Good Morning,
Grain tearout is making me tear my limited hair out. I was given a beautiful 34" X 72" X 2" slab of Copper Beech(?) and it has swirly grain and knots that are making it tough to get a smooth surface. I want to stick with neanderthal surfacing but am getting ready to fire up the belt sander. I have an old Stanley(Bailey?) #8, a Record smaller than the #8 and a smaller yet Stanley I think a #6. I have tuned them up as much as I know as they all shave off a thin ribbon on straight grain. I am thrilled as the long strokes leave a nice surface, then the chatter starts at the goofy grain and tear-out begins. I have been using a more diagonal--skew??--stroke and still get the same. I approach the aberrant grain from all angles and can get smoother results but tear-out happens after passing over the knot. My local rental shop doesn't have any Lie-Nieson rental and the planes I have should work. Can't be the operator. Any suggestions. I need to finsh this table for a charity auction by the 19th of Nov.
thie slabe weighs ~~100#s~~ Any base design ideas?? I am going to use some Madrone for the base and I have some ideas but I concerned about engineering stability and the overall weight on the table. Thanks, John.