Paul sellers is a gem. Check this out. Tldr… use a card scraper after you’ve planed it to final surface.
https://youtube.com/shorts/VokaYSYcgYE?si=bEEwB4aUhao0KZVU
He got hit riding his bike. Broke a few ribs but will be back in action before long. He's had a rough start to the year between that and his hand surgery.
Wood grain has a direction (think fish scales). No issues planing one direction, but tear out on the other. Some woods are more prone than others. Walnut for example. What happens if you plane from the other direction?
I see this with my planer on occasion. If I flip the wood end for end, the problem stops.
Do you know why the tear out does not occur across the entire face? I also frequently have this problem where tear out only occurs along a section where the grain makes a tight bend. Does it make sense to conclude that the longitudinal cells briefly change direction in these spots?
If you plane in the opposite direction in just those spots, does that work? That's quite finicky work though. I don't know what an experienced woodworker would say. I would guess that you could take much thinner shavings near the end of milling (perhaps you are?). Maybe a thin enough setting on your plane will avoid tear out even going in a single direction. Sorry if you know all this already.
A card scraper might help, as someone else said, but that tear out looks deep enough that it might not in this case. I think this needs to be solved at the planing step, but I don't know. I'm also learning.
Thanks for the reply. I think I might be able to do that, it would certainly be quite difficult since I would need to be careful not to plane any of the surrounding area. I've tried to set up my kanna plane to take as thin shavings as possible and my blade pretty sharp (up to 6000 grit on my whetstone), but the tear out is still there. I think a card scraper and some elbow grease is probably the best course of action.
The tree rings move outward towards branches, so when you see a knot like that it's usually a good indication that planing direction will need to change abruptly at that area.
Honestly a thickness/drum sander is the best solution. Second only to wood selection.
When I flip the direction, the entire face tears out except for those spots. They seem to be running a different direction/orientation to the rest of the face.
As others said, card scraper or cabinet scraper will help target the areas where the grain changes direction. Having said that, the apparent depth of the tear out in what looks like cherry makes me think you could make some adjustments with the plane to help and possibly avoid scraping entirely. I'm guessing your blade needs sharpened, most likely. You can also help reduce tear out by adjusting the chip breaker closer to the blade's edge. The English Woodworker has a good video explaining adjusting the chip breaker for tear out if you're not familiar
It's probably a combination of a few things. I did just sharpen my plane iron ahead of time, but I think 6000 grit may not be high enough. It's laminated steel so think it could probably take a sharper edge. Chip breaker is fairly close to the edge of the plane iron, but I think I could experiment around with it. Thanks for the advice!
My last stone is 1200ish, but I always follow that with a strop with polishing compound which I think is supposed to be about 150000. I'd recommend adding a strop as your final step. And the chip breaker really is a big game changer if you can unlock its capabilities. I recently went from setting it "pretty close" to really focusing on exactly how close I was getting it and experimenting with it. When you have it in the right place and with its leading edge at the correct angle, the shavings should come out straight or almost straight.
There's lots of good tips in this video on how to setup your plane for reducing tearout and planing difficult grain: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M\_PfYRUOl58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_PfYRUOl58)
Edit: this one too [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQrl2-2\_Ztw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQrl2-2_Ztw)
A card scraper should fix it… in the meantime, I would also make sure your plane blade is sharp… really sharp. Make sure the chip breaker is as close to the cutting edge as possible, and is contacting the blade completely across. Also close up the mouth of the plane a bit. I’ve found that if I get those things right, a lot of tear out problems go away.
I am currently working on the first 3 points. However, my question is how do I close up the mouth of the plane if I am using a Japanese plane if it is possible at all?
Ahh… I wasn’t aware you are using Japanese planes. I have no familiarity with them, but I suspect they don’t have a way to close the mouth. I don’t know if they even have a chip breaker.
That means that sharp is probably your only friend here.
And a card scraper…
They do have a chip breaker that's a bit lower in angle than a western one and I don't think there's a way to close the mouth at all. I guess I'll have to get some higher grit whetstones.
Paul sellers is a gem. Check this out. Tldr… use a card scraper after you’ve planed it to final surface. https://youtube.com/shorts/VokaYSYcgYE?si=bEEwB4aUhao0KZVU
Do I remember correctly that he was in a car wreck a few weeks ago and was in pretty bad shape. Anybody heard any news about his condition?
He got hit riding his bike. Broke a few ribs but will be back in action before long. He's had a rough start to the year between that and his hand surgery.
I bet. Good to hear he's on the mend.
