Planing a Cypress work top

[petertheeater]

Hi all. I've been lurking in the background for a while now and enjoyed the wealth of practical advice offered by forum. I thought I would test the knowledge base out there.
I have been asked to plane a mm (or more) from a work top made from ' hinoki cypress' a Japanese species of cypress. It is used by a chef in a restaurant to prepare sushi and will need dressing about three times a year to remove knife cuts etc. it is over 3500mm long by 400mm wide and 60 mm thick. I think it can be moved to create space around it but removing it from the restaurant is not an option.
My questions are
What would be a good plane for the job. I have a Few small bench planes that' are probably not really up to the job. But if I can get a commitment of an ongoing (repeat job) I may be prepared to invest in a nice bit of kit that can always be used occasionally on other jobs.
It's quite a swanky restaurant so the planed piece is going to have to finish quite nicely. (Sorry but I am prepared to use a RO sander to finish off) would that even be necessary.
Is this achievable in a day ?
I am a competent woodworker and earn my living as a furniture and cabinet maker. I use fewer hand tools now so am out of toch on that side of things.
As I charge by the day or job I want a plane that will only need a bit of extra sharpening out of the box. I would not have time nor inclination to spend hours fettling and flattening the damn thing.
The piece of cypress is over 250 years old and brought over from japan. It looks (in photos) flat and square and little used so far.
Your input would be much appreciated.

 

[RogerS]

Could you not use a scraper plane or hand scrapers? That lump of cypress is going to weigh upwards of 80kg I reckon. Easier to do it in situ.

 

[RobinBHM]

I dont suppose many people in the uk will have hand planed hinoki cypress, let alone heard of it!

I think a form of scraper is likely to be the best advice. I cant see a hand plane being very useful on a long, wide, flat surface and there is a risk of torn grain.

A belt sander would be the most successful method, working diagonally both ways first. I cant imagine a sushi chef being pleased to see his kitchen turned into a cloud of wood dust

 

[RogerS]

Looks to be a fairly 'soft' hardwood...similar to mahogany...if not slightly softer.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

You've only got a day. You'll be very lucky if it's only 1mm. Use an electric planer with new blades set fine first, then a hand plane and/or a sander? Or maybe use a scrub plane first, then move on to as above?

 

[RogerS]

Turn it over ?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

:lol: Someone probably did that last time...

 

[Phil Pascoe]

As an aside, I'm a little surprised that a wooden worktop is allowed for food preparation.

 

[RogerS]

As an aside, I'm a little surprised that a wooden worktop is allowed for food preparation.

Butcher's blocks ?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes, I know. The market butcher I worked for was made to change his for plastic about 15yrs ago, but high street butchers seem to get away with it. In our area, I think they'd have you in court for even thinking about wood in a kitchen of a pub or restaurant.
P.S. If you make a ham and tomato sarnie, you are supposed to use three different boards and four knives.

 

[Mar_mite]

As an aside, I'm a little surprised that a wooden worktop is allowed for food preparation.

Nonsense.
A what about aged whiskey in oak barrels. Or wine and ales?
Wooden spoons?
Aren't some timbers actually anti-bacterial?

 

[RobinBHM]

I believe tests have shown that wooden chopping boards hold less bacteria than plastic

http://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/o ... 03459.blog

 

[RogerS]

I believe tests have shown that wooden chopping boards hold less bacteria than plastic

http://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/o ... 03459.blog

Oh, well researched ! =D> =D>

 

[Phil Pascoe]

As an aside, I'm a little surprised that a wooden worktop is allowed for food preparation.

Nonsense.
A what about aged whiskey in oak barrels. Or wine and ales?
Wooden spoons?
Aren't some timbers actually anti-bacterial?

It may well be nonsense, but you try telling an EHO that you are using wooden boards. Wooden spoons are a no no. You are not allowed to reuse wooden cask taps. Wood is far more hygenic than some other surfaces, but you have to deal with the law as it is, not how it should be or how you'd like it to be.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I believe tests have shown that wooden chopping boards hold less bacteria than plastic

http://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/o ... 03459.blog

I believe (iirc) that the original in depth tests were done by one of the Californian universities. I remember seeing it in one of the woodworking rags at the time - it was longer ago than I realised. I cut it out at the time for the butcher that I referred to earlier, who'd just spent a fortune buying plastic chopping blocks. Not boards - blocks. :shock:

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Actually, I'm a little surprised that high class restaurants get away with serving meals on slates. (On slates...not on the slate... )

 

[JohnPW]

I don't like power tools and avoid them if I can, so if I was doing it I'd use planes, a jack plane to take off thicker shavings then trying plane/jointer to level and smooth off. Then a cabinet scraper for final finishing if needed.

 

[Woodmonkey]

You could use a router sled to skim the surface and then finish with a random orbital

(I do like power tools!)

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I think if the OP aims to finish in a day, something mechanical is going to be necessary, as the 1mm depth I believe will prove to be optimistic - after all if there are 1mm cuts any staining will be deeper. It's a big bit of timber to plane 2mm or 3mm off by hand, sand and possibly oil in a day.

 

[petertheeater]

Hi all. I did try and post a response earlier today but obviously managed to get it wrong. Some of the points have been dealt with.
The restaurant is quite swanky and in the heart of town (london). I would imagine that they will have done their research in regards to food hygiene etc. apparently this is a traditional use of the Hinoki Cypress in making Sushi. The obviously wealthy clients sit on beautiful stools opposite the chef as he prepares their sushi. This explains the length of the wortop as the chef can move along the length of the bar. As this is a traditional Japanese method I would imagine they have found it not to poison many people over the last hundred or so years. Perhaps we can all keep our ears open for news of mass poisoning outbreaks in a certain part of london. I suspect they probably also prepare that blow fish that will kill you if it is not filleted correctly. Perhaps I ought to wear gloves in case their is any residue left on the Cypress.
I originally suggested planing as I remember in my earlier days we would plane glued-up work tops to flatten them. Often with skewed strokes to begin and then following with the grain. I think we would start with a jack plane to do the rougher work and then finish with a long jointer plane to level things out.
I am in no way adverse to using power tools but have never gotten on well with electric planers and find the bigger belt sanders can so easily leave a deep gouge. This would cause an awful lot of extra work. Belt sanders also create a lot of dust. I would be happy to give the whole thing a time saving finish with a random orbital sander - mine is very efficient at dust collection when attached to an extractor.
I agree with some of the suggestions that 1mm is probably a bit optimistic on my part.
I bet that in Japan there is a fellow who specialises in this and goes around to all the high class restaurants with his special plane in a lovely little - or big, box.
Any suggestions on a planes scrub or otherwise.
Thanks all