Planing without a crown using a #7

[cwroy]

Hi guys,

Found your site via Philly's and Alf's blog.

I plane my stock for edge gluing with a Stanley #7, which is fairly flat.

However I always seem to get a crown in the middle, even if I finish with a swipe only on the middle of the board.

I've resorted to using a shooting board 36 inches long. It works decently but I would like to improve my technique.

Thank you very much,

 

[Paul Kierstead]

Hi guys,
However I always seem to get a crown in the middle, even if I finish with a swipe only on the middle of the board.

David Charlesworth illustrates a good method in Hand Tool Techniques Part 2: Hand Planing that works very well.

In short: You take a stop shaving, where you plane from just beyond the start to just short of the end (i.e. not quite the full length, leaving a little on each end, say 1/4 or 1/2"). You continue the stop shaving until your plane no longer takes any shaving. You have now planed a very slight hollow. Then take one or two full length shavings. You might be left with a very very slight hollow, but more then small enough to work.

The video explains it very well and is worthwhile.

 

[cwroy]

Thank your Paul,

I will try that.

 

[Wiley Horne]

Charles-William,

Edge jointing is a long subject. However, I think if you reverse your logic you'll succeed and will not get a crown in the middle of the board. The key is to _not_work from end to end at first. That will be the last pass you make.

Instead, work from the inside out. Start planing the middle of the board, say the middle 1/3 of the board. Plane until you can no longer take a shaving. Then back up and plane the middle 2/3 of the board until no shaving is taken. Then back up and plane all but the last inch or so at each end until no shaving. Then go end to end.

What you are looking for when you make your final end to end pass is for the blade to just scrape in the middle of the board, but not take a shaving. If you go end to end, and the blade does not touch in the middle, make another pass until the blade just scrapes in the middle. The board will be ever so slightly sprung, but will close on its mate with hand pressure only.

A particular difficulty in edge jointing (in my experience, anyway) occurs right at the final inch or two at each end. Even with a good approach, it is easy to get a slight hump just inside one or both ends of the board. This is why, before you make your final end-to-end pass, you want to make a preliminary pass just inside the end lines. Then go fully end to end. If you do that, you will ensure firm contact right to the very ends of the board, and will not get separation at the ends as the board dries.

When you test the two edges to be mated, they should slide together with a characteristic 'clack', and the joint should disappear under hand pressure only.

Wiley

 

[Paul Chapman]

Hi guys,
However I always seem to get a crown in the middle, even if I finish with a swipe only on the middle of the board.

David Charlesworth illustrates a good method in Hand Tool Techniques Part 2: Hand Planing that works very well.

In short: You take a stop shaving, where you plane from just beyond the start to just short of the end (i.e. not quite the full length, leaving a little on each end, say 1/4 or 1/2"). You continue the stop shaving until your plane no longer takes any shaving. You have now planed a very slight hollow. Then take one or two full length shavings. You might be left with a very very slight hollow, but more then small enough to work.

The video explains it very well and is worthwhile.

This is absolutely right. Even when using a long plane like a #7 or #8, if you keep planing the edge of a board, you will eventually plane it into a curve. You can test this for yourself if you have a straight edge. If you haven't one, put two boards together and plane the edges together as if you were going to joint them. When you put the edged together you will find that they meet in the middle but not at the ends - hence the need for what DC calls 'stop shavings'. I find it's useful to do a test like this so that you can see for yourself what is happening - it then becomes easier to understand what you need to do to correct it.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi cwroy

Welcome to the forum.

Cheers
Neil

 

[Philly]

Welcome aboard CWR!
Philly

 

[Anonymous]

CWR

It's all about pressure on the plane - I have had this problem quite often with various #7s

Start with pressure hard on front and when past half way along the cut, apply the pressure more towards the rear.

Stop shavings are to get a slight hollow (good for joining boards as the ends shrink the most), not a flat surface - flat or concave is much more desirable than convex.
David Charlesworth calls this 'his definition of flat' in his DVDs which I find mildly irritating, as it is convex, not flat - I wish he would simply say that he likes to plane a concave edge, rather than a flat edge.

 

[Alf]

David Charlesworth calls this 'his definition of flat' in his DVDs which I find mildly irritating, as it is convex, not flat - I wish he would simply say that he likes to plane a concave edge, rather than a flat edge.

Ooo, you engineer, you...

Website more-or-less ready for posting - just adding more content to keep the interest up :lol: . Won't be long now :wink:

You're getting as bad as Rob mit der teasing. [-X :lol:

Cheers, Alf

 

[Anonymous]

Website more-or-less ready for posting - just adding more content to keep the interest up :lol: . Won't be long now :wink:

You're getting as bad as Rob mit der teasing. [-X :lol:

Cheers, Alf

Ahh, no tease intended here Alf :wink: I had it ready to post and put it on my Btinternet site only to find it won't work there :evil: Just looking for a new host (that I'll have to pay for no doubt) and then it will be posted for all to see.

methinks this is building it up too much......

 

[Frank D.]

Welcomt to the forum cwroy.

David C. had a bunch of us on Wood Central try a littel experiment, and after taking 10 full-length shavings from a perfectly flat board, I came out with around 1.5 thou depression at each end (a few inches or so of leading and trailing edges came out rounded, although the rest of the edge was quite flat). I agree with what others said on how to plane (stop shavings); the only thing I wanted to add is that a plane with a concave sole can make it very difficult if not impossible to obtain a flat edge. I have a number 7 with a slightly concave sole that won't give me a flat edge no matter how I prep the board with previous shavings (you can only take so many stop shavings anyways if you want to finish off with one continuous shaving). So all this to say you might want to check the sole of the plane if you haven't in a while.

[Edit: sorry, that was 1.5 thou, not 15 like I said originally]

 

[cwroy]

Thank you very much to all,

You guys have been really helpful. When the project is done I might send a picture if it turns out ok. I'm doing the shaker side table from Chris Schwartz. Well I'm making two actually (my girlfried whant's one of course ;-)), all is good she lets me work in the appartment!

Have a nice day.