Planing Curly Maple Question

For highly figured wood you need a high angle of attack; a high angle frog for a traditional plane or a high bevel angle on a bevel up plane. All else fails use a card/cabinet scraper. I just did a project in QS white oak and ended up using a card/cabinet scraper for almost everything.

-- John

I’ve had the same problem on quite a few different woods. Maple, Cherry, Alder. I hate to say it, but when I gets bad enough some new planer knives usually takes care of it for me.(at least for awhile) As far as dealing with the damage done, I agree with John, high angle hand plane and/or card scraper should clean it up nicely.

-- Lucas, "Someday woodworks will be my real job, until then, there's this http://www.melbrownfarmsupply.com"

Thanks for your responses, I have a pretty good scraper I can use. and get my planer blades sharpened. I have been running alot of hardwoods thru the planer lately. it’s probably time to sharpen them or replace them.

-- Steve - Wasilla, Alaska

Hi Steve. If it’s tear out there are a number of ways to reduce/eliminate that problem (planing with the grain, sharp knives, slower feed rate, light passes, etc).

If the spots are more like depressions in the wood then the issue is likely insufficient chip removal on your planer. Check the dust collection path to ensure it’s clear (bench top planers can clog easily especially if you’re taking aggressive passes). If the path is clear maybe take a look at your dust collection system to ensure you have a suitable sized system for your needs.

Just some thoughts that came to mind. Good luck with your project.

-- Allen, Milwaukee, WI

Steve
Along with planing at an angel you need to damped figured wood. If you have access to a planner with a spiral head planer they do a much better when planing figured wood.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

yeah.. like everyone says… that is just a grain tear out… fiddle back maple does that, where the grain undulates in four directions.. and although the verdict is still out, the most recent theory is fiddle back figure comes from a tree which in it’s youth was subjected to repeated high winds and stresses and once the fiddle back figure begins the tree “remembers” to grow in stressful repetition making quilted and tiger stripes as it gets older. If that is true.. each grain is just a little spring ready to pop out… so literally you are taking out little scoops of wood no matter which direction you feed it. Like Steve, says lightly spray with water or a softener (that will keep the grain from splitting off so easily), sharper blades, and light passes in the planer. I am working on a frame of high figured maple right now… it burns, it twists, it is a PITA, but looks amazing and worth the extra time.

-- ~ Eric P Jorgenson: Jorgenson Design

I just went through the same frustration. I got real friendly with my #80 cabinet scraper and it seemed to be the ticket.

-- "there aren’t many hand tools as awe-inspiring as the #8 jointer. I mean, it just reeks of cast iron heft and hubris" - Smitty

I have given up planing highly figured wood. I guess I am in too much of a hurry for light passes, or my planer is crappy! I use a drum sander and 60 grit paper, then 80 grit. much less frustrating for me.

-- Robert, so much inspiration here, and so little time!

I helps if you dampen the the board a little before running it thru the planner.
-Matthew

I deal a lot with curly and birdseye maple and so far the magic combination for me has been: put my planer on its fastest RPM, use either brand new or just sharpened blades, and mist it gently right before using. Works great.

I will also admit: I plane a LOT of maple, and most of it is more straight grained. But I do the curly and birdseye stuff enough that I have a separate set of blades I bust out just for them. I also have the ability to take a day and do nothing but plane the fancy stuff, otherwise it would not be worth my time.

-- Lis - Michigan - http://www.missmooseart.com - https://www.etsy.com/people/lisbokt