# hand plane & wood tearing out



## basser (Sep 15, 2008)

I am working on some sycamore shelves that were 4/4 rough sawn. The boards that wound being less than 6" wide, I planed down on my jointer. The are however the shelf tops which are 7" wide, so I hand plained them. My plane is sharp and nicely shaving the wood, but in some areas it really digs in, or the wood is tearing out. Some pieces plane well haflway left to right, then I have to switch direction for the other half of the board. What is causing this?
thanks


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## mwhafner (Jan 16, 2009)

Most likely the wood grain.


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## firehawkmph (Apr 26, 2008)

Basser,
Sounds like the grain changes direction halfway through. Can you post a picture?
Mike Hawkins


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## basser (Sep 15, 2008)

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/members/basser425-5955/albums/pictures/1805-tearout1.jpg

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/members/basser425-5955/albums/pictures/1806-tearout2.jpg


hope you can see it. It did not tear out on my jointer at all, and hand plaining on the edges is fine.
Andy


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## raskgle (Dec 10, 2007)

*scraper*

Something to try would be a scraper. A scraper will remove wood and smooth at the same time. cabinetman had a good thread on scrapers. Carl


Basser425 said:


> http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/members/basser425-5955/albums/pictures/1805-tearout1.jpg
> 
> http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/members/basser425-5955/albums/pictures/1806-tearout2.jpg
> 
> ...


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## ~WoodChuck~ (Jan 17, 2009)

I agree. Its only a small amount so you might be best off with scraping it down then sanding it.


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## basser (Sep 15, 2008)

*cause*

But what is causing this? are certain woods prone to this tearout?


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## mwhafner (Jan 16, 2009)

> But what is causing this? are certain woods prone to this tearout?


Absolutely. Especially figured wood, like you are showing in your pictures. You will get tearout any time you plane into the grain. Part of what makes figured wood beautiful is the fact that the grain runs everywhere.

Low-angle planes help, a scraper will work better, sanding will work the best.


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## Kudzu (Dec 23, 2008)

I was looking for diagram I saw once but couldn't find it. But I did find this article and skimmed over it. It should answer some of your questions about grain.

http://www.rd.com/familyhandyman/content/17752/

But there are lots of possible factors. One thing that came to my mind is was the mouth closed up tight on the plane? That can help.


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