do we need to plane all round?

[engineer one]

in amongst all the other things i was doing over the weekend, i ripped a couple of lengths of oak to allow me to use my veritas measuring clamps.

it is "just" a couple of holders through which the strips slide to allow you to hold them and adjust them to check diagonals etc.

anyway the reason for the heading. we spend a fair amount of time creating a face and edge, but if the wood you are using is going for instance to make a face frame, do you need to plane the other face? :?

a lot of the wood we use ends up out of sight, and obviously when you look at antique furniture, you see awkward edges or sides if you look round the corner.

but since in principle we have machinery to save time, we have tended to plane all 4 sides. hence the question if you plane 2 or 3 sides, and then rip the 4th will the wood check or split or fail more readily because its surface is not as smooth?

this might seem like a back to the early learning centre question, but is there a definite answer?

paul :wink:

 

[mr]

but if the wood you are using is going for instance to make a face frame, do you need to plane the other face? :?

Will it sit nicely on whatever your attaching it to if you don't?

a lot of the wood we use ends up out of sight, and obviously when you look at antique furniture, you see awkward edges or sides if you look round the corner.

How do you feel about that ?

but since in principle we have machinery to save time, we have tended to plane all 4 sides. hence the question if you plane 2 or 3 sides, and then rip the 4th will the wood check or split or fail more readily because its surface is not as smooth?

releasing tension from the wood inequally can cause the wood to do unpleasant things. I guess it will depend on the wood itself and the state its in

this might seem like a back to the early learning centre question, but is there a definite answer?

As ever imho I don't think there is a definitive answer. It's a case of what your happy with in the context, the condition of the materials and how they are being used.

Cheers Mike

 

[woodbloke]

Paul - personal thing here I think. I would generally plane all faces tho' I wouldn't be too concerned about squareness etc if it was for a job that wasn't too important, it's just that for me it's more pleasant to have timber prepared to a decent standard rather than have two faces rough sawn - Rob

 

[Paul Chapman]

will the wood check or split or fail more readily because its surface is not as smooth?

I think checking and splitting is more a product of how the wood has been dried. However, if you plane everything from one side and hardly any from the other, you might get warping.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[DomValente]

Paul Chapman wrote:

you might get warping.

You will.

Dom

 

[motownmartin]

I always plane all 4 sides to balance the warping, still not convinced it works though but i'm only a novice :?

Martin

 

[Harbo]

I think warping is more to do with the type of timber, moisture and stress relief.
Best to rough cut/plane and leave to recover as long as you can afford - not always possible though.
As I generally use a P/T, I plane all four sides (you have to do really to get even bits of wood) but concentrate the final planing/sanding on the exposed sides.
I recently made a kitchen table in sycamore where I did coat all sides of the top with a Sam Maloof PU mixture in case of "differentials" even though the underside would not "normally" be seen?
Perhaps one of us can do an experiment - halve a bit of wood - plane one bit on all 4 sides and the other on 3 - leave to see what happens? :lol:

Rod

 

[engineer one]

interesting as usual.
mr i wonder whether, since the wood will be allegedly ripped true to the face or other edge, it should fit :?

i guess the question is whether or not planing and sawing produce or release different stresses??

as for the varnishing question, i have noticed in certain american magazines various experiments where they seem to imply that often varnishing on both sides has little or no effect on "bending"

as for looking at antiques, i guess the answer is for what reason i am making something. if for instance i am making some of my quick and dirty bookcases, then since so much is to be built in, or hidden it would save time. would i be happy, well i might feel that since i had finished something it was a more valuable use of my time. we know that production antiques underwent this process.

i also remember that what i make may never become an antique, so maybe i should consider the satisfaction quotient :roll:

i guess from my point of view it comes to the difference between fitted furniture which is not all solid anyway, and moveable pieces which are solid.

paul :wink:

 

[David C]

It is depressing how much misleading information comes from some US & UK magazines and some posts on woodworking forums.

Finishing one side of a wide board will eventually lead to cupping if the R/H changes significantly.

Machining 3 faces of a board is also asking for trouble specially if it is kiln dried. The only possible exception I can think of might be on very old very gently air dried stable timber.

David Charlesworth

 

[woodbloke]

It is depressing how much misleading information comes from some US & UK magazines and some posts on woodworking forums.

Finishing one side of a wide board will eventually lead to cupping if the R/H changes significantly.

Machining 3 faces of a board is also asking for trouble specially if it is kiln dried. The only possible exception I can think of might be on very old very gently air dried stable timber.

David Charlesworth

David - you are correct of course. Where it is critical that as little deformation as possible is required, then what is done to one side of a board must be done to the other......my post referred to a situation where something may be 'knocked up', say in some deal, fairly smartly and it's not important that all faces are planed, it's just more pleasant to feel a smooth surface rather than a rough sawn one.
I remember years ago my boss asked my to machine up some quarter sawn boards of oak (a lot of them) for some drawer sides and I only machined off one face #-o with the result that I had a very unhappy boss and a pile of virtually useless timber - Rob

 

[engineer one]

reason i asked, was to reduce the amount of misinformation if possible.

so the following questions still apply.

planing and sawing give different stresses aftwerwards??

i was actually talking about relatively narrow boards, say up to 2x1 oe 3x1
especially for framing out.

when you plane up a board, and you have sorted out the face and edge, how can you guarantee that you remove the same amount of material from the other sides, and does it matter if it is exactly the same amount removed??

i can understand the problems with large boards but that was not precisely the question.

thanks again


paul :wink: