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garywayne

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Joined
21 Jun 2005
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Location
Bideford, North Devon
Hi all,

I am seeking help again, lets see if you can answer this one.

Whenever I plane an edge or face, the wood always seems to be high in the middle, (or low at both ends). As far as I can tell I am doing it the same way as the books say. pressure on the front, then on front & back, then back. I have tried keeping pressure on the front all the way through. I have also tried putting pressure on the back,etc. I used different planes.

Please whats wrong with meee? why can't I do this? Can anyone help? ](*,)

ATB Gary.
 
Gary,

Dunno what you are doing wrong exactly but if starting with a moderately straight edge (eg off a table saw) try planing the middle third section of the edge first with three or four strokes- then checking with your straightedge (which is straight I trust - they are not always!). When you see a little light under the straightedge, one shaving the length of the board should make it all OK.

It would also help to know what plane you are using and what the dimensions of the board are.
 
Wot Chris said. Aim to try and plane a hollow; asuming you're not using an insanely short plane on a long board, you won't be able to go too far. DC suggests deliberating aiming to plane slightly hollow as being a lesser evil than a bump, and he has a point. How thick a shaving are you taking? Too thick and you can end up in the poo way too quickly after just a couple of strokes.

But most importantly, it's not just you. We've all done it; it's a classic problem. That's probably why it's called the learning curve... :wink:

Cheers, Alf
 
Gary.. it seems to me that you're trying to get the boards flat by relying on the plane alone... not gonna happen my friend... you need to use a combination of winding sticks, a good (long) straight edge and your plane to work the board effectively...

Winding sticks will let you see where a board is twisted and indicate how bad the twist is... The straight edge will show where your high spots are; high spots are the only areas you should be looking to remove material until the whole board is really close to flat and twist free...

The trick to it is regularly setting the plane aside and checking your progress with the winding sticks and straight edge, marking the areas that need more work and using stop shavings to restrict the material removal to those areas. It's a gradual process... plane a bit, stop n check, mark the next area, plane some more, stop n check etc...

With time and experience you'll get better at "seeing" where the obvious high spots are, but you'll never escape the need to use the sticks frequently...
 
Thank you for the replies. :eek:ccasion5:

The plane I'm using is a 13" Record T5 for finishing 355x110x20 (mm) stock for a router box.

I have checked my straightedge, and it is straight. :D

I also checked my T5, which is not flat. :oops: :oops: The plane has a low middle. I did flatten the sole last year. It looks like they need to be checked more regularly. My mistake. :roll:

At the end of the planing stroke to take out the middle, do I lift the plane up like an airplane taking off? or do I lift the plane horizontally?

Shaving thickness:- You can read through it thin.

Like Mike advises, I have been working the board, but what I did after that was take the T5 and finnish off with very thin shavings the whole length of the board. Thats when I found the hump in the middle of the board. But now that I have checked my plane I can see where the problem lies.

My fault totaly for not checking the tools before I started the job. :sick:

I am sorry if I have waisted you time, I should have known better. [-o<

One thing for sure, I have learned a lot from this forum. :eek:ccasion5:

ATB Gary.
 
Gary
Don't feel bad-that what the forum is here for. To help each other sort out problems.
Keep at it
Philly :D
 
garywayne":2iu4ahaw said:
...snip...
I also checked my T5, which is not flat. :oops: :oops: The plane has a low middle. I did flatten the sole last year. It looks like they need to be checked more regularly. My mistake. :roll:
....snip...

Gary, Just a thought, does your plane move with temperature differences :?:

Try putting it in the fridge (in a plastic bag) overnight and then check it, then somewhere warm and check it again. It might be going Bannana shaped on temperature change not just metal stress relief.

Hope not as you will never be able to chase it flat. :(
 
Thanks Chas,

I'll give that a go tonight.meanwhile, I'll keep playing with the 17" woody. (Adjusting that will be great fun I'm sure). (hammer)

I will let you know the result sometime tomorrow.

And Thank you Philly, It's just that sometimes I feel like a real pleb. (I do lack self confidence, :-({|= and I like to get things right). 8-[
Thanks again.

