# Planing vs. Scraping vs. Sanding



## TFKeefe (Jan 25, 2009)

I am working on a Cherry Display Case. The case is mostly done now and I am thinking about
finishing. My goal is to plane all of the surfaces with a smoothing plane and touch up with
a card scraper. I hope not to sand at all. I like the look that a plane leaves on the wood
and don't want to mess that up with sanding. I am not opposed to doing the work. It is 
purely aesthetic.

I have planed all of the surfaces. After glue up, one of the joints had some glue residue that
I tried to clean up with the scaper but I am having a lot of trouble getting into the corner
and removing all of the glue.

If I sand in a small area (2" x 2") do you think it will be apparent after the finish is applied (Watco
Danish Oil and Polyurethane). Will it stand out from the other portions of the wood?
Or would it tend to blend in? I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on this. Thanks.

Tom


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## Dragonsrite (Feb 5, 2009)

Can you get into the corner with a chisel?


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## WayneC (Mar 8, 2007)

Good excuse to buy a chisel plane.


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## Mogebier (Feb 4, 2010)

I am amazed at how much a little bit of sanding stands out like a sore thumb on projects. I took off some pencil lines from some drawers I made. I was being lazy. I sanded the drawers with 60, 80, 100, 150, 200, 220, 400 then 600… because I am a complete sanding freak  But then I put lines on it for the pulls, and the lines were a weeee bit too long. So I area sanded with 60, 150, 220, 400 and 600, skipping the ones in between. You can completely see the sanding lines. Or at least I can 
I would go at it with a chisel.


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## TFKeefe (Jan 25, 2009)

OK. Thanks for the advice. It sounds like I should avoid sanding.

I have a Stanley 93 Rabbet Plane. If you remove the front it can 
be used like a chisel plane. However, the low angle seems to 
introduce tearout problems. Are there chisel planes that have a 
higher bed angle? Or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks again for the help.

Tom


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## WayneC (Mar 8, 2007)

I was thinking….. This is probably considered low angle. Probably overkill.

http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?sku=975

Check out the video at http://www.youtube.com/user/LieNielsen#p/u/17/VUUF6qRcwvo


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## Gofor (Jan 12, 2008)

I would use a chisel, with the bevel side down to give you hand clearance and more control of the amount you remove.. Follow the grain lines into the joint if it is a corner. If the joint is parallel to the grain, run the chisel into the joint at 90 degrees to get all the glue out, and then use the corner of a hand card scraper pulled along the joint to clean up any irregularities in the wood.

Go


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## TFKeefe (Jan 25, 2009)

WayneC: I checked out the LieNielsen video. It was very informative. They had a lot of other interesting 
videos as well.

Gofor: Thanks for the suggestions. I hadn't really thought of using the chisel bevel down. That 
does provide much better control.

Thanks again.

Tom


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## hObOmOnk (Feb 6, 2007)

FWIW:

Planes, chisels and card scrappers are cutting tools.

Sandpaper works by scratching.

Under low-power magnification, you can see the difference.


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## Walnut_Weasel (Jul 30, 2009)

It sounds like a chisel may be your best bet.

Per the earlier comments about planes: The effective cutting angle on any bevel up plane (I think your rabbet plane is?) can be increased/decreased by changing the angle of the iron's micro bevel. Example - if the bed angle is 12 degrees and you put on a 35 degree micro bevel you get 47 degrees - or similar to a standard bevel down plane. Or put on a 40 degree micro bevel and you get a 52 degree cut which should help you plane some pretty gnarly stuff. If you have not established a very large micro bevel it would not take very long to sharpen a different angle and may not be all that bad of an option.

Also I found this blog post by the Village Carpenter discussing making "tiny scrapers" to clean up hard to reach areas. I have not tried it myself yet but as with a lot of things…"one of these days!" They sure would be handy for removing glue from the inside of small boxes, etc.


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## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

Thomas, warm the glue with a hair dryer , just warm, it will peel off alot easier and if you can use a razor blade like a small scraper , works well, just be careful


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## TFKeefe (Jan 25, 2009)

Thanks for the advice. I will give that a try.

Tom


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## williams (Feb 21, 2010)

If you use a card scraper after sanding, would it not remove all the "sanding" marks and leave same finish as if you used a plane instead of the sandpaper?


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## TFKeefe (Jan 25, 2009)

Yes, that is true. But the reason for not planing/scraping is the difficulty of getting the
plane or scraper into the tight space. I have learned some ways of sanding in tight
corners. However, I am still learning how to plane and scrape in tight quarters.

Tom


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## williams (Feb 21, 2010)

Could you burnish a card (or chisel) edge to deeper angle to allow you hold it flatter and closer to a corner?


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