Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: Tearout

  1. #1

    Tearout

    I'm in the short rows on the boy child's table. It is ready for glue up in the AM. that and a little oil and the sucker will be out of the shop.


    Getting the legs ready for glue up was a PITA because they are Sapele. I don't know if you have worked with Sapele, once finished it is beautiful but it is very difficult to work with hand tools, getting to ready for finishing isn't easy. The problem is it is soft and has stripes of reversing grain which of course leads to tearout even when using the sharpest cutters unless the cap iron is set to control the tearout. With an improper set up plane the tearout can be so deep and severe a scrapper is almost worthless. The best approach is two part, setting the cap iron correctly to control the tearout then follow with light scrapping if needed. Many times just correct setting of the cap iron will be all that is needed. Here is a photo of one of the Sapele legs after using a #5 Jack to shape the leg. I think you can see how deep the tearout is if you click the image to enlarge it.

    sapeleLegTearout171110dscf2125.jpg

    As has been posted many times on this forum, to control tearout with the cap iron it, the cap iron, needs to be set back just slightly greater than the desired thickness of the shavings. It is pretty damn close to the cutting edge, in other words when set correctly you should just be able to see a very thin reflection of light off the cutter.


    Here is a photo of the leg after smoothing with a #4 with the cap iron set to control tearout. A scrapper is on the bench but I do not think it was used. Again click it to big it.

    sapeleLegTearoutFixed171110dscf2129.jpg

    ken

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Princeton, NJ
    Posts
    7,252
    Blog Entries
    7
    Nice work Ken!
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Holcombe View Post
    Nice work Ken!
    Thanks Brian. As I worked on the legs last night I thought it might be of interest to show the effect of setting the cap iron for tearout control. I'm sure by this time we all know it works but maybe some haven't seen it work.

    ken

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Atlanta, GA
    Posts
    1,356
    Great example of the value of a scraper; that LV holder is great, too.

    You like your Benchcrafted planing stop? I have one (but cant decide where to put the 2" square hole in my bench).
    David
    Confidence: That feeling you get before fully understanding a situation (Anonymous)

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    SE Michigan
    Posts
    3,222
    That sapele is everything you say it is. I did one project with it, and it kept getting thinner and thinner to try to remove the tear out

    Your results are impressive. Thanks for the reminder!

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by David Ragan View Post
    Great example of the value of a scraper; that LV holder is great, too.

    You like your Benchcrafted planing stop? I have one (but cant decide where to put the 2" square hole in my bench).
    David,

    At the time of the photo I hadn't used the scraper. The results were from setting the cap iron.

    The planing stop is handy, I go back and forth between it and the batten you see on the end of the bench....both work well.

    ken

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Phil Mueller View Post
    That sapele is everything you say it is. I did one project with it, and it kept getting thinner and thinner to try to remove the tear out

    Your results are impressive. Thanks for the reminder!
    Phil,

    Thanks.

    Now that made me laugh, BTDT.

    ken

  8. #8
    Ken,
    A nice and clear demonstration of the effectiveness of a chipbreaker. Thanks for sharing.
    Best wishes,
    Metod

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Metod Alif View Post
    Ken,
    A nice and clear demonstration of the effectiveness of a chipbreaker. Thanks for sharing.
    Best wishes,
    Metod
    Metod,

    Thanks,

    Sapele is a good wood to demonstrate tear out. At least that is the case in my experience ��

    ken

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •