Eucalypt Planing Drama

dimanche 2 août 2015

I've embarked on a sea chest/trunk/blanket box build. I've got the component boards of the four sides of the carcase cut to length, and now I've gotten to the stage of dressing the individual boards before gluing up the panels prior to joinery.

The timber is Eucalyptus regnans (Tassie Oak) and it's got quite a bit of broad quilting/fiddleback figure. There are also some small, stable gum veins.

I've spent about two hours trying to plane one board that's about 50cm long. I first identified that there was a cup. I eliminated that across the grain with the jack plane. That was straightforward. But now I've gotten to the point that I want to remove the very slight twist, take off high points, and then flatten the board... you know... plane it.

This is the photo of how the board looks now, after much head scratching, swearing, and trying of different planes and configurations.

TasOak.jpg

Look over there on the right side of the board. That black, sooty stuff. It keeps appearing and when I plane (with the grain) on those spots, it's like the plane just skates over the high spots. I've got the cambered iron in my #5 protruding so far that it normally wouldn't even start a cut, and it's just riding right over the board and not cutting anything at all. I'll go back and take off the black spots by planing across the grain again, and then when I go back and try to do the last few strokes with the grain to truly flatten the board, it's right there again.

Some things to note (please read these):
- While some may consider me a beginner after a year, I still understand hand planes and have developed adequate technique
- The planes work absolutely fine on a piece of silky oak that is twice as long. Full length, unbroken shavings. Totally flat.
- I have restored and set up more than a couple of planes and understand quite well how they work

Can anyone who has worked with wood similar to this give me any idea as to why I'm having this bizarre problem? I have a LOT of this stuff to plane and I need to get this sorted before I can continue.

Cheers,
Luke
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