[gatortrial]

Hi,

I'm really struggling to get a maple panel ready for finish and was wondering what folks would recommend or what experience you've had in relation to this.

The panel is made up of two joined bookmatched boards. First, I took the jointer plane to it to flatten it. Then the smoother. Most of the panel has come out well - shimmering surface - but most just ain't good enough!

There are patches, probably where the grain swirls or changes direction (i'm not the most experienced at this, and yes i know now, i definitely shouldn't have messed with maple at this stage) where the the surface is just not satisfactory.

Any suggestions how to get these panels shimmering the way this wood deserves?

Thanks in advance!

 

[gatortrial]

I'm trying to avoid sanding. Just find it unpleasant. Need to learn how to do this without sanding.

I was wondering about using a scraper plane? Maybe this would tame the rough spots?

 

[gatortrial]

Thanks for all the valuable feedback!

@Pahern: Parts of the board look like the picture you posted. Other parts have a wavy grain pattern that planes well until I hit a patch of who knows what.

Is it normal for a single board of maple to have so much variety?

It's a pity because most of the surface i've planed looks good, just a couple areas that i'm at a loss how to deal with. If you sand them, that area still stands out as the rest is planed.

I think i may end up cutting my losses. Doing the best i can with the parts, assembling the project and learning from the experience

Lesson # 1: sand tiger maple.
Lesson # 2 In future select maple v v carefully to get as straight a grain as possible if you don't want to sand.

Probably a bunch more lessons...

 

[gatortrial]

@mmwood_1 Fair point indeed! Thing is, seems to me, using a scraper on a board just seems impractical, not to mention a recipe for burnt thumbs.

What about a scraper plane? Could that possibly be a viable solution?