<p>I'm relatively new to hand tool woodworking and have been trying my hand at face jointing rough boards. I do most of the heavy lifting with a jack plane and get it close to flat and out of twist. The problem comes when I then switch to my jointer plane. For some reason the plane only cuts at the ends of the board, creating a bowed board. This happens every single time and I have no idea what I am doing wrong. I've checked the sole of the plane and it is flat so I am assuming it is something with my form. Any ideas?? Thanks in advance.</p>
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(09-21-2021, 08:54 PM)uiact23 Wrote: [ -> ]</p><p>I'm relatively new to hand tool woodworking and have been trying my hand at face jointing rough boards. I do most of the heavy lifting with a jack plane and get it close to flat and out of twist. The problem comes when I then switch to my jointer plane. For some reason the plane only cuts at the ends of the board, creating a bowed board. This happens every single time and I have no idea what I am doing wrong. I've checked the sole of the plane and it is flat so I am assuming it is something with my form. Any ideas?? Thanks in advance.</p><p>
</p><p><br></p><p>I also meant to add that I have tried to really press down hard at the beginning of the cut and let up on the downward pressure at the end, even exaggerating it, and still get the same results.</p>
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(09-21-2021, 08:54 PM)uiact23 Wrote: [ -> ]</p><p>I'm relatively new to hand tool woodworking and have been trying my hand at face jointing rough boards. I do most of the heavy lifting with a jack plane and get it close to flat and out of twist. The problem comes when I then switch to my jointer plane. For some reason the plane only cuts at the ends of the board, creating a bowed board. This happens every single time and I have no idea what I am doing wrong. I've checked the sole of the plane and it is flat so I am assuming it is something with my form. Any ideas?? Thanks in advance.</p><p>
</p><p><br></p><p>A few questions for you. Are the boards bowed off the the jack, or just after you hit them with the jointer? (My follow up question is going to be how thick are the shavings). How long and how thick are these boards? Is the bench flat in the area you use for planing?</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
<p>Add-on to Aram's questions: If you set the plane down in the middle of a board and then push it forward, do you get a shaving?</p><p><br></p><p>If not, how much do you need to extend the blade before you do?</p><p><br></p><p>If you actually lift the plane off the board with the blade before you can start a shaving in the middle of a board, then, most likely, your blade is too dull.<br></p>
Do you have a straightedge? You can easily check to see if the board is level to begin with. Mark the high spots. Plane those first. Keep checking with the straightedge. Once it's relatively flat, you should be able to make a couple of swipes from end to end and get a full shaving. It's better to have the ends higher than the middle is you're going to glue it up into a panel. Higher in the middle is harder to clamp and close the gap. Personally, I've never understood why some woodworkers prefer to leave the middle a bit lower than the ends. I think straight is better.
This Paul Sellers video helps explain how to joint a board.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-vMtS_j4cY
<p>Thanks for the responses. Answering some of the questions:</p><p><br></p><p><ul><li>The board is not bowed off of the jack plane, only after the jointer. The shavings I get with the jointer on the ends of the board are fairly thick.</li><li>The current board I am trying this on is about 36" long and 4" wide.</li><li>My bench is not perfect, but fairly flat.</li><li>The blade is sharp (at least as sharp as I know how to get it). I do not get a shaving when I place the plane down in the middle of the board.</li></ul><div><br></div><div>Could the problem be that I need to get the opposite face close with the jack prior to jointing the face in question? The opposite face is of course bowed in the opposite way (ends high, middle low) pretty substantially. Or maybe put a spacer under the middle of the board so it doesn't flex?</div></p><p class="sceditor-nlf"><br></p>
The board needs to be supported so it doesn’t flex, so wedges/spacers as required might be a good thing to try next.
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(09-22-2021, 12:37 PM)MauleSkinner Wrote: [ -> ]The board needs to be supported so it doesn’t flex, so wedges/spacers as required might be a good thing to try next.
I was thinking the same thing. If I may add a thought here, after you are done with your jack plane, be sure to check the board for flatness <i>while</i> it is clamped to your bench. This is in addition to MauleSkinner's point.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
<p>Are you planing the face of the board or the edge of the board? Either way, a shorter plane can navigate the hills and valleys of a board and still cut while a longer plane will only cut high spots. When the toe and heel of a jointer are on high spots, it won't cut anything in between that is lower than the depth of your blade. See my illustration below. Sorry for the size of the pic. No time to resize.<br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
<p>Jointer planes are famous for not having flat soles, due to errors when casting. Make sure your plane's sole is flat with a good staightedge.</p><p><br></p><p>Mark</p>