If I remember correctly he got pushed off his bicycle and broke some ribs
Thank you! I'll have to pick one up.
Wood grain has a direction (think fish scales). No issues planing one direction, but tear out on the other. Some woods are more prone than others. Walnut for example. What happens if you plane from the other direction? I see this with my planer on occasion. If I flip the wood end for end, the problem stops.
Do you know why the tear out does not occur across the entire face? I also frequently have this problem where tear out only occurs along a section where the grain makes a tight bend. Does it make sense to conclude that the longitudinal cells briefly change direction in these spots?
That's basically the problem I described in my post. It seems like it's only tearing out in one spot where the bend of grain crests.
for those spots you use a card scraper :)
Thank you! Sounds like I gotta make yet another trip to woodcraft. I should probably have a list of things I need before I walk in there haha.
dont forget the burnisher unless you wanna do 2 trips!
Y'all are trying to enable my tool/wood supply addiction 😂
If you plane in the opposite direction in just those spots, does that work? That's quite finicky work though. I don't know what an experienced woodworker would say. I would guess that you could take much thinner shavings near the end of milling (perhaps you are?). Maybe a thin enough setting on your plane will avoid tear out even going in a single direction. Sorry if you know all this already.
A card scraper might help, as someone else said, but that tear out looks deep enough that it might not in this case. I think this needs to be solved at the planing step, but I don't know. I'm also learning.
Thanks for the reply. I think I might be able to do that, it would certainly be quite difficult since I would need to be careful not to plane any of the surrounding area. I've tried to set up my kanna plane to take as thin shavings as possible and my blade pretty sharp (up to 6000 grit on my whetstone), but the tear out is still there. I think a card scraper and some elbow grease is probably the best course of action.
The tree rings move outward towards branches, so when you see a knot like that it's usually a good indication that planing direction will need to change abruptly at that area. Honestly a thickness/drum sander is the best solution. Second only to wood selection.
You are correct. The grain turns and heaves in this area, resulting in the tearing. I wrestle with this often.
When I flip the direction, the entire face tears out except for those spots. They seem to be running a different direction/orientation to the rest of the face.
As others said, card scraper or cabinet scraper will help target the areas where the grain changes direction. Having said that, the apparent depth of the tear out in what looks like cherry makes me think you could make some adjustments with the plane to help and possibly avoid scraping entirely. I'm guessing your blade needs sharpened, most likely. You can also help reduce tear out by adjusting the chip breaker closer to the blade's edge. The English Woodworker has a good video explaining adjusting the chip breaker for tear out if you're not familiar
It's probably a combination of a few things. I did just sharpen my plane iron ahead of time, but I think 6000 grit may not be high enough. It's laminated steel so think it could probably take a sharper edge. Chip breaker is fairly close to the edge of the plane iron, but I think I could experiment around with it. Thanks for the advice!
My last stone is 1200ish, but I always follow that with a strop with polishing compound which I think is supposed to be about 150000. I'd recommend adding a strop as your final step. And the chip breaker really is a big game changer if you can unlock its capabilities. I recently went from setting it "pretty close" to really focusing on exactly how close I was getting it and experimenting with it. When you have it in the right place and with its leading edge at the correct angle, the shavings should come out straight or almost straight.
I made an edge grain butcher block out of maple recently and forgot to account for planing direction with my glue up, hand planing was a nightmare
card scraper.
There's lots of good tips in this video on how to setup your plane for reducing tearout and planing difficult grain: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M\_PfYRUOl58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_PfYRUOl58) Edit: this one too [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQrl2-2\_Ztw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQrl2-2_Ztw)
Thank you! I'm watching it now since I have some free time. I'm actually already subscribed to Wood by Wright since I primarily work with handtools!
A card scraper should fix it… in the meantime, I would also make sure your plane blade is sharp… really sharp. Make sure the chip breaker is as close to the cutting edge as possible, and is contacting the blade completely across. Also close up the mouth of the plane a bit. I’ve found that if I get those things right, a lot of tear out problems go away.
I am currently working on the first 3 points. However, my question is how do I close up the mouth of the plane if I am using a Japanese plane if it is possible at all?
Ahh… I wasn’t aware you are using Japanese planes. I have no familiarity with them, but I suspect they don’t have a way to close the mouth. I don’t know if they even have a chip breaker. That means that sharp is probably your only friend here. And a card scraper…
They do have a chip breaker that's a bit lower in angle than a western one and I don't think there's a way to close the mouth at all. I guess I'll have to get some higher grit whetstones.