On 6/12/2016 6:26 AM, dadiOH wrote:
wrote:
Does anyone know if it is possible to make a flat surface on a pencil
sized, 16" long piece of end grain using a hand planer? I am trying
to count very faint tree rings on a sugar maple without using
sandpaper, which clogs up the pores with saw dust. Would a hand or
electric planner catch rather than cut, or create a rough surface
when viewed under a microscope? If anyone knows of a better method
then please let me know.

Got a microtome? Or a sharp knife or chisel? Razor blade?



A SHARP hand plane, adjusted to take light shavings, will work very
well. To avoid breakage, I'd make a jig to support the core. Dado a slot
as wide as the core in a board, but shallower, with an end stop, to hold
the core in place as you plane off the protruding top. Or build up a
slot along a core by tacking slightly thinner strips of wood alongside.