Hand planing hardwood - bad idea?

[Molynoox]

So I haven't really done any hand planing before but I decided to give it a go as I wanted to make a chopping board from some free offcuts.

-The offcuts are Oak and walnut.
-My hand plane is a cheap plastic handled Stanley
-I've flattened the sole and sharpened the iron

I found it amazingly hard work to plane the face of the wood flat after resawing.

is it supposed to be this hard?

Martin

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Martin, don't be such a wuss!

No, it is likely that (1) the blade is not sharp (what you think is sharp is not what others might call sharp). What did you do? (2) The blade is projecting for too deep a cut; or, (3) You are planing into the grain.

With all this taken into account, it should be easy-peasy.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Molynoox]

Martin, don't be such a wuss!

No, it is likely that (1) the blade is not sharp (what you think is sharp is not what others might call sharp). What did you do? (2) The blade is projecting for too deep a cut; or, (3) You are planing into the grain.

Regards from Perth

Derek

On sharpening I can't remember what I did, probably ran it over my diamond plates then stropped, but I don't really know what I'm doing in that department either so good chance the iron isn't sharp, or flat etc

I tried the blade less deep but it seems to just skid over the top... It feels very all or nothing on the cut depth

I didn't think about the grain....

 

[TRITON]

My hand plane is a cheap plastic handled Stanley

Problem A.

is it supposed to be this hard?

Yup. I usually have to strip down to a t-shirt and make sure the room is cold enough. I'd do it outside in winter if I had the facilities.

 

[sawtooth-9]

On sharpening I can't remember what I did, probably ran it over my diamond plates then stropped, but I don't really know what I'm doing in that department either so good chance the iron isn't sharp, or flat etc

I tried the blade less deep but it seems to just skid over the top... It feels very all or nothing on the cut depth

I didn't think about the grain....

Yes you do have to take the grain direction into account.
Yes, you do need a REALLY sharp blade for hardwood.
I usually cheat. I use a belt sander, followed with orbital sanding, finishing off with hand sanding with fine grit on a sanding block.
Why ? Because I am not skilled enough with a plane or sharpening.
You could ,of course, avoid the problem with a small electric planer, with a very fine cut.
But that would also be cheating, wouldn't it ?

 

[hlvd]

So I haven't really done any hand planing before but I decided to give it a go as I wanted to make a chopping board from some free offcuts.

-The offcuts are Oak and walnut.
-My hand plane is a cheap plastic handled Stanley
-I've flattened the sole and sharpened the iron

I found it amazingly hard work to plane the face of the wood flat after resawing.

is it supposed to be this hard?

View attachment 149628

Martin

Yes, it’s always that hard.

 

[paulrbarnard]

So I haven't really done any hand planing before but I decided to give it a go as I wanted to make a chopping board from some free offcuts.

-The offcuts are Oak and walnut.
-My hand plane is a cheap plastic handled Stanley
-I've flattened the sole and sharpened the iron

I found it amazingly hard work to plane the face of the wood flat after resawing.

is it supposed to be this hard?

View attachment 149628

Martin

Looking at your pile of shavings I would say your cut is too deep. It the blade doesn’t cut with a finer cut it isn’t sharp.
If you are working at ‘production’ speed you will work up quite a sweat.

 

[Jacob]

Bear in mind that plane enthusiasts have often spent 1000s of hours and lots of money on it. They make it look easy. It's a kind of competitive sport - you have a long way to go to catch up!
Best to practice first on the thin edge of a board as it's easier and you get a feel for it. You can see the shavings and how they are affected by the set of the plane etc.
Also practice on any offcuts and scrap.
Most of all it has to be sharp. It won't be steel quality limiting sharpness even on a cheapo, but you can soften it by over heating and bluing on a grindwheel. If you do blue it just resharpen as often as necessary until it's gone. No remedial action is needed and you need the practice anyway!
On the face of a board you need a cambered blade. The more the camber the easier to straighten the board, but the less flat the surface. Hence the "smoothing" plane, but it isn't essential.
Practice practice!!

 

[Jameshow]

Is your Stanley able to take a really sharp edge.

I know quality went south with the handyman planes but did the blade hardness too?

You might need to get a decent older plane?

 

[johnnyb]

oak is remarkably hard when kiln dried. I reckon air dried timber is softer kiln drying altering the wood somewhat. Jacob is spot on though. get a shaving going and confidence will soar. walnut is much easier to plane btw.

 

[Agent_zed]

Well you have a decent bench so that's a good start.

Sharpening seems to be a big pit of debate that will drag you down quickly. Choose one that works for you. Personally I have an old oilstone and a piece of mdf and some car paint cutting paste to do a final strop. Seems to work for me and I can get it razor sharp. I have an old Faithful no4 and a stanley baily no5 (from 1945 if I have ID'd it correctly) both of which seem to take a good edge, probably in spite of me not because of me.

