removal of the high points to get a roughly flat surface to register against the bench surface.

 

[Jacob]

I agree that concave side down is usually a good starting point. There are exceptions. Firstly if the stock is thin then you will finish up putting a convex in the top as the center deflects into the hollow underneath. The other case is when there is twist along with the concave surface. It is often easier to wedge to get the board sitting in the correct plane for the finished surface and then doing a quick removal of the high points to get a roughly flat surface to register against the bench surface.

The basic rule is best face first, which may be either side. The idea is to remove as little as possible from the best face and as much as possible by thicknessing from the worst face. Just basic quality control.

 

[Fitzroy]

The basic rule is best face first, which may be the concave side. The idea is to remove as little as possible from the best face and as much as possible by thicknessing from the worst face. Just basic quality control.

Using this approach I have also found you can maximise a board's thickness as often on the hidden face you don't need to plane the whole surface level, just the bits that interact with joints etc.

 

[Just4Fun]

My point is that I cannot deliberately decide to plane those brown low areas, unless I plane the high spots first,

Yes, I agree with that. My question is why you would want to plane those brown areas (low spots) before planing the high spots.

 

[Ttrees]

Yes, of course. I would not use a block plane for that board. But I just wanted to make a point, that the white areas would look completely different if I used a block plane

Not to me, I'd do the same thing regardless of the tool .
i.e not relying on a longer plane to find high spots, or
i.e Just coz a plane will keep cutting doesn't mean you should.

That specific/particular Cosman video I mention often is one of the most straight forward of all videos, (the bit after the scrub plane sales pitch) that is... or someone who's got a bench already.
The cross grain scrubbing will either likely leave a spot, or if wanting to make sure of that not happening, will likely leave a deep scallop on what might be beyond the thickness you intend.

A bench surface in good nick, like what you have, would tell all,
provided you're willing to flip the work and check, and provided you can see what yer doing also,
that's speedier again.
You might struggle to see a gap between if getting thinner than, say a credit cart without an angle poise.
That is, if you were willing to take that idea and run with it, but none the less the bench will show
the very extreme points,
rather than wedging to level up the best face, which looks less sureworthy to me, even after being worked to stop it barreling or pivoting about.

 

[tibi]

Yes, I agree with that. My question is why you would want to plane those brown areas (low spots) before planing the high spots.

First I try to plane the cup away. At least at those places, where winding sticks are placed. So that they do not rock on the cup. Then I remove the wind and then I remove the bow and finally I will level the whole board. I often try to do all those tasks simultaneously, so that I do not remove more wood than necessary.

In my example, there was a distinct color change in the wood after being planed, so it is very easy to see where the plane cuts and where it does not. But many times the difference is not so obvious. Especially, when the board has already been cleaned with a hand plane and I am removing subsequent layers of wood (below the top dirty one). If I see that I have a spot that has not been touched by a plane (obviously the low spot), I can either create some pencil lines to see where the plane cuts and where it does not. Or I can use straightedge to see where the high and low spots are. Or I can just assume that there is a high spot just around this low spot that needs to be addressed first. I can get it by feel - and it is the quickest method.

 

[Jacob]

First I try to plane the cup away. At least at those places, where winding sticks are placed. So that they do not rock on the cup. Then I remove the wind and then I remove the bow and finally I will level the whole board. I often try to do all those tasks simultaneously, so that I do not remove more wood than necessary.

In my example, there was a distinct color change in the wood after being planed, so it is very easy to see where the plane cuts and where it does not. But many times the difference is not so obvious.

That's why it's a good idea when you find high areas with a straightedge, to mark them with a pencil, then all you have to do is plane off the pencil marks, and repeat as necessary. Soft pencil, 2B or or softer.

 

[Jacob]

Not to me, I'd do the same thing regardless of the tool .
i.e not relying on a longer plane to find high spots, or
i.e Just coz a plane will keep cutting doesn't mean you should.

That specific/particular Cosman video I mention often is one of the most straight forward of all videos, (the bit after the scrub plane sales pitch) that is... or someone who's got a bench already.
The cross grain scrubbing will either likely leave a spot, or if wanting to make sure of that not happening, will likely leave a deep scallop on what might be beyond the thickness you intend.

A bench surface in good nick, like what you have, would tell all,
provided you're willing to flip the work and check, and provided you can see what yer doing also,
that's speedier again.
You might struggle to see a gap between if getting thinner than, say a credit cart without an angle poise.
That is, if you were willing to take that idea and run with it, but none the less the bench will show
the very extreme points,
rather than wedging to level up the best face, which looks less sureworthy to me, even after being worked to stop it barreling or pivoting about.

I admit I couldn't understand any of Tom's post - so I took a look at the very long Cosman video. I flipped through it as it was very repetitive!
What he's doing is not "flattening a board by hand plane" as normally understood, he's merely flattening it enough to allow him to pass it through his thicknesser without it rocking, as he does about 28 boring minutes later.
The video is about machining, not about hand planing as such.
Phew that explains it - and all that flipping!
Actually more or less what I'm doing here Planing a board flat - Is there literally no light when testing with a straight edge? except I'm flattening the face side to near finish, with no flipping! but as it happens it will go through my thicknesser, new flat face down and neatly flatten the underside in one pass.
If you were actually expecting to plane the whole face by hand you wouldn't need to do any of that flipping and you wouldn't need a large and perfectly flat bench either!
I think it's a good idea to try to ignore flipping Cosman!

 

[tibi]

I admit I couldn't understand any of Tom's post - so I took a look at the very long Cosman video. I flipped through it as it was very repetitive!
What he's doing is not "flattening a board by hand plane" as normally understood, he's merely flattening it enough to allow him to pass it through his thicknesser without it rocking, as he does about 28 boring minutes later.
The video is about machining, not about hand planing as such.
Phew that explains it - and all that flipping!
Actually more or less what I'm doing here Planing a board flat - Is there literally no light when testing with a straight edge? except I'm flattening the face side to near finish, with no flipping! but as it happens it will go through my thicknesser, new flat face down and neatly flatten the underside in one pass.
If you were actually expecting to plane the whole face by hand you wouldn't need to do any of that flipping and you wouldn't need a large and perfectly flat bench either!
I think it's a good idea to try to ignore flipping Cosman!

Imagine you have a very big slab (like I had 2000 mm long, 300 mm wide and 80 mm thick slab of walnut). It should have been my benchtop but was too wormy, so I had sold it. I would not imagine flipping it 50 times.

 

[Jacob]

Imagine you have a very big slab (like I had 2000 mm long, 300 mm wide and 80 mm thick slab of walnut). It should have been my benchtop but was too wormy, so I had sold it. I would not imagine flipping it 50 times.

Actually it would have been easy to flatten without any Cosmaniacal flipping, or without even a flat bench. The sheer mass alone would stabilise it even if you had it resting over a couple of big stones, and walnut is very easy to plane.
I can see how Tom misunderstood the vid - the point wasn't revealed until the last minute and many would have lost interest and switched off well before that!

 

[Ttrees]

That plank is quite small though, hence the suggestion to use your bench as a reference,
for speed and ease.
Planing something like what you said though, and it's back to Charlesworth for me.