wood planes and twisty elm

[neilyweely]

I have been processing some elm, which was in a bit of a bad way when I got it, into boards. I have split the board down the middle, so it is now about 20-25mm thick, but some of it was so twisted I decided I should cut it down into smaller sections and join what was useable together to make the large (300mm x 2.4m) piece I need. So I cut all the pieces into 100mm wide strips, all about 900mmn long. These then needed to be planed on the edges in order to join them together seamlessly (at least that is the idea!!).
Enter my new No.7, with corrugated base. Which at least one person on the forum knows better than me!!! Now, this tool is in good condition, and whilst I do prefer the older models this one is the only metal 20+ inch plane I have. I took a while to set her up nicely, which she was nearly already, and began. After a few minutes I went for my old and trusted woodie, and must have decided I preferred this as I carried on with it till as was done. A BIG pile of shavings.
So, 2 points. I am, I think, a convert. My old wooden planes, which cost me next to nowt, just 'feel' nicer going along the workpiece. Is this normal?
Secondly, and more importantly ATM, is my question. Is there anything I can do to try and stabilise any movement in this elm, ie positioning the strips so the grain runs in a special way, or putting a bit that leans one way next to a bit that leans the other?
or should I just put the lot thru the thicknesser and put up with the fact that my board isn't as thick as I wanted it to be?
I can live with a bit of 'rustic', but within reason. This panel is for a fitted wardrobe in MY house, which will be there when we go to sell in the future.

Any tips on sorting this out would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot

Neil

 

[Philly]

Neil
Question one - yes!
Question two - probably not. Down to luck with Elm, I'm afraid.

Cheers
Philly

 

[neilyweely]

Philly,
Think I will be getting in touch again soon, re my plane! But fear you may be a bit biased!! :wink: :wink:
Seriously though, even with the corrugation (is this a word?) on the No.7 the woodie just breezed thru it, no stick, no squeak....

Nothing can be done with the elm at all then? No amount of soaking, or oiling, or 'board-stretching' would help.

please??!!??

Neil

 

[Harbo]

Neil - I suppose you will have to decide how much thinner you will have to make the boards to remove all the twist.
Will cutting them into 50 mm strips help - though it may not improve the appearance? I suppose the ultimate solution is to use it as chequer boarding - bread board style?
The usual method of preventing cupping is to joint the boards in opposite grain orientation order (boards cup away from the centre of the tree- heart)
so by alternating the boards the stresses should even themselves out - well that's the theory?

I have no experiences about big woodies v. metal ones - I generally use my Metabo P/T. The corrugations are supposed to reduce friction?

Rod

 

[woodbloke]

Elm needs very careful treatment...it'll bow and twist at the drop of a hat. Slow and careful is the way to proceed, 'specially if twisting to start with - Rob

 

[Mikey R]

Elm needs very careful treatment...it'll bow and twist at the drop of a hat. Slow and careful is the way to proceed, 'specially if twisting to start with - Rob

Rob, do you mean take it down to rough dimension, then let it stabilise for a week or so before taking it to exact dimension? Or are there any other tricks to use?

Ive also got a nice bit of elm that Ive got stashed away for a project Ive got planned for some time in the future. Its going to end up bookmatched and laminated to a core, probably ash. Im also woried how it will go, as the grain on this piece is all over the place!

As the board is about 25mm thick, Im not expexting it to end up more than 9mm after bookmatching, so Im planning on laminating it to the core as soon as it comes off the saw - at that thickness it should be pretty flexible and the core should hold it flat. Is this a bad idea, and will it likely split?

 

[neilyweely]

OK, sorry if this post is now in the wrong area.

There is nothing wrong with my No.7, I guess I am just not so used to it as the big old wood plane.

The elm has been in the bedroom it is to be used in for the last two months, so is stable as it's gonna be. I have now put the strips together in the manner Harbo suggests, and funnily enough it kinda looks better already. But I guess the clamps are doing most of that, but even so, I think I could see an improvement before pressure was applied.

Its a shame, cos I have a load of this elm, and it is a bit of a mess. There are areas where a bit of deterioration has taken place, and the wood has gone soft in the middle. This becomes more apparent after treatment. However it was very cheap, and the grain is beautiful. I am gonna use it somehow!!

I have biscuited the strips together, using a strong pva, and it is all clamped from all angles, hopefully this'll do the trick. If not I guess I'll have to dig out that pile of oak I got stashed in the dining/store room!!

Harbo, thanks again for your help, and woodbloke - I fear you may be right. Thanks mate.

Neil

 

[woodbloke]

Mike wrote -

Rob, do you mean take it down to rough dimension, then let it stabilise for a week or so before taking it to exact dimension? Or are there any other tricks to use?

Yes, that's the way to do it. I've made a couple of projects in the stuff and I really like it to work with. What I did was rough cut it to size and leave it in the 'shop for a month, then rough machine it still leaving it over size (say 3or 4mm) and leave for another month before finally bringing down to exact sizes. It's important to equalize the stresses and this is best done by always machining from both faces and edges at the same time (or during the same workshop session...I know you can't plane four faces at the same time :? ) - Rob