Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Wood Plane

Thanks Jerry. Duly noted.

My Bud said the slab has been drying for almost 3 years.

Just checked Ebay- - - - -several pages of jointer planes there, with prices anywhere from reasonable to outrageous.
Jerry

Alright, I wouldn't assume that the MC is going to be where you want it but you pays your money, you takes your chances.

As far as planes go traditionally you'd be looking at a jack/fore, jointer, and smoother. Using Bailey pattern numbers and keeping it simple for you you'd be looking at a 5 (jack), 7 (jointer), 4 (smoother). Yes there are other sizes - those will be the more plentiful/cheaper iterations of each. If you are just looking to dimension and flatten and want to sand then dump the smoother and go with a jack and jointer. You could do both with just a No. 7 but you'll be in for a workout. No. 6 could sub in a pinch but its a tweener (big for a jack, small for a jointer). You'll want a cambered blade in the jack. Gently eased corners on the jointer to reduce tracks. Brands to look for are Stanley (Bailey pattern, Bedrocks will be $$$), Millers Falls Types 2-4 (Type 1's will be $$$ and type 5 will be junk) Millers Falls has different numbering system - in this case you'd want a No. 14, 22, and 9, Keen Kutter K or KK lines (K being a Bedrock Type 1-4 clone, KK being an Ohio Tools pattern), Record if you spot a cheapy. You'll need winding sticks and a primer on how to use them or you will likely create more problems than you fix.

If you've never used hand planes you're looking at a steep learning curve with the size and material (fiddleback) you chose. Interlocking grain is going to educate you quickly on the importance of sharp blades and you will struggle with tearout. Good luck.

hillestadj: The maple slab has been drying for 3 years. Thanks for the planer advice and recommendations. I've used planers before, but not well. I definitely need to watch a few videos and lots of practice. What are winding sticks?

Kevin, I have a couple of hand planes I'd loan you, if you'd like.
Probably dull, as I haven't used them since I got out of the trades ~ 26 years ago - but still usable.
Also have an electric plane (small) that would be helpful. Let me know.

Thanks Mark. I will let you know, but it may be a little while before I get the slab. Please give the Warden my regards.

This, especially for wood with lots of figure and changing grain. For a finish, Watco brand Danish oil is a very nice, low maintenance ‘in the wood’ finish. Wipe on poly provides a bit more protection but does have a sheen to it.

Great idea ......... We have a few members (past & present) that would certainly qualify for that forum.

I might even look into it myself.

Wood dried in a kiln is dried over a very short period of time (compared to air drying) and 4/4 red oak can be dried in just a few days (vacuum kiln). 8/4 bigleaf maple will take over a month in a typical kiln, but obviously well short of two years. Also, the move from wet side Oregon to west Texas will make a lot more water decide to leave. Or a move from eastern Oregon to CC Texas might leave the wood soaking up water. The drier it gets and the longer it stays that way the better.

What he said. You will need to flatten each side to remove all of the twist of cupping that has occurred when drying. Getting both sides flat must be done before any smoothing or sanding. A protective finish is a must use wipe on poly. I used Arm-R-Seal on a table I recently finished.

Art: Thanks for the info. This particular maple slab was air-dried, as are all my Bud’s slabs.

Moe: Thanks. I will be building a router box and sled at some point as I’ve got several projects that will require one. Hopefully not necessary on this project as my OR Bud is going to get it planed on a gigantic planer on his end, prior to shipment.

Winding sticks are nothing more than two thin pieces of wood that are very straight. One will usually have some contrasting wood on the top edge. They are usually 1/2" - 3/4" thick x 2-3" wide and 24-36" long. You lay them on their edge, with one at both ends. You squat down and look along the top edges to see if they are both parallel. If not, you will see where the high side is and know where to hog off more material, usually with a scrub plane, or a #5 with a cambered blade. I keep 2 #5s under my bench. One with a blade set up for smoothing, the other with a cambered blade for fast material removal.

Other items can be used as winding sticks. Angle iron with one spray painted a different color would work in a pinch.

Thanks scoony.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with air-dried lumber done properly. Kiln-drying does kill bugs but that is a minor issue in your case. By definition all it does is produce dry lumber faster "with an acceptable level of degrade."

One thing to watch out for since it is going to be planed in OR and shipped to you... Immediately upon arrival you need to put it on a flat surface, stickered, and put a LOT of weight on it for as long as possible that is to stop any movement as a result of the change in local conditions.

Art: My OR Bud stores his slabs in a warehouse, where he puts runners down, then a slab, then more runners, then another slab, etc. in order to increase air-flow. He does put a lot of weight on top as well. Not sure what he uses for weight, but he said something about a bunch of fat chicks. I'm uncertain if the fat chicks are used for ballast or for some other activity he has planned.

The problem is not on his end... problem is on your end when the wood either takes on or loses water... even seasonally in a single location. If you cannot find enough fat chicks use your bullet casting lead stores!

ok. I will put it on the concrete floor in the garage w/ several runners and weight on top for a few a few months - or as long as it takes me to begin the project. But I draw the line at fat chicks.

Kevin,
I went back and saw your measurements just now..
I checked the references in the shop but didn't find anything as helpful as the guys here have provided..
Another source for a large plane might be a high school or vocational school wood shop..

Re drying:
I saw a pretty good special on Japanese furniture crafting a year or two ago. They generally air dry but they will store wood for a very long time.. in the project in the special they were working with a piece that had been drying for 50 or eighty years... but that is for precision joinery with a focus on dimensional stability and perfect 90 degree angles..
If you have ever seen a peg fit chair leg get loose with age many time is is a function of the wood continuing to dry. Harder wood typically has smaller tubes (phlyem?) The smaller the tube the longer it takes to draw moisture out of it....as the wood dries it shrinks, but you probably know that
Good luck!
I look forward to photos of your project.

lots of different "tubes" in the wood itself... phylem is not the name of any of them. Phloem is part of the living bark but not translatable to the wood itself because the cells generally die long before they become wood.