Planing End Grain

[Peter T]

I've got a Veritas low angle smoother and a L/N 4 1/2 and on oak and maple end grains I can find no difference in the performance. They both give very good results so long as the wood is firmly clamped.

I have to say I prefer the L/N over the Veritas. It feels more comfortable in the hand and is nice and weighty.

 

[János]

Hello,

Planing the endgrain of very hard woods, like well dried oak, ash, black locust, bubinga, blackwood, wenge etc. is a demanding and difficult task: it requires well tuned and sharp tools, and serious physical strength. I am a small man, and my low body weight is a handicap in planing endgrain. I talk about planing wider/thicker pieces, and not glasing bars...

Wood is composed of cellulose and lignin fibres. By saturating them with suitable liquids you could soften/plasticise the fibres. Water would swell the wood, but alcohols (any type: methy-alcohol, ethyl-alcohol, isopropyl-alcohol), turpentine and ligroin would not swell or discolour the wood, and would dry up in a relatively short time.

By the way, Americans are idiots.... they reinvent the wheel all the time, and do make a loud noise about it. Chris Schwarz included.

Have a nice day,

János

 

[GazPal]

Spelching or spelking? We normally say spelking up this way.

 

[Jacob]

...

The main problems is the plane being forced out of the cut when planing Oak. I will try to endure and improve my technique but I used a very sharp iron with a tight mouth and still had problems. ....t.

Forced out of the cut? Trying too hard - the cut should be more of a series of shaves (like very thin potato peelings but falling into dust) and you need a cambered blade for this. Also mouth width has no bearing - it might as well be wide open.

 

[James C]

Hello,

Wood is composed of cellulose and lignin fibres. By saturating them with suitable liquids you could soften/plasticise the fibres. Water would swell the wood, but alcohols (any type: methy-alcohol, ethyl-alcohol, isopropyl-alcohol), turpentine and ligroin would not swell or discolour the wood, and would dry up in a relatively short time.

By the way, Americans are idiots.... they reinvent the wheel all the time, and do make a loud noise about it. Chris Schwarz included.

Have a nice day,

János

It's a shame you spoiled a helpful piece of advice with that comment. I've always taken a chew the meat and spit out the bones approach to learning and have found a lot of good advice from the states.

I will have a go with the cambered iron tomorrow Jacob as soon as I get shavings I will get some photos uploaded. You are probably right about the over exertion. I will try light minimal cuts.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Spelching or spelking? We normally say spelking up this way.

I've never heard it called "spelking".

(down the other end, opposite side)

 

[GazPal]

Spelking - up this way - simply means splintering and I've had more than my fair share of spelks (Splinters) in my fingers and hands over the years. Ye olde worlde Schwarz mis pronounces ye olde English/Norse word every time and insists on saying spel ching, whereas it should be pronounced Spelking with the ch sounding like a k. :wink:

Here's a link to an online source I've just found which helps explain;

http://thecarpentryway.blogspot.co.uk/2 ... pelch.html


The Yanks do tend to insist on making up their own versions of our words and place names after all

 

[James C]

The Yanks do tend to insist on making up their own versions of our words and place names after all

That is true. We do the same. Because of the ways that words are spelt vs. pronounced in English leads to some re-bates rather than rabbets and people who don't use a chisel for pair-ing (paring) but instead for parrr-ing.

Also the amount of times I get told I'm using Americanisms when talking about Routers...... #-o

 

[newt]

Can't see the need for a tight mouth when planing end grain.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Gary - I've only ever heard spelch ( ch, not k ) as a verb, I've never heard it as a noun - it's a splinter.
Pete - as Jacob said.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Language evolves in every culture, its not just between the US and UK. They do of course say that we're two nations separated by the same language

The fact is that all languages evolve through a number of different mechanisms, regional dialect being just one. I for one have quite enjoyed my journey learning what Norm calls a jointer or the other classic...2 by 4 instead of 4 bi 2

I think it enriches the understanding and makes the subject more three dimensional. I also believe the Americans have some fabulous creative skills with wood and let's also remember much of their housing stock is wood framed. Norm is to woodworkers what The Waltons were to families

In the end we all share a deep respect for this incredible natural resource, who really cares how we choose to label it

 

[Jacob]

They have New York, New England etc. maybe they should call it "new spelching" .

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Lol...good idea ;-)

 

[Phil Pascoe]

"New Spelching" - sounds like a town in middle England.

 

[GazPal]

"New Spelching" - sounds like a town in middle England.

That'd be in the south, but we'd have New Spelking in the north :lol:

 

[bugbear]

Robert Wearing calls (and spells it) "spelching" in The Essential Woodworker.
BugBear

 

[bugbear]

the cut should be more of a series of shaves (like very thin potato peelings but falling into dust)

I'll agree with thin cuts, but the shavings will hold together if your plane is sharp enough, and cutting clean enough.

Here's KlausK (of back saw fame) cutting cherry, on a home made skew bladed mitre plane.

A quick google gave:

http://blog.woodworkingtooltips.com/201 ... end-grain/

Nice intact shavings, and a super clean work surface.

BugBear

 

[AndyT]

Thanks BB - that confirms my point about the wood making such a big difference - so one way out for the OP would be to start again, using cherry or walnut instead!

 

[Jacob]

the cut should be more of a series of shaves (like very thin potato peelings but falling into dust)

I'll agree with thin cuts, but the shavings will hold together if your plane is sharp enough, and cutting clean enough.

Here's KlausK (of back saw fame) cutting cherry, on a home made skew bladed mitre plane.

He seems to be planing a mitred surface. This is really easy with any sharp plane, compared to planing at right angles to the grain

A quick google gave:

.....
Nice intact shavings, and a super clean work surface.

BugBear

Hmm. What wood? You couldn't do that with many hardwoods. Even KlausK couldn't do that with his much easier mitre cut.
There are too many clowns out there doing conjuring tricks! Which wouldn't matter, except if you can't do the same you might think it's your own fault, or even that it's time to buy a ludicrously expensive American plane. :roll:

 

[Peter Sefton]

I can’t think of any hardwoods I have end grain planed that have not produced shavings, dust shows the tools are blunt breaking the fibres not cutting them.


You don’t have to have a fancy shear cut specialist plane just a sharp one.