Planing end grain - a little experiment
Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)
>I had a little free time today and decided that I would take a few pictures of my efforts at end grain planning to demonstrate that the mouth size of a block plane has no effect on the result. Just for the disbelieving (since a small mouth is stated by many here as a necessity for preventing tearout).
Firstly, in my experience (limited by my amateur status), end grain does not tear out if the blade is sharp enough. I do get tearout on some timber, notably awful stuff such as construction-grade Radiata Pine (no one should attempt end grain planning with this timber – it is heart breaking!), but this does reduce (never completely) with a really sharp blade.
Secondly, a lower cutting angle requires less effort but even a high angle plane will cut end grain. For example, I have successfully used a HNT Gordon Try Plane (60 degree cutting angle) on a shooting board. On the other hand, a low angle jack plane will do the same job with less effort, and produce a smoother cut.
When it comes to small block planes, I’d rather use a low angle (such as my Stanley #65) than a high angle (such as a Stanley #18). But the question is often raised whether one would choose from a block plane such as a LN #102 (which is a low angle plane but has a wide mouth) or a LA block plane with an adjustable mouth. I would say that one should get the adjustable mouth, but because it is useful for planing interlinked face grain rather than as a specialized plane for end grain.
So as a test I chose two pieces of timber, one Scandinavian pine and the other American Cherry. The plane used was my Stanley #65 block plane, which has a low cutting angle and an adjustable mouth. It is well tuned and uses a Hock blade. The blade was sharp but not especially sharpened for the experiment. Photos were taken of the results: both timbers with the mouth closed down and with the mouth as wide open as possible.
The results were clear. I could not tell the difference in performance when the mouth was open or closed.
I tell you what – here are the pictures and YOU say which was which!
About the pictures: those with the cherry came out better than those with the pine. My apologies, but I did not get a chance to examine them until later. Still, they should do the job.
The pics below are of cherry.
Regards from Perth
Derek
