sn

samson

14/09/2008 10:35 AM

Hand planing around knots

I'm having a little trouble hand planing around knots.
I'm getting small pits and I wonder if there's a technique
that will help. My irons are pretty darned sharp.

Thanks,

S.


This topic has 13 replies

JG

"Jeff Gorman"

in reply to samson on 14/09/2008 10:35 AM

14/09/2008 8:52 PM


"samson" <[email protected]> wrote

> I'm having a little trouble hand planing around knots.
> I'm getting small pits and I wonder if there's a technique
> that will help. My irons are pretty darned sharp.

You can get over this with a plane, but you need a very fine shaving
aperture, a pretty fine set and a lot of downwards pressure on the plane.
Under these conditions, the cap iron setback is immaterial providing that it
is not ultra-fine.

As folk have said, you can remove the tearout with a scraper, but this runs
the risk of creating a hollow that might be visible on a highly polished
surface.

Jeff

--
Jeff Gorman, West Yorkshire, UK
email : Username is amgron
ISP is clara.co.uk
www.amgron.clara.net

s

in reply to samson on 14/09/2008 10:35 AM

17/09/2008 9:50 PM

On Sep 14, 8:31 pm, samson <[email protected]> wrote:
> In article <e4876115-29f4-43cd-80bb-
> [email protected]>, [email protected]
> says...
>
> > On Sep 14, 11:35 am, samson <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > I'm having a little trouble hand planing around knots.
> > > I'm getting small pits and I wonder if there's a technique
> > > that will help. My irons are pretty darned sharp.
>
> > > Thanks,
>
> > > S.
>
> > as has been said, try a sharp hand scraper. I'll also show my
> > ignorance, and ask "why not sand?"
>
> > shelly
>
> Sanding gives you low spots, and even with a satin finish
> it still looks kind of bad.

gotcha...

I'm sure no one in my family
> would ever notice, but I would think about it every time
> I looked at it for the rest of my life.


doesn't that suck? recently I redid my bathroo m. I bought some
standard tile (lowes) and ordered the rest.Of course it didn't match.
OF COURSE I noticed it after I put up about 30 tiles. Lowes was not
happy to deal with me that day. My wife told me it looked ok, and that
I better NEVER tell anyone we show the house to about it. So far,
everybody loves the way it came out.

I think about it every time I take a shower.

shelly

ee

eclipsme

in reply to samson on 14/09/2008 10:35 AM

14/09/2008 1:30 PM

Larry Blanchard wrote:
> On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 10:35:26 -0500, samson wrote:
>
>> I'm having a little trouble hand planing around knots.
>> I'm getting small pits and I wonder if there's a technique
>> that will help. My irons are pretty darned sharp.
>>
>
> Have you tried a scraper plane?
>
No need for the plane if you don't have one. A hand scraper (sharp) will do.

Harvey

sn

samson

in reply to samson on 14/09/2008 10:35 AM

14/09/2008 11:36 AM

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 10:35:26 -0500, samson wrote:
>
> > I'm having a little trouble hand planing around knots.
> > I'm getting small pits and I wonder if there's a technique
> > that will help. My irons are pretty darned sharp.
> >
>
> Have you tried a scraper plane?

No, I haven't. But that's a v. good idea.

S.

sn

samson

in reply to samson on 14/09/2008 10:35 AM

14/09/2008 7:31 PM

In article <e4876115-29f4-43cd-80bb-
[email protected]>, [email protected]
says...
> On Sep 14, 11:35 am, samson <[email protected]> wrote:
> > I'm having a little trouble hand planing around knots.
> > I'm getting small pits and I wonder if there's a technique
> > that will help. My irons are pretty darned sharp.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > S.
>
>
> as has been said, try a sharp hand scraper. I'll also show my
> ignorance, and ask "why not sand?"
>
> shelly

Sanding gives you low spots, and even with a satin finish
it still looks kind of bad. I'm sure no one in my family
would ever notice, but I would think about it every time
I looked at it for the rest of my life.

S.

sn

samson

in reply to samson on 14/09/2008 10:35 AM

14/09/2008 7:37 PM

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>
> "samson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I'm having a little trouble hand planing around knots.
> > I'm getting small pits and I wonder if there's a technique
> > that will help. My irons are pretty darned sharp.
> >
>
> I work in building restoration. Recently I have spent weeks and months on
> some softwood internal panelling which is about 300 yrs old. I can tell you
> that if you hand plane pine and fir you get tears around the knots. It has
> always been that way, there is nothing wrong with your technique. In the
> 19th century they invented planing machines and standards went up, then they
> invented sanding in the 20th century and standards changed again but on my
> work I hand plane, I leave the pits and tears around the knots and at the
> end of the day my work looks like the old work.
>
> Any fool can push the wood through a machine. Leave your tool marks on the
> timber. It makes it special and precious. I often look at the marks made by
> the carpenters 300 yrs ago and I am filled with respect for their skill and
> ability. If you have a sharp blade and a strong arm you are not going wrong.
>
> Tim W

Thanks, Tim. I'm pretty much coming to that conclusion. The
tear out isn't terrible and I would prefer that to low spots.