ATB Gary.
 
Roger Sinden":a7vo4ajh said:
Midnight, what are 'stop shavings' ?
<Dons Midnight mask, Scot's accent and L-N plane, ah hum, c*ll*ct**n :wink: >
Rather than take a shaving the full length of the board (face or edge), you just take a shaving over the required area. F'rinstance, I use stopped shavings most for edge jointing. I'll take a shaving or two that starts just, ooo, an inch or less from the end, and stop it a similar distance from the far end. Then a full length shaving to finish off, so I get a slightly hollow edge, or "sprung joint". Learning where to plane rather than just letting the plane go blindly from end to end like a machine would do is one of hand tool skills that's a bit tricky to master; practice is really the only way. But once you have it, and can reliably take off exactly as much as you intended to, it's such a useful thing to be able to do it's well worth the effort.

Gary, pish tush. S'what we're here for isn't it? None of us were born knowing everything. :wink:

Cheers, Alf
 
GaryWayne
I sure wouldn't feel bad about asking a question. Cripe at my age I need people around to remind me where I was 5 minutes ago. For guys like me that live way out in the hills places like this are a godsend.
Doing things and making mistakes or oversites are part of the game. And it makes a big impression on your mind so that you don't do It again :). I been at this a few years (30) and I still wait for the day that I don't screw up or do something stupid. And my 23 year old son can still teach me a thing or three Learning to fix the errors and keep it quiet is what makes a master. ( My hope for someday)


Make your mistakes, Shake your head and laugh and keep on makin shavings.

Have a hi-grade day
 
SlimShavings":2wv30746 said:
...snip.. And my 23 year old son can still teach me a thing or three Learning ...snip...

Totally off topic but we had a similar "educational experience" two weeks ago.

My wife was in professional catering for 12 years.
At my 6 yr old grandsons party bash she had to make some vegetarian 'sausage rolls' (some party goers have dietary restrictions)
The Quorn meat substitute sausages were to big and would not reform (roll out) to make smaller diameter pieces without breaking up.

Much use of mild expletives and 'what do I do now' expressions were met by a passing grandson who said "Why don't you just cut them in half longways Grandma" #-o #-o
 
I would like to thank you all for your support, and help.

It's nice to know one is amongst friends.

Thank you all very much.

ATB Gary.

PS. The advice comes in handy sometimes as well.
 
<Dons Midnight mask, Scot's accent and L-N plane, ah hum, c*ll*ct**n >

:shock: [-X

somebody's cryin out t get her knicker elastic well n truly pinged.!!!!!

collection.... sheesh...

told ya... mine earn their keep, they dinna grace the inside o cupboards gatherin dust...!!!!!
 
Hi, Chas.

I put the plane in the fridge over night. This morning the gap between a straight edge and the plane bed was; 0.10mm, (4thou/0.0039"); at room temp it was;0.05mm, (2thou/0.0019").

Does this mean it belongs in the fruit bowl, or should I carry on flattening it?
 
garywayne":6be5wdyd said:
Hi, Chas.

I put the plane in the fridge over night. This morning the gap between a straight edge and the plane bed was; 0.10mm, (4thou/0.0039"); at room temp it was;0.05mm, (2thou/0.0019").

Does this mean it belongs in the fruit bowl, or should I carry on flattening it?

You have just learnt an important lesson regarding precision/accurate tools and the working place.

Engineering tools are calibrated for use at 20 dec.C (68 F).
Any workshop that has variations on this may cause errors.

Carry on flattening it to take out the 2 thou. but remember that if you heat it up during flattening or that if your workshop suffers from extremes of temperature between winter and mid summer then there is always going to be a small difference. The 2 thou difference between fridge (8-15 deg C) and room temp (20 deg C?) should not be repeated in your workshop so the deviation should be less.

The Hand Planing fraternity here will no doubt advise on the limitations if any on your results.
 
My advice is don't worry about it; quite honestly I bet that's not the reason you've had trouble. Woodworking isn't engineering... :wink:

Cheers, Alf
 
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