What pitch for hard maple?

[ali27]

I am planing maple with my no4. The blade is nice and sharp and
the shavings are good mostly, but sometimes I get chatter. The depth
of the cut is little so I get thin shavings. I was wondering
whether it would be better to plane at a higher angle? 5-10 degrees backbevel
I was thinking.

What angle do you guys use for hard maple?

Thanks.

Ali

 

[matthewwh]

Should be enough, every piece of timber is different though - air dried, kiln dried etc.

If you start off fairly shallow you can always increase it.

 

[Corneel]

Ali,

May I suggest you watch this video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSjpzta0FuY

Hard maple isn't extremely difficult, just very hard. With the frog pulled back and the iron supported on the sole of the plane, and the chipbreaker close to the edge, you get all the support you need against chatter. Backbevels don't really help against chatter, when the iron isn't propperly supported.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

I doubt that the pitch is the issue. There is no mention of interlocked grain, and anyway I doubt that is the issue as well.

The problem is more likely to be your plane. The hardness of the wood magnifies the issues there: chattering is due to a blade that is not bedded well, that may flex. If it is not sharp enough to cut through the hardwood, then these areas are shown up.

Check that the frog is tight, that the blade is flat, and that they fit well together.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Corneel]

Whatch out Derek. Ali is a compulsive plane tinkerer! Now he finaly planes some wood, don't send him back to the drawing board!
(just tugging your tail Ali...)

There is probably nothing wrong with the frog. Just pull the frog back until it is flush with the sole of the plane and set the chipbreaker close to the edge. Maybe turn the screw for the lever cap a little tighter.

Do you get chatter at the start of the cut? That's mostly a technique thing. Skewing the plane a bit, putting pressure on the plane in the front, maybe speed up a bit. And remember hard maple is not a good kind of wood to learn planing. When you want to learn, better species are cherrie, wallnut, soft maple, oak.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

There is probably nothing wrong with the frog. Just pull the frog back until it is flush with the sole of the plane and set the chipbreaker close to the edge. Maybe turn the screw for the lever cap a little tighter.

Hi Corneel

No. You may be correct, but you may be wrong. It is premature to offer strategies of planing without first checking the tool, per se. Let me repeat, chattering is caused by a blade that is loose. The question is "why is it loose"? Does the problem lie with the construction or the set up? Construction first.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[JohnCee]

Whatever the cause of the chatter, planing at a higher angle will make it worse. not better. You will have to apply more force to push the plane, so whatever the loose thing is that's vibrating, it will vibrate more. Don't forget to investigate the possibility of the chatter being due to a bench/workholding problem rather than a plane problem.