FYI, the piece is already glued up and that's why I can't run
the board through a planer. Some time between cutting and gluing
up, I got some warping, probably from the heavy humidity. It's
not bad at all, but I wanted to get the side nice and flat. Hence
the knot issue.

S.

BA

B A R R Y

in reply to samson on 14/09/2008 10:35 AM

14/09/2008 4:16 PM

Phisherman wrote:
> On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 08:53:18 -0700, Larry Blanchard
>
>
> Good point. Some pieces I've made use knotty pine, not the easiest
> of woods to get even and to finish, but definately character so many
> (somewhat strangely) crave.


Scraper planes don't do so hot on softwoods like pine.

I might try a really sharp low angle plane, or a belt sander.

TW

"Tim W"

in reply to samson on 14/09/2008 10:35 AM

14/09/2008 10:25 PM


"samson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm having a little trouble hand planing around knots.
> I'm getting small pits and I wonder if there's a technique
> that will help. My irons are pretty darned sharp.
>

I work in building restoration. Recently I have spent weeks and months on
some softwood internal panelling which is about 300 yrs old. I can tell you
that if you hand plane pine and fir you get tears around the knots. It has
always been that way, there is nothing wrong with your technique. In the
19th century they invented planing machines and standards went up, then they
invented sanding in the 20th century and standards changed again but on my
work I hand plane, I leave the pits and tears around the knots and at the
end of the day my work looks like the old work.

Any fool can push the wood through a machine. Leave your tool marks on the
timber. It makes it special and precious. I often look at the marks made by
the carpenters 300 yrs ago and I am filled with respect for their skill and
ability. If you have a sharp blade and a strong arm you are not going wrong.

Tim W

s

in reply to samson on 14/09/2008 10:35 AM

14/09/2008 5:27 PM

On Sep 14, 11:35 am, samson <[email protected]> wrote:
> I'm having a little trouble hand planing around knots.
> I'm getting small pits and I wonder if there's a technique
> that will help. My irons are pretty darned sharp.
>
> Thanks,
>
> S.


as has been said, try a sharp hand scraper. I'll also show my
ignorance, and ask "why not sand?"

shelly

Nw

Noons

in reply to samson on 14/09/2008 10:35 AM

15/09/2008 9:10 PM

samson wrote,on my timestamp of 15/09/2008 1:35 AM:
> I'm having a little trouble hand planing around knots.
> I'm getting small pits and I wonder if there's a technique
> that will help. My irons are pretty darned sharp.

very light cuts might help with tearout on knots.

MF

"Michael Faurot"

in reply to samson on 14/09/2008 10:35 AM

15/09/2008 12:27 PM

samson <[email protected]> wrote:
> I'm having a little trouble hand planing around knots.
> I'm getting small pits and I wonder if there's a technique
> that will help. My irons are pretty darned sharp.

As I understand it, this is one of the uses for a toothed blade.
The idea being to go over the difficult area with the toothed blade
first. What's left behind, by the toothed blade, is supposed to
be easier to deal with and clean-up with a scraper or smoother.

NOTE: I haven't tried this myself, just what I read in "The Handplane
Book" by Garrett Hack (pg. 181).

LB

Larry Blanchard

in reply to samson on 14/09/2008 10:35 AM

14/09/2008 8:53 AM

On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 10:35:26 -0500, samson wrote:

> I'm having a little trouble hand planing around knots.
> I'm getting small pits and I wonder if there's a technique
> that will help. My irons are pretty darned sharp.
>

Have you tried a scraper plane?

Pn

Phisherman

in reply to samson on 14/09/2008 10:35 AM

14/09/2008 2:17 PM

On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 08:53:18 -0700, Larry Blanchard
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 10:35:26 -0500, samson wrote:
>
>> I'm having a little trouble hand planing around knots.
>> I'm getting small pits and I wonder if there's a technique
>> that will help. My irons are pretty darned sharp.
>>
>
>Have you tried a scraper plane?


Good point. Some pieces I've made use knotty pine, not the easiest
of woods to get even and to finish, but definately character so many
(somewhat strangely) crave.


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