Types of wood that you've found "unplanable"?

Re: Types of wood that you've found "unplanable"?

paul womack

>Probably NOT the answer you're looking for, but the most unplanable timber I've ever faced was some super-soft cr*p from a pallet.

The timber had so little integrity that the fibres would rather detach from the matrix than be cut...

Fortunately I was only planing to squared size so I could use the timber in a nailed-together garden job, so surface finish didn't matter.

IIRC Steve Knight had a similar experience.

Anyone tried planing balsa?

BugBear

Re: Types of wood that you've found "unplanable"?

ThomD

>"Anyone tried planing balsa?"

I was just going to volunteer that. It cuts nice with little saws and blades, but I tried to carve a canoe paddle out of it once, and found it terrible.

I think the real issue is whether something is worth planing. Beyond a certain point it becomes a stunt just to prove it can be done. Which is a fine game. But there is also the real world of making things that people need. Anything that the planing thereof, does not reduce the subsequent amount of required sanding or scraping, is not worth planing.

Re: Types of wood that you've found "unplanable"?

paul womack

>Anything that the planing thereof, does not reduce the subsequent amount of required sanding or scraping, is not worth planing.

As I said, I wasn't finish planing, I was planing to dimension.

In my case planing was a replacement for rip-sawing, since the pallet stock was already quite close to my required size (which is why I chose it...)

BugBear

Re: Types of wood that you've found "unplanable"?

Ed Mulligan, Cape Cod

>Ribbon stripe mahogany and quartersawn white oak.

Re: Types of wood that you've found "unplanable"?

ThomD

>"Anything that the planing thereof, does not reduce the subsequent amount of required sanding or scraping, is not worth planing."

General coment not to do with anything you said, which I think I was attempting to agree with.

Re: Types of wood that you've found "unplanable"?

Jim in Burlington On

>Indian blackwood with white sap wood. Cheap source is A&M Lumber you can buy it in small pieces for $3.30 a piece.

Re: Types of wood that you've found "unplanable"?

Darrell in Oakville

>Sasafrass of all things.

I was trying to build a bookshelf for my daughter, and this wood was awful. Apparently it *machines* well, but it's too soft to scrape, and too weak to plane. Here's what my infill panel plane did... nasty, eh? I ended up getting "acceptable" results using an infill smoother with a freshly honed iron, but I had to stop and hone after about a dozen passes or I started getting tearout again.

Beware the weak woods as well as the gnarly!

Darrell

Wood Hoarder, Blade Sharpener, and Occasional Tool User

wild grain green osage orange

Dave Thompson - Champaign IL

>Sample size is very small, however the other night I cut up a large green osage orange branch. I was planing a quater sawn surface with grain going in multiple directions. The straight grain portions were beautiful, but the wild grain portions tore out easily with even the lightest settings.

I don't usually plane green wood ;-) just wanted to see the grain a little better. Amazing how such a weed tree/cow pasture tree could be so beautiful. I'll be adding this to my domestic exotic wood collection.

Re: Types of wood that you've found "unplanable"?

HC Sakman

>I say zebrawood, cocobolo (some of them) and ipe (some figured boards) gave me the biggest grief planing.

Chico...

Just about anything Australian!

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

>Most Australian hardwoods will test your planes. Figured Jarrah, Blackbutt and Karri, for example. Also some softwoods with frequent reversals, such as Camphor, where the softness also lacks the integrity to cut cleanly.

Free to you if you collect in person!

Regards from Perth

Derek

Curly purpleheart

Bob Hackett(Mainely,Bob)

>

Derek... 'Free to you if you collect in person! '

Conger - the Irish diaspora in Munich

>Promise?

Am possibly in business in east... and have always wanted to get to Perth...

-g-

I'd love to take you up on that...

Denis Ch�nard, Orl�ans, Ont.

>But I can't see my budget allow that anytime soon... Besides, I would need to quit smoking (which is in the plans) before attempting such a long flight, because I get REALLY cranky if I don't have my fix regularly. I can just see myself sent to an Aussie jail upon landing because I "blew a gasket" on the way...

Seriously, though, I'd really like it if we could exchange some wood. If there's anything in North American woods you would like to try, tell me and we'll see if we can arrange something mutually beneficial...

DC

QUIT SMOKING, denis!

frank shic (walnut ck, ca)

>i want to see your postings for a LONG TIME to come! good luck - it's a HARD habit to break.

I know, I know...

Denis Ch�nard, Orl�ans, Ont.

>Actually, the plan was for me to quit when I turned 40.

Soon three years ago...

But smoking has become a major PITA, as there are few places left where I can "indulge in peace". Can't smoke in the shop anymore because the smell goes up to the rest of the house, so anytime I need my fix I have to go in the garage, and it gets cold in there this time of the year. And it interrupts the work flow...

I am not making plans anymore to quit on a given date, didn't work before, but it will happen sooner than later...

DC

Re: I know, I know...

R.J.Whelan (Eastern Sierra, CA)

>Denis .... good luck.

I quit five months ago after smoking 2 packs of Camels (unfiltered) a day for over 38 years.

I used the patch and it worked quite well for me. I also went through several thousand little plastic coffee stir straws - there was one in my mouth during almost all waking minutes for the first 6-8 weeks.

My lovely bride gave me the incentive of using the money saved on cigarettes on anything I want - for me that's about $240/month - I'm gonna get a Holtey smoother (not really, probably take a nice trip somewhere).

Aside from the money saved I really do feel better - I'm 59, overweight and out of shape (weight loss is the next challenge); even with the other imperfections I can feel the difference (I can now climb a flight of stairs without the need of a 30 minute nap after).

Best of luck to you - don't try until you're ready ... rj

Yes, Denis.... kick the habit...

Conger - the Irish diaspora in Munich

>... that killed two parents, and has turned a beautiful wife into a snoring / snorting ?==))) (I fear for her life too).

No half measures... STOP.

Go to your doc regularly, and have him (her?) monitor the vitals... and use the patches if you need support.

This would make beautiful Montreal an even better place!

My wishes are with you... -gerard-