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Suface-Pep

Shtut

one f the happiest mments in any in pject cmes hen yu bein

applyin a finish. Its then that yu see the s final appeaance eepenin

in cl an chaacte befe yu eyes. But the esults nt be satisfyin if yu

havent pepae the s sufaces f the finish, hich tens t hihliht flas instea

f isuisin them. The sufaces must be smth, flat, an fee f millin mas, scatches,teaut, an the impefectins that can etact fm the beauty f yu .

Pepain the sufaces usually means usin ne f t time-hne cuttin technl-

ies: sanpape hanplanes. which is best? T exple the questin, e ecently set up

a fienly cmpetitin in u shp. Each cntestant as iven the pats f a Shae table

ith tapee les. Mille t final imensin an ith the jiney aleay fitte, the pats

ee eay t be sane plane in pepaatin f a finish. we bacast the event

live n Finewin.cm, an invite lcal es t u shp t

atch an jue the esults.

Art director Michael Pekovich demonstrated handplanes and scrap-

es. Eit Asa Chistiana use a anm-bit sane an han-

sanin. Aftea, each cntestant applie a cat f watelx,

a ipin vanish, as a ay t chec the esults.

we put each contestant on the clock to see ho crossed thefinish line fist. But e ee even me inteeste in n-

in hse finish le best at the en.

As it happene, Mie an his hanplanes appeae

t pevail n bth cunts. He finishe his pep

ith a half-hu t spae, an the aui-

ence jue his finish t be supei.

In tuth, if yu fll eithe meth

caefully an thuhly, yull et

eat esults.

A contest in the FWWshop reveals

two great paths to a perfect finish

To see the contest as it happened,

go to FineWoodworking.com/extras.

OnlineExtra

F I N E w o o d w o r k I N g36 Phts: kelly COPYRIGHT 2010 by The Taunton Press, Inc. Copying and distribution of this article is not permitted.

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B Y M I C H A E L P E K O V I C H

I did a lot of sanding in the 15 years between my first run-in

a dull, rusty handplane and my eye-opening test drive with a

sharp one. Unfortunately, thats not an uncommon experienc

sharp handplane can work wonders, going from machine ma

to a glass-smooth surface in minutes. A dull plane can do a l

damage, both to your lumber and your psyche.

The good news is that its easier than ever to start worki

with your first handplane. Years ago, your choices were to b

inferior new plane that needed a lot of tune-up work or an ol

quality plane that also needed a lot of tune-up work. Today t

market offers many excellent new planes that require little m

than a five-minute sharpening before the shavings start to flI still keep a scraper and fine sandpaper on hand to fix th

occasional tearout, but my smoothing plane has eliminated

dusty hours of sanding that used to accompany every projec

addition to saving time and leaving a smooth surface, the ha

plane excels at creating dead-flat surfaces and crisp chamfe

hallmarks of fine woodworking that are impossible to achiev

sandpaper alone.

B Y A S A C H R I S T I A N A

When I started out as a woodworker, I didnt know much abo

sharpening and therefore couldnt get my hand tools to work

So I used sandpaper to prepare surfaces for finishing. Sandphas a short learning curve, and I picked up most of the tips

ed from a great Taunton Press video on finishing by Frank Kl

Truth be told, Ive since switched to handplanes for a lot o

surface prep. A few passes with my sharp No. 4, and I usuall

a dead-flat surface ready for finish. But the handplane doesn

work with every type of wood and figure, so I still break out

random-orbit sander and trusty sanding blocks quite often.

I dont mean to say that sandpaper works better than ha

planes and scrapers. But sandpaper is a great equalizer: It w

on every wood and in nearly every situation, while handplane

must be perfectly tuned and razor sharp to work at all. With

paper and a few tips, anyone can create flawless surfaces.

My sense is that sanding is slower than planing and scra

even when you factor in sharpening time for the hand tools.

shootout will test that assumption. Maybe sanding is easier

and faster.

N shapenin equie: Sanin is a suan simple ay t et flaless sufaces

Hanplanes flatten an smth quiclyith n ust

M AY / J U N E 2 0 1 0

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Get sharp first. Using waterstones and a hon-

ing guide, Pekovich polishes a narrow band at

the blades beveled tip (top). He removes the burr

with his finest stone (bottom). For more, see

A Visit to the Sharpening Doctor,FWW #206.

Easier than benchdogs. A simple planing stop

clamped across the benchtop is all you need to

secure the work, and it lets you quickly flip the

piece or change to another.

Dont bother with hidden surfaces. To

time and wear on the blade, plane only th

outside face and bottom edge of each ap

Afterward, chamfer the bottom edges wit

block plane.

Better than a dust mask. Connect a shop

vacuum to the sanders dust port to keep dust

out of the air and avoid clogged sanding pads.

