View Poll Results: How do you remove the twist from your boards?

Voters
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  • Scrub Plane

    17 22.67%
  • #4-1/2

    2 2.67%
  • #5

    18 24.00%
  • #5-1/4

    1 1.33%
  • #6

    6 8.00%
  • #7 or #8

    7 9.33%
  • Power jointer

    31 41.33%
  • Power planer with sled

    3 4.00%
  • Router with carriage

    0 0%
  • Other (please post details)

    3 4.00%
Multiple Choice Poll.
Results 1 to 15 of 15

Thread: How do you remove the twist from your boards?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Anchorage, Alaska
    Posts
    1,617

    Question How do you remove the twist from your boards?

    I understand the traditional way is to Scrub the high points yet I've been following a scrub thread where it sounds like scrubs are "the most unused of the planes".

    How do you do it? I've heard of using other bench planes, power jointers, planer sled jigs, etc. For purposes of this discussion, lets assume the board is 4/4 stock 5" wide x 30" long.

    (Added, after Brian's comment): To put it in perspective, I'm not talking about a "corkscrew" board, just one that isn't as flat as you want/need it.
    Last edited by Jim Neeley; 08-13-2011 at 3:17 PM.
    One can never have too many planes and chisels... or so I'm learning!!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Escondido, CA
    Posts
    6,224
    Choice #1 - Use a different board
    Choice #2 - see if a #7 will do the job
    Choice #3 - try a scrub plane
    Choice #4 - use a different board
    Choice #5 - If the twist is less than the thickness, try the jointer, followed by the drum sander since I do not own a planer
    Choice #6 - which might also be choice #1.5 - see if I can cut and reassemble in some way that makes it workable.
    Choice #7 - Think 1 more time - are the board's inner dynamics going to screw up the piece? If so, set it aside for small boxes and buy another board.
    Veni Vidi Vendi Vente! I came, I saw, I bought a large coffee!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Anchorage, Alaska
    Posts
    1,617
    Brian.. I like your chouces #1, #4 and #7 best, but in this case I'm talking about relatively "mild" twist.

    I guess actually I should have added one more option: glue and clamp, screw and nail it flat... then paint it flat black to mask any remaonong twist! :-)

    For future readers, I edited my question above after reading Brian's response.
    One can never have too many planes and chisels... or so I'm learning!!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Chevy Chase, Maryland
    Posts
    2,484
    I don't just use one tool to take a rough sawn board to 4 square or even just to flatten the faces. It usually takes a scrub, a 5 1/2, and a 7, and then it's only flat and square, but not necessarily smooth and shiny (a 4 or scraper would be needed for that). Often I will use the scrub and jack or jointer to true one face so it doesn't wobble (i.e., it need not be pretty) and send it through the lunchbox. But my lunchbox won't take anything over 12, so wider boards are all hand.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Dugger, Indiana
    Posts
    101
    I definitely wouldn't take a scrub plane to a board that small with a mild twist, unless you want the board to do a disappearing act. Scrub planes take a big bite and are intended for rough work. What's wrong with a regular Jack Plane or Jointer Plane? Just put a wedge or shaving or whatever under the high corner(s) so it doesn't rock on you or get pulled flat by your clamps or body weight, and plane it down flat working across the grain and diagonal to the grain followed by a couple of lengthwise passes as necessary. Then run it through a planer with the flat side down or flip it over and hand plane the other side. Also, a twisted board will likely keep moving with changes in humidity, so be careful how you use it. Just because you get it perfectly flat, doesn't mean it will stay that way.

  6. #6
    Cut the board in half can reduce alot of twist or wind
    Carpe Lignum

  7. #7
    I've got a couple of old wood smoothers with wide open mouths that I turned into scrub planes. They work well in this situation. I adjust them based on the amount of twist then follow cross grain with a 5 1/2 or 7. Works well for me.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Anchorage, Alaska
    Posts
    1,617
    Thanks for the clarification, Sean.. You answered what I was asking.. where do you start...
    One can never have too many planes and chisels... or so I'm learning!!

  9. #9
    If it's really bad, I hit it with a #5 (my favorite bench plane, BTW) and then power jointer. It would have to be a piece of wood that I really want to use in that particular application for me to go through the trouble. Most of my "bad" wood gets broken down into easier to handle, smaller chunks and gets used for other purposes. Why make it hard on myself? Woodworking is hard enough, thank you.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Columbia, TN
    Posts
    535
    I've had decent results using my LN #40 on very specific spots that need to be knocked down but I also like a #5 since a twisted board is more times than not, for me, a longer and more gradual twist. I think the scrub is great for prepping an edge before it hits a power jointer too.

  11. #11
    Are you saying you work whole boards when preparing stock? Even with machines control of final thickness requires reducing the stock to rough dimension of pieces. The second step in stock preparation is cutting rough stock to rough dimension. The first step is stock selection where one looks for appropriate material they can get out which will yield pieces of the desired thickness, width and length.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Espoo, Finland
    Posts
    46
    I'm a big guy so take this with a grain of salt, but I love my QS #6 for this job. With some wax on the sole, a cambered blade and the mouth opened up a bit the weight is fantastic to help pull itself through the rough surface from the sawmill when I'm working off the high spots. That said, I don't have a scrub plane (yet - I have a heavily cambered extremely thick single iron waiting for me to build one).

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Ellsworth, Maine
    Posts
    1,805
    I have sometimes seen someone take an old wooden rabbet plane of an inch or so and camber the blade to turn it into a scrub plane. Seems a bit akward to me but in use looked very functional. I personally don't ever use my scrub to true up a rough sawn board. Is not wide enough or long enough for the intended purpose. If a board isn't in too bad of shape I'll even start off with a #7 working across the board like I would a jack or scrub plane. I have a Stanley #7 set up with a medium camber that I use for this function, as well as on edges of rough stock. Then I switch to my LN #7 to really flatten my stock and true it up. I really like this double #7 setup and use it the most. My scrub basically only gets used on edges to take down lots of material to get to proper width where a rip saw would be akward. To each his own.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Marietta GA
    Posts
    1,120
    I usually use my No 5 with Hock blade. However, I have a Steve Knight yazee jack that is 17 inches long and is better for the longer boards.

    If the twist is significant ( off hand at least 1/4 inch ) then I will carefully examine whether it's better to rip it in half and then plane the two boards separate for a future rejoining. It also depends upon the thickness of the work piece involved. Thinner stock I'm much more inclined to rip it and then true. Thicker stock has more room.

    There's nothing so disappointing as to arrive at stock that is too thin for your project due to twist and wind removal. Some rule about looking before your leap comes to mind...hoot!

    Enjoy the shavings !

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
    Posts
    27,347
    Blog Entries
    1
    Heck, with pine it twists and turns all the time anyway. Usually it is possible to just force it into straight enough to glue up.

    If it really needs some work, then it is either a #5 or #6.

    The last time some of my wood was too twisted to use for its intended purpose it was used to make a chick brooder that then became a planter.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

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