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smoothing plane on veneer plywood?

2K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  jmartel 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Following up on some suggestions in another current thread, I spent a little time on the Lee Valley site learning about their bevel up smoothing planes.

I was amazed at how thin the shavings can be with such a plane. It got me to wondering if it would be practical to final-finish veneered plywood with such a plane.

I had figured that either sandpaper or a scraper were the only viable methods, but was wondering if any of you regularly use a smoothing plane on veneered plywood?

If so, does it work only with a homogenous straight-grained veneer, or would it work with a highly figured veneer?

In addition to the above, I have these followup questions:
1) Do you find you have to be "super careful" in order to avoid going through?
2) Is the final result usually better than sandpaper?
3) does it wind up being faster/easier than sanding?
 
#3 ·
I finally found a good use for dads old craftsman hand saw, I cut a card scraper out of it. It really has balls. I may try to use it on ply but really you are getting into a tough one with that. I would think a scraper plane would be too much for this. Sand it.
 
#5 ·
I've tried it. You need very straight and easy going grain, and need to make sure you get the correct direction the first time. Any tearout results in going all the way through.

It's easier to just sand it.
 
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