Project update:smoothing tricky grain, almost finished

Peter Rideout

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Nova Scotia, 45°N 64°W
I'm working on a couple of little projects with the curly ash I've had up in the barn for a few years. Our younger son needed a tall, narrow bookcase for his dorm room and he chose a highly-figured piece for the backboard at the top.
Here's the rough-cut board below.

We smooothed up that piece using some fairly crude methods (beltsander:eek:) after jointing and thicknessing. The amount of tearout was really serious and unacceptable.

What's your preferred method of smoothing wild grain? Any guidance on some handplane choices? What about LV's scraper plane? Cabinet scrapers? High angle? Low angle?

Thanks guys. Enjoy the weekend.
Peter
 

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I'd start with a high-angle smoother - maybe 55° or even 60°. You'll likely have to build your own 'Krenov' style. Set it for a VERY slight cut. Actually, you'll have to set it light, because it'll be so hard to push with such a high angle.

For really nasty spots, you'll likely end up using card scrapers, but be careful not to scrape furrows into the wood. Do that, and you'll be starting over again with the smoother. (DAMHIKT):D
 
power method is to use a drum sander to get them out then hand sand after that or use a card scraper like jim said. just got done doing some very curly hard maple for tom,,it had at least 1/16 divots in it from the planer of someone. curly grain is nice to look at but it takes time to get it right.
 
Peter having just sharpened my no 80 Stanley and flattened the bottom properly and installed a new blade i would use something like that.

It worked pretty well for me on some walnut i experimented with that had some tough grain.

You can come by them on ebay for a few dollars and they clean up well and work fine. LV also has their own version.

Of course if its a large area its going to be quiet the task and then Jims point would start to be one to be concerned with.



Jim what about if Peter has a smoother that he just grinds a back bevel on the rear of the blade in a bevel down smoother to increase the angle of attack.

Peter do you have any smoother planes like an old Stanley?
 
Thank you for the advice guys. I think I'll be going with more of the mechanical approach to get this project done. We don't have a drum sander, but I can take it to a friend nearby. I'll try the card scrapers for a light final step.
It looks like I better get on board the handplane method in order to do this right in the longer run. I appreciate your comments Larry, Jim and Rob and will be putting them into action. We got a laugh out of your comment Allen, plywood won't do for this guy:D

Now, back to the shop! Have a great day.:wave:
Peter
 
Hello Everyone
Just wanted to post a couple of pics of the almost finished "Curly Ash Dorm Room Bookcase". The accent piece at the back of the top shelf turned out pretty good, I think.
Just some Minwax "Golden Oak" stain on so far, several coats of oil-based satin poly to follow. It will have a back as well.
Comments welcome. Thanks for looking.
Peter
 

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very nice job with the wild grain peter..it takes time and work no matter how you do it but its always worth it when its done right.. so what was your method that yu settled on to get it smoooth:D:thumb::thumb:
 
That is a beautiful chunk of wood. Something like that really justifies all of the labor required to bring it out. I wouldn't mind running across a few board feet of wood that nice.
 
very nice job with the wild grain peter..it takes time and work no matter how you do it but its always worth it when its done right.. so what was your method that yu settled on to get it smoooth:D:thumb::thumb:

Well, I didn't do anything very special Larry. I was under some pressure to git 'er done before that boy graduates and has his own kids in college, otherwise I would have embarked down the handplane slope. The couple of old ones I have would not have been up to the task in their current
condition:(
Anyway, starting with a rough thickness of about 1 1/8", I flattened it on the jointer, then thicknessed on the planer, the tearout was truly shocking. But, a friend has a drum sander, and with that we took it down through the tearout to about 11/16, sanding to 220 with a ros. A touch with a card scraper was the last step. I fitted it into a rabbet on the top edge of the shelf and the back edges of the sides. The top profile was inspired by an antique washstand we have.

I guess we always see things we're not quite happy with. The grain matching on the edge-joined sides is not what I would wish, but the patterns are pretty wild. We flipped boards around until we were dizzy!

And tonight, Brent, I learned a new word! "Chatoyance" from "oeil du chat". Can't wait to drop that into casual conversation at the coffee shop:D:D

We're a little concerned tonight that the stain should have dried by now, after 24 hours. Still feels ever so slightly tacky. Hopefully dry by morning.

Thank you all for your kind comments.

Best regards
Peter
 
I have all the planes I'd need to tame that sucker

except a 112 and a high angle smoother. I'd still take it in for a wide belt sander treatment.

That turned out REALLY nice. Great job!
 
That came out looking great, Peter. :thumb:

...We're a little concerned tonight that the stain should have dried by now, after 24 hours. Still feels ever so slightly tacky. Hopefully dry by morning...

Things like cold temps and high humidity can slow that sort of thing down. I'm guessing you're seeing some of both up in Nova Scotia. It should dry up in a day or so.
 
That came out great. What an eye-catcher. Highly figured wood is a double-edged sword. It looks so nice but works so mean. The joy of working with material like that is what kept me saving my pennies. I now have spiral heads on jointer and planer so tearout and I have pretty much parted ways. I do still treat surfaces with a plane and/or scraper as I like the way they take a finish. One way or another, we all get 'er done eventually.
 
Looks fantastic Peter :clap:

Even if you have to leave it another day or three, make sure that stain dries, don't rush it!!

DAMHIKT :doh:

Thanks Stu.:wave:
I moved it into the house last night. The wood heat should help things along.
We'll apply the finish in there too. We have a very warm upstairs bedroom which works great for that purpose this time of year. Plus, I can get on with making dust on the next project. Spring's coming, gotta keep production up!
Regards
Peter
 
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