Curly Maple planing questions

[Zach Dillinger]

On my current build (a curly maple QA slant top desk), I've tamed the curl with my Old Street Tools 55 deg. smoother. Did a fine job.

[Judson Green]

why are there so many "extras" sold to combat such wood?

Because there is still money to be had. No different than any other hobby or anything really.

[george wilson]

If you cannot get the chip breaker set exceedingly close to the blade,I used to plane very curly maple straight across the board with a finely set,razor sharp plane. Then,a sharp scraper used at a diagonal angle to avoid riding the curls up and down and getting a washboard effect.

The chip breaker needs to be just a FEW THOUSANDTHS from the cutting edge. And,the iron and chip breaker need to be mated perfectly to keep chips from getting up under it. So,some very careful flattening of mating surfaces is needed.

[Curt Putnam]

Another couple ways to get the chipbreaker set closely enough: Get a piece of soft wood and gently tap the edge straight down - about .001 - .002 in depth. With the blade set in the line, mate the breaker to it. Or - get a piece of copy paper and use that as a spacer for your breaker.

I point these methods out because without such aids I cannot get the breaker properly mated enough to produce the desired effect. And I'm still not sure I have yet.

[alan tasoff]

At the risk of being banished from the Neanderthals, I routinely plane my curly maple with the Dewalt 13" planer. It comes out like glass.

[george wilson]

Those lunch box planers with sharp blades will often plane smoother than the industrial sized machines. We had a 20"Powermatic at work. Sometimes,I'd take a 12" Delta I bought used,outside and plane problematic wood with it. I must say,though,my 15" Bridgewood 4 poster planes MUCH smoother than the Powermatic ever would. But,I keep an as yet unused Delta at home also,if problematic wood comes along. Since I now have bad COPD,I don't plane as much by hand anymore.

[Mike Cherry]

ok honestly, when I was envisioning a close chip breaker, that was not how close I thought it had to be lol!

[Winton Applegate]

Mike,

how close I thought it had to be lol!

Yes if you are talking .002" to paper thickness (.003") I think that is a little too close in my experience. More like .007" would be more like it.

Pat,

Plane off

Ha, ha
sounds good
Cookies and beer though . . . I don't know if I am that tough . . .

Probably ought to go all the way and have a hand held belt sander guy in there as well.

[Mark Stutz]

The chip breaker needs to be just a FEW THOUSANDTHS from the cutting edge. And,the iron and chip breaker need to be mated perfectly to keep chips from getting up under it. So,some very careful flattening of mating surfaces is needed.

Mike,
Yes if you are talking .002" to paper thickness (.003") I think that is a little too close in my experience. More like .007" would be more like it.l.

Since I've been back I've seen several references to "the secret of the chipbreaker" etc. but hadn't got around to asking about it. I had always just put it as close as I could. Now I have some idea what to shoot for!

[John Crawford]

Since I've been back I've seen several references to "the secret of the chipbreaker" etc. but hadn't got around to asking about it.

Mark--Here is one of the "secret of the chipbreaker" articles that people often link to here:

http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/r...cles_935.shtml

[Brian Holcombe]

Maple, I'm making frames and this was the nastiest of the bunch



This is with a 45 degree pitch, and the chip breaker set to a 50 degree angle and .010" from the edge.



The tiny crack left was repaired.

[Mark Stutz]

Mark--Here is one of the "secret of the chipbreaker" articles that people often link to here:

http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/r...cles_935.shtml

Thanks so much! It turns out I've been coming close, about .01, without any real reason, other than somewhere I heard "put it as close as you can". Probably has worked for me since I'm still using mostly pretty tame cherry and walnut.

With apologies to the OP, I do have a question about the diagram at the beginning of that article. It shows the frog adjusted so that the end of the blade is not supported by the sole. I have never done that, mainly because it just seemed that it would result in chatter or flexing, but apparently it isn't the problem that I thought and a tight mouth is more important.

[Winton Applegate]

Mark,

Now I have some idea what to shoot for!

I tend to hold up two crossed index fingers and hiss when some one mentions bevel down and chip breakers for "difficult" wood . . . so I am not the first to ask . . . though I HAVE spent enough time with them to "conquer" the wood I at first thought was beyond them . . .
anyway you might start out there .010" or even more and work toward the edge from there.
No reason to make the tedium machines even more tedious for no reason.

[Winton Applegate]

Mark,
Howdy
It's me again.
It appears on first blush that I ignored where you said you normally set at .010" but that reply was made as I read along in the posts earlier on above.

the end of the blade is not supported by the sole. I have never done that, mainly because it just seemed that it would result in chatter or flexing, but apparently it isn't the problem that I thought and a tight mouth is more important.

Well that has always been my feeling about bevel down planes. I guess if you get everything just right things pretty much work out but then everyone says in the same breath with "set the chip breaker fine" . . . they say "and take super thin cuts."

This here new fangled thing will allow one to toss the chip breaker in the trash (I find a chip breaker is at it's best when it is wedged under the shop door to keep the door from blowing closed) . . . the new fangled plane allows one to have the under side of the blade supported and, and, and . . . get this . . . have the throat adjustable from wide open for a geeeeeter done cut then in a flash dial it up close (though I have never found up close all that critical) for a finish cut in the weirdest wood . . . and . . . no disassembly and farting around with screw drivers.

They tell me these new fangled planes suck and are just not as good as the bevel downs and they tell me the REAL COOL guys, back in the day, didn't use them because they were just not good enough easy enough something or other enough.

I'm so dumb I think they are the good stuff.

Anyway

[Steve Voigt]

Mark,

Well that has always been my feeling about bevel down planes. I guess if you get everything just right things pretty much work out but then everyone says in the same breath with "set the chip breaker fine" . . . they say "and take super thin cuts."

Winton,
It is not true that you need to take "super-thin" cuts with the chipbreaker. Quite the opposite, in fact. Set it correctly and you can take fat .010 shavings, tearout-free. I don't know where all this sub-thou crap came from. That's the single-iron guys, not us.