Better vacuums switch on with the sander when

the tool is plugged into an onboard power outlet.

Gang up parts. Start with a coarse grit, P80

or P100, to remove burns and mill marks. Avoid

rounded edges on narrow stock by ganging two

narrow pieces together. Note, this only works if

the surfaces are level.

Change disks frequently. Dont be shy

using more than one disk of the same gr

before moving to a finer abrasive. A worn

clogged disk will slow down the work.

power sanding: deal with dust and dont skip a grit

handplaning: start sharp and use simple stops

F I N E w o o d w o r k I N g38

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Holding narrow work. A simple L-shaped jig

mounts in the vise and holds the leg securely

during planing.

Mark the top end

taper. Planing too

on the tapered are

cause the intersec

with the flat area t

move. To avoid this

a few pencil lines j

below the intersec

as a guide.

A piece of scrap k

the workpiece lev

plane the outside f

insert the tapers m

ing cutoff underne

support the leg alo

length.

Scrape away the glue first. Christiana starts

work on the tabletop by using a sharp paint

scraper to remove the glueline in the middle

of the panel.

Sand evenly. It is critical to work the surface

evenly and systematically to guarantee it will

end up flat. Its easy to linger in one area and

create a hollow, which you may not notice until

finish is applied.

Work in stages. Use each successive gr

remove the scratches left by the last one

the abrasive is so fine (P220 or more) th

human eye cant see the scratches under

finish.

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Plane in two stages. First, level any high

spots until the top is flat on both sides. After

resharpening the iron, set the plane for a light

cut and take a series of smoothing passes over

the entire surface of the show side only.

Sandpaper?Beca

the scraped areas

different scratch p

than the planed ar

its good to blend t

by following any sc

with P320- through

grit sandpaper ove

entire top.

Shopmade paper cutter. Christianas cutting

jig uses an old hacksaw blade to trim sand-

paper sheets squarely to fit on padded sanding

blocks. The blocks hold the paper flat, ensuring

that it will leave a flat surface.

Finish by hand. Begin hand-sanding with the

last grit you used on the random-orbit sander,

usually P220. Work the sanding block in the

direction of the grain to remove the last swirl

marks from the sander.

How to keep edges flat. Hold the workp

in a vise, with the narrow edge horizontal

the sanding pad like a block plane, runni

your fingertips along the workpiece to ke

block flat and the edge square.

Finish by hand-sanding

the top ge ts extra ca re

Treatment for tea

Pekovich typically

card scraper to rem

any tearout.

F I N E w o o d w o r k I N g40

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Dead flat and smooth. Careful surface prep-

aration pays off, especially on your projects

broadest, most visible surfaces.

How to tackle end

grain. Start by lightlylubricating the planes

sole with paste wax.

To avoid chipout at the

far edge, take a few

short passes from that

end first. Then rotate

the piece and work

normally, stopping short

of the far edge.

Sanding block breaks edges, too. Easing the

sharp edges makes them friendlier to fingers

and more resistant to damage. Turn the block

45 for a few passes with P150-grit paper to

create a light bevel.

MIKE: YES, PLANES ARE FASTER

BUT DONT RUSH

Ive always contended that handpla

was faster than sanding, so its nice

know that I havent been laboring u

false assumption. That said, I plann

half an hour to prepare these parts

took twice as long. As always, the

was in the details. With perfectly st

grained lumber, planing is a breeze,

in the real world, thats rarely the c

The quartersawn grain on the legs w

especially tricky and prone to tearo

spent extra time scraping those pa

and would have done even more if I

been keeping an eye on the game c

During the contest, I used just o

bench plane and a block plane to sh

that you dont need to buy a lot of hplanes to get started. But I wound

doing a lot of adjusting for heavy an

cuts. Normally, Id have set up a No

plane for flattening parts quickly an

No. 4 for final smoothing. That wou

saved some time and effort.

ASA: SANDING IS STILL

A SAFE FALLBACK

Mike beat me comfortably, but not

much as I expected. He ran into so

tearout, and that took some fussing

overcome. I had no such problem. S

paper handles the toughest grain w

a hitch. But now Im sure that it tak

longer. A few online comments sug

using a belt sander for speed, but t

random-orbit sander is easier to con

Under a coat of oil, my tabletop h

a tiny bit more blotching, but that m

be due to the different boards we st

with. And Id say my legs and apron

better, as his still had some tearout

On future projects, Ill stick to m

approach: When the wood allows, I

use handplanes. But trusty sandpap

always my backup plan. Also, I thin

ing is easier for beginners. Just wor

surface evenly, move patiently throu

grits, and use a block for hand-sand

What they learn

When to stop. The final grit depends on the

type of finish: P220 for shellac or polyure-

thane, or as high as P600 for an oil finish,

especially on blotch-prone woods like cherry.

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