TP tearout

[Gofor]

I am running quite a bit of QS KD WO (quarter sawn kiln-dried white oak) through my DeWalt 734. Even with light cuts and new cutters, I am still getting tear out. I have heard that moistening with MS will reduce tear out when using hand planes, and may have to go that route to clean the faces up, but is there something similar I could try with the power TP.?

If not, how large a defect will pore-filler disguise?

Thanks for any ideas/experience

Go

 

[eyekode]

I have heard the same recommendation for curly maple with a powered planer. I would give it a shot.

I hate to ask the obvious question but are you running it through the right direction? I typically don't get much tear out on any QS lumber. Or does the grain reverse quite often so there really is no "good" direction?
Another thing that can be helpful is running it at a slight angle. This makes the cut more shearing and it will tear out less.

Good luck!
Salem

 

[Gofor]

Many of the pieces are in the 40" x 6" long category, so any "diagonal" cut is minimal at best on my 12 1/2" TP.. The big problem is caused by grain reversals. Kind of the nature of the beast with QS (the lumber I bought was in the 9' to 12' range and, although sawn quite true, the grain just didn't seem to run exactly Starrett quality straight :confused_). I really don't want to use MS with the power planer (using a shop vac with side ducted chip extraction is not optimal to start with, and when I have planed green, i. e. wet, lumber in the past, it clogs badly; Not to mention MS is somewhat flammable). However, will go there if others have done so before. Right now, the static build-up is so great that when I open my chip collector (a dud shopvac in line with my suction vac) the chips actually jump out like popping corn.

I may try dampening the surface with water, but wanted to find out if anyone else had tried that and found the results worsened. All pieces are flat and square, but the thickness is at 7/8" now, so I can take it down another 1/8th if someone has an idea that shows promise.

Another thought: Can I expect the same from a router? These are the rails and stiles for a hope chest with floating panel design. If all else fails, I will bevel the edges with the TS (having done that in the past), instead of trying the router. I am planing on a series of trial runs on edges and ends before I commit, using the rail/stile bit set I just picked up form sears. It appeared to be better quality than the Skil set available at the Borg (Lowes).

Bottom line: I am pushing the limits of my skills with the tools I now have, so the end result may just end up reflecting that. Not to say the tools aren't capable of more:BangHead:!

Thanks for the reply

Go

 

[eyekode]

Mark,
I hope we get more experienced WW's responding to this thread. But in my limited experience with WO (and RO for that matter) I don't get significant tear out with a jointer or planer. Not like curly maple which I struggle with. The do however have tightly interlocking grain so planing in the wrong direction will tear out. Could you remove the tear out with a hand plane being mindful of the grain reversals?

In my quest to tame my curly maple I also came across those advocating just wetting with water. I think it is worth a shot. Just make sure to wipe down all the surfaces of your planer that can rust afterward.

Then of course there is the best option: find someone local with a spiral cutterhead . There must be an NCWW with a spiral cutterhead near you!
Salem

 

[MarkE]

When I get tearout like that with my Ridgid planer I can usually reduce the effect to next to nothing by simply taking lighter cuts. I does take quite a few more passes.

When planing really rough stock I will start by cranking the wheel a full turn between passes. When I am taking wood off of the entire thickness for the entire length of the board, I throttle down to a half turn. When I have tearout problems, sometimes I have to go down to an eight of turn on each pass. That will usually prevent any tearout, or at least minimize it to a sandable problem.

 

[Gofor]

I think in this case the main culprit is the grain in the lumber. I was already down to 1/8th turns on the depth feed, but still having the problem. I started today roughing down a bunch of wider boards I bought at the same time. They are planing fine, even if I get somewhat aggressive (anything over 1/4 turn with this planer on a wide board I feel is aggressive). . After I get them close to final, I'm going to buy another set of cutters, and try the water method on the problem boards. May be a few days before I get that far as I have these boards to smooth and glue up for panels. The problem boards are the frame work (rails and stiles).

Anyone else notice that it seems to be a tad bit on the warm/humid side lately? If it gets much warmer, I won't have to wet the boards, just lean over and let that running off me take care of it!

Thanks for the replies and ideas. Eyekode, I doubt any of the more experienced will be chiming in, as I think the shelix heads were their solution to this problem!

Go

 

[jmauldin]

Why not pull out a shooting board and the old hand plane? With a really sharp plane and light cuts you should have no problem.
Jim in Mayberry

 

[jhreed]

If you want to run some through my Delta planer you are welcome. I run rough sawn white oak and have not had a problem with tear out. Let me know in advance because I need to change knives. My bil used the current set to find nails in reclaimed lumber.
James

 

[skysharks]

Mark I have run into this problem with the same wood.
No matter which way you seem to change direction of feed for the grain orientation. Some boards have significant grain direction change in parts of the board. Usually I Very highly figured area.
But of course thats where our planers seem to not plane correctly.
What I do, of course after trying to rotate the board and try planing it from the opposite direction, is to really plane the board down very slowly. Not in feed rate but in depth of cut,
Even this may not get what you want so then it's stopping short and running it through a sander for final thickness
HTH

 

[Makinsawdust]

I run into this all the time with exotic woods. Wetting will help, smaller cuts and increased number of cuts per inch will help. The only sure fired way to do this is to plane close to thickness and sand the rest of the way with a drum or widebelt sander.

 

[LeftyTom]

I chuckled, because at first glance at the title, I thought the P was for paper! :rotflm: