Hello, I'm working with a solid wood countertop for a vanity -it's
1-1/8 x 18" x 28". I've glues up 3 boards to make this, and now want
to plane it flat.

I only have one hand plane, and it's a cheap one from harbor freight.

Seeing as how I spend $45 on this lumber, I'd really like to avoid
mistakes.

Would you kind folks please offer me some suggestions on which type of
plane I need to flatten this?

Lowes is the only box store I've found that offers hand planes, but
'#4' doesn't mean anything to me....

Thanks in advance for your advice!
Fred

(Fred) wrote in
om:

Hello, I'm working with a solid wood countertop for a vanity -it's
1-1/8 x 18" x 28". I've glues up 3 boards to make this, and now want
to plane it flat.

I only have one hand plane, and it's a cheap one from harbor freight.

Seeing as how I spend $45 on this lumber, I'd really like to avoid
mistakes.

Would you kind folks please offer me some suggestions on which type of
plane I need to flatten this?

Lowes is the only box store I've found that offers hand planes, but
'#4' doesn't mean anything to me....

Thanks in advance for your advice!
Fred


Fred, you may not like the answers I'm going to offer, but here goes:

There is very little available RETAIL in a hand plane, which is going to
solve your problem for less than $100, and be something you'd want to use
again. Mail order, eBay, used, flea market, etc., maybe, but walk-in
retail, you're pretty much out of luck

Hand planes at the big box stores are generally semi-useable for
construction types of projects, but difficult to impossible to tune up for
smoothing a table top made of hardwood. Particularly if you are #1: in
somewhat of a hurry and/or #2: without someone to show/teach some simple
methods of tune up and use.

If you are in a hurry, the safest way to level your counter top is by
sanding. Either using a large sanding block (2x4 with paper wrapped around
it would be one way), or with a powered sander, you could level and finish
smooth your project in less time than it would take to find and figure out
the hand plane part.

Or you could make a few calls, and see if there is a cabinet or millwork
shop that could run it through their wide belt sander, for a modest fee.
Probably the easiest, if that option is available.

And when you get an hour, do a Google search on buying your first hand
planes. Much has been written, most of it useful, on the subject. Jeff
Gorman's site (whose url escapes me right now) is really useful. So is
Patrick Leach's site, www.supertool.com, which also deals with some
fascinating history. Believe what a fellow using the handle Conan the
Librarian has written. Or charlieb. Or Paddy, or....

But good luck. I hope this comes out looking good!

Patriarch,
proud owner of maybe 2 dozen handplanes, and nowhere near the most addicted
handplane owner in my town....

I had to do a fair amount of practice on sacrificial wood before my skills were
up to taking a panel rough to finish with a hand plane. Even now I'd be
challenged to do it with a single plane. And there's been a lot of sharpening
and tuning to learn besides.

Typically I start with a scrub plane (stanley 40) then to a jointer (stanley 7)
and then to a wide smoother (stanley 4 1/2).

Though a jack plane (stanley 5) would be the plane that could do it all but it
would be more work and take more skill.

I'd suggest you belt sand your countertop. Then contemplate your opening of the
pandora's box of handplaning.

David



In article , Fred says...

Hello, I'm working with a solid wood countertop for a vanity -it's
1-1/8 x 18" x 28". I've glues up 3 boards to make this, and now want
to plane it flat.

I only have one hand plane, and it's a cheap one from harbor freight.

Seeing as how I spend $45 on this lumber, I'd really like to avoid
mistakes.

Would you kind folks please offer me some suggestions on which type of
plane I need to flatten this?

Lowes is the only box store I've found that offers hand planes, but
'#4' doesn't mean anything to me....

Thanks in advance for your advice!
Fred

For about $20 a lumberyard will and it for you. Unless you don't care how
it looks, that has to be the best solution.

"Fred" wrote in message
om...
Hello, I'm working with a solid wood countertop for a vanity -it's
1-1/8 x 18" x 28". I've glues up 3 boards to make this, and now want
to plane it flat.

I only have one hand plane, and it's a cheap one from harbor freight.

Seeing as how I spend $45 on this lumber, I'd really like to avoid
mistakes.

Would you kind folks please offer me some suggestions on which type of
plane I need to flatten this?

Lowes is the only box store I've found that offers hand planes, but
'#4' doesn't mean anything to me....

Thanks in advance for your advice!
Fred

I'll throw in another vote for sending it out. I recently completed a 33x60
cherry table top and took it to my local hardwood supplier to be sanded.
They did the sanding for $8.

todd

Fred wrote:
I only have one hand plane, and it's a cheap one from harbor freight.
Seeing as how I spend $45 on this lumber, I'd really like to avoid
mistakes.
Would you kind folks please offer me some suggestions on which type of
plane I need to flatten this?
'#4' doesn't mean anything to me....

I almost hate to ask. Where do you live and how much time/money
are you willing to spend on this. A #4 is a smoother, not long
enough to flatten items of any length very well. If it's a HF
plane and it isn't tuned, consider it a funny looking scrub
plane. Using a plane isn't something you're going to just pick up
in an afternoon. Finding a #6 or #7,already tuned and sharpened,
unless you're willing to spend some nice change isn't going to
happen in an afternoon either. Take a moment to go to
http://www.supertool.com/StanleyBG/stan1.htm and read that page,
it'll help some, but the physical part of the learning and
acquiring will still need to be done. So wil coming up with the
money for this addiction. DAMHIKT. Minty and usable off the
shelf planes can be had, but the cost will make the lumber look
like pocket change. A wide belt sander at a cabinet shop or
millwork shop is probably your best bet if you eed it done right
and now. Save getting the planes for later.
Dave in Fairfax
--
reply-to doesn't work
use:
daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
http://www.woodturner.org
Capital Area Woodturners
http://www.capwoodturners.org/

I'll throw in another vote for sending it out. I recently completed a
33x60
cherry table top and took it to my local hardwood supplier to be sanded.
They did the sanding for $8.

$8! Great price; I would have expected $25 at least.

"John" wrote in message
news
I'll throw in another vote for sending it out. I recently completed a
33x60
cherry table top and took it to my local hardwood supplier to be sanded.
They did the sanding for $8.

$8! Great price; I would have expected $25 at least.

No kidding. For me, it's the only way to go. There may have been a caveat
that the original material was purchased there, but heck, even if it was
twice that much it would have been worth it to me.

todd

"Fred" wrote in message
om...
Hello, I'm working with a solid wood countertop for a vanity -it's
1-1/8 x 18" x 28". I've glues up 3 boards to make this, and now want
to plane it flat.

I only have one hand plane, and it's a cheap one from harbor freight.

Seeing as how I spend $45 on this lumber, I'd really like to avoid
mistakes.

Would you kind folks please offer me some suggestions on which type of
plane I need to flatten this?

Lowes is the only box store I've found that offers hand planes, but
'#4' doesn't mean anything to me....

Thanks in advance for your advice!
Fred

Well Fred, I'm going to go against the grain on this one. Fortunately for
me, I didn't ask before buying a Stanley jack plane, putting a good edge on
the blade and laying it on a hunk of Walnut I wanted to build something
with. Yeah - I had to fool around a bit with it to get a perfect cut, but
it really wasn't rocket science. Nor was it a lot of work to put an edge on
the blade. Sharpened it, put it back together, used it a bit, discovered
the adjustment that makes the blade perfectly parallel to the slot, and then
it was just a matter of going back and forth. Did I miss some of the
esoteric aspects of properly handplaning? Most likely, but in no time flat
I ended up with a flat piece of Walnut that was as smooth as a baby's
behind. Isn't that what you're after? If you've got half a woodworking
sense about you, then go for it - and by the way, my Stanley cost me $45.00
retail.
--

-Mike-

On 11 Jun 2004 10:09:36 -0700, (Fred) wrote:

Hello, I'm working with a solid wood countertop for a vanity -it's
1-1/8 x 18" x 28". I've glues up 3 boards to make this, and now want
to plane it flat.


Start here
http://www.amgron.clara.net/planingp...planeindex.htm

You really need some assistance here. Find a nearby woodworker and
borrow a couple of planes that are already tuned up and ready to go.

Find a power thicknesser / surface planer that can take this width,
then splash out on a cheap Stanley #80 scraper to take the machining
marks off.

Find a commercial shop with a wide belt machine.

Or the long way, read up on Scary Sharp (Google) and plane tuning.
Take your Harbor Freight special (or buy it a cheap 50 yar old friend
from eBay), tune it up, practice on some scrap, then go to it.

--
Smert' spamionam

Maple is prone to tearout. You will probably have trouble planing it,
especially if the grain in one board goes in a different direction than the
adjacent board. I would find someone with a wide belt sander to do it for
you, or if you are good with a hand belt sander, there is a technique to
sanding to keep the panel pretty flat. Another method would be using a
cabinet scraper followed by a ROS.

Typically, if you use a handplane for difficult wood, the included angle of
the iron is typically 50°-60° as opposed to the typical 45° of most
handplanes.

Preston
"Fred" wrote in message
om...
Hello, I'm working with a solid wood countertop for a vanity -it's
1-1/8 x 18" x 28". I've glues up 3 boards to make this, and now want
to plane it flat.

I only have one hand plane, and it's a cheap one from harbor freight.

Seeing as how I spend $45 on this lumber, I'd really like to avoid
mistakes.

Would you kind folks please offer me some suggestions on which type of
plane I need to flatten this?

Lowes is the only box store I've found that offers hand planes, but
'#4' doesn't mean anything to me....

Thanks in advance for your advice!
Fred

(Fred) wrote in message . com...
Hello, I'm working with a solid wood countertop for a vanity -it's
1-1/8 x 18" x 28". I've glues up 3 boards to make this, and now want
to plane it flat.


I second the opinion to call a few woodworking shops and cabinet shops
and pay for time in a drum sander. You will be much the happier for
it. Hand planes are wonderfull, but the learning curve is in months.
You could also be going along just fine, hit a grain reversal and pull
a 1/32" chunk out of your surface in a split second. Unless you have
oriented all three boards with the same grain direction (not likely)
you would have to plane exactly to the edge of one board and then turn
around and plane the opposite direction.

A belt sander can also run the project in seconds if not used
properly, if you use a fine grit like 180, you are less likely to disk
the piece, but checking it often with a good straight edge and marking
those areas which are high every 30 seconds or so should help prevent
this.

Expect about $20-30 for the drum sanding of the counter top, money
well spent.

Alan

THANKS FOR THE ADVICE!!