Jim Wilson wrote in message hlink.net...

I've got a fair amount left over from an entry door I made last year.

http://www.paragoncode.com/woodworking/entry_door

Email me your snail-mail address if you'd like a piece. I'll try to pick
out a nice ribbony one for you.

Done.

The final surfacing on the door was done with hand tools. The smoother
tackled nearly everything without complaint. In a few areas (mostly where
my joinery was less than perfect) I resorted to the scraper. I should
note that I do have a pretty decent smoother.

I've got a few as well. :-) I tend to start with a low-angle and
then my L-N #4-1/2 and finally my C&W wooden smoother if all else
fails.

So what smoother did you use on the project?

IME, planing directly across the grain produces a rougher texture than I
like, but I don't recall if I did any of that on this project. Planing
obliquely usually gives me a smoother finish.

Yes, that's why it caught my attention. The only time I ever even
go as far as diagonally is when I doing rough surfacing work.

Some areas of the door where the grain reversal was particularly abrupt
and wild -- such as in the kick and lock rails -- needed carefully chosen
approach angles to produce the best surface. Those angles were "carefully
chosen" by experimentation on the particular piece (G).

That sounds faimilar. Sometimes you just have to suck it up, put
the plane to the wood and hope you don't get so much tearout that it
takes forever to clean up. DAMHIKT.

Oddly, sometimes
working nearly aligned with the more vertical grain sections seemed to
work best, if that makes any sense. As it was, some of the ribbon texture
still felt a little hairy until finishing. By the time the nibs from the
first coat of lacquer were gone, all was well.

Beautiful work on that door, Jim. And thanks for the offer.


Chuck Vance