Something else that i found helped a lot is adjusting the frog. This allows you to set the amount of opening of the bit the blade sticks through. My basic understanding is the smaller the gap the finer the shavings you are likely to achieve with less tearout, but you have to balance that with how much you want to take off in a pass. If you are taking the finest of shavings it will take you an age to flatten a board for example.

Some wood just doesn't want to plane well. I was planing some oak the other day and it changed grain direction 4 times across the edge. I had to plane in one direction to the change and then come back the otherway. Even had to chisel a small section where the directions switched as it was proving hard using the plane.

 

[clogs]

Useing electricity and noise is the fastest way to flaten a board.....

 

[Agent_zed]

Useing electricity and noise is the fastest way to flaten a board.....

depends. My planner/thicknesser has to be taken out of the garage and setup on a bench and then i have to find my extension lead and probably switch over the exhaust port depending if i am planing or thicknessing. I then have to don my ear defenders, respirator and eyewear. Do some adjusting and test cuts. Assuming its not too late in the evening as my neighbours wouldn't appreciate my planer noise.

Or I pick up my plane from the end of my bench and plane the bit of wood.

But if I had to plane a really long bit of wood or many pieces then yes it would be faster.

 

[PerryGunn]

Useing electricity and noise is the fastest way to flaten a board.....

I agree, the older I get the less time I want to spend doing things 'The Hard Way'™ - for something like this, it'd be electric plane then belt sander then fine sander...

I know that, for some people, doing everything with hand tools gives them a great deal of satisfaction - but I no longer fall into that category. If I can do something with power tools and achieve the same result faster it gives me more time for other things - which could be making more of the same thing, a different project entirely or just finishing everything before heading off for a month in the sun...

 

[no idea]

Lubricating the sole of the plane will help reduce the effort needed to plane if you haven't done this yet. Candle wax, wood wax, wd40 or even 3in1 oil wiped on and off again will make a big difference.

 

[imageel]

So I haven't really done any hand planing before but I decided to give it a go as I wanted to make a chopping board from some free offcuts.

-The offcuts are Oak and walnut.
-My hand plane is a cheap plastic handled Stanley
-I've flattened the sole and sharpened the iron

I found it amazingly hard work to plane the face of the wood flat after resawing.

is it supposed to be this hard?

View attachment 149628

Martin

Hi Martin as others have said, it is hard work, however it looks like you have the right tools, so likely any difficulties are down to plane set-up and technique!
I'd say that plane setup is the trickiest to master, followed by whatever technique works for you wrt sharpening and I think that unless you are prepared to experiment yourself that the next best thing you could do is watch someone who has some level of skill planing some material to pick up some hints and tips.
I am by no means implying I'm an expert however I do have some experience hand planing hardwoods such as Sapele and American Maple - here are some pics of some maple that I hand planed a while back.
I live maybe 22miles from you, if you wanted some practical advice I'd be happy to assist if that would help - PM me if interested,
Ed

 

[thikone]

Lubricating the sole of the plane will help reduce the effort needed to plane if you haven't done this yet. Candle wax, wood wax, wd40 or even 3in1 oil wiped on and off again will make a big difference.

I'll second that! Lubricating makes it three times easier. Google for methods.

After resawing it is all bumpy and you don't get shavings at first but dust. Don't set it to cut deeper but instead continue plaining until you see shavings.

Don't cut too deep! It shouldn't need more power than a sand paper block would... And hold it like you mean it, like when you onload heavy timber.

 

[D_W]

So I haven't really done any hand planing before but I decided to give it a go as I wanted to make a chopping board from some free offcuts.

-The offcuts are Oak and walnut.
-My hand plane is a cheap plastic handled Stanley
-I've flattened the sole and sharpened the iron

I found it amazingly hard work to plane the face of the wood flat after resawing.

is it supposed to be this hard?

View attachment 149628

Martin

The offer above to go miles and get some hands on in understanding sharpness and getting a feel is about the best you can get.

Planing should ultimately be like taking a brisk walk and about as smooth, but imagine if you just started walking, it takes some practice and learning.

 

[thetyreman]

it really shouldn't be that hard, sharpness and setting up the plane properly is important, kiln dried oak can be particularly hard though and I've had problems with it, often it just means sharpening more often.

 

[thetyreman]

another thing is I found when I got my no 5 1/2 things got a lot easier, whilst some people think you can do everything with a no4 for me I need heavier and longer planes, my favourite two now being the no7 and no 5 1/2, then I follow up with a 4 1/2 for the final surface.