Priya RamanAsked18 min agoAccepted answer
Flattening a quilted maple top for a guitar body. Every pass with my No. 4 tears out in the curl, whichever way I go. Blade's freshly honed at 25°. Do I keep fighting with the plane, or switch?
BN·01 Woodworking forum · hand tools to finishing
Ask the bench.
Bench Notes is where woodworkers ask, answer and show their work: hand planes, power tools, finishes, and the joint that won't close. Someone here has cut it before.
- 14kmembers
- 9 in 10questions answered
- 3 hrto a first reply, typically
Tearout on figured maple: hand plane or card scraper? Solved #handplanes #finishing
Neil Okafor11 min agoAccepted answer
Close the mouth right down and take a whisper cut. Skew the plane about 30° to the direction of travel too: it lowers the effective angle.
Priya RamanAsked8 min agoAccepted answer
Mouth's as tight as it goes. Still tearing at the curl.
Wren Castillo4 min agoAccepted answer
Then put the plane down. A card scraper doesn't care about grain direction. Burnish a small hook, flex it with your thumbs, and scrape at an angle to the curl. Finish with 220 on a block.
is replying…
BN·02 Latest
What the shop's talking about.
Sort by latest or top, find the questions no one's answered yet, or filter by tag.
7 threads
Nothing here yet. Be the first to ask.
BN·03 A thread
Replies that hang together.
Every reply hangs off a thread line, so you can see who answered whom. The asker marks the answer that worked. Collapse a branch, reply to anyone, or report a post.
Drawbore pins: how much offset is too much? Solved #joinery
Ama MensahAsked3 hr agoAccepted answer
Making my first drawbored mortise and tenon in Tasmanian oak, 10 mm pins. I've seen everything from 1 mm to 3 mm of offset recommended. What do you use, and does the timber change it?
Hugh Abernethy2 hr agoAccepted answer
For hardwood with a 10 mm pin I stay around 1.5 mm. Go much over 2 and you'll either split the tenon or bend the pin so it doesn't pull.
Taper the end of the pin and it'll find its way through.
Ama MensahAsked2 hr agoAccepted answer
Should I make the pins from the same oak, or something tougher?
Wren Castillo1 hr agoAccepted answer
Riven, not sawn, so the grain runs the full length. Oak's fine. Spotted gum if you've got offcuts.
RemovedMod1 hr ago
Removed by a moderator: a personal attack (guideline 2).
Dot HargreavesMod40 min agoAccepted answer
Test it on an offcut first: same timber, same pin, same offset. Ten minutes that saves the real joint.
BN·04 Ask
Ask well, get answered.
Start typing a title: if someone's asked it before, you'll see it before you post.
BN·05 Categories
Find your corner.
Hand tools
Planes, saws, chisels, sharpening.
2,140threadsJoineryMortise and tenon to dovetails.
1,380threadsFinishingOils, shellac, lacquer, sanding.
1,020threadsPower toolsTablesaws, routers, dust extraction.
940threadsTimberSpecies, drying, sourcing in Australia.
610threadsShop showYour bench, your shop, your work.
860threadsBN·06 Guidelines
The shop rules.
Short, and enforced. Moderators are volunteers; they'll tell you which rule a removal falls under.
- Be useful
Answer the question that was asked. Suggesting a different approach is fine; mocking the asker's tools isn't.
- No personal attacks
Disagree with the method, not the person.
- Show your sources
If it's a safety claim, link to it.
- Selling goes in the classifieds
One link to your own shop in your profile is fine.
- Report, don't reply
If something breaks a rule, use Report on the post. Don't argue it out in the thread.
ReportsLooked at within 24 hours
You'll hear what we did, and which rule it fell under.
DefamationA response within 7 days
Tell us what's untrue; we'll tell you what we've done.
Membership16 or older
We check age at sign-up, and remove accounts that are under 16.
AppealsAsk a second moderator
Any removal can be reviewed by someone who didn't make it.
BN·07 Join
Pull up a stool.
Free to join. Ask your first question, or answer someone else's.