I am planning a project to make a couple bedside chest-of-drawers from some birdseye maple I bought last year. Have not used birdseye before. I put in a new set of sharp planer blades and the jointer is new as well. Any one have hard-won experience with the birdseye that could save me a few bd-ft along the way ?
Thanks in advance.
Replies
Birdseye maple is a figured wood. The grain runs in opposite directions around each eye, just like it does around a knot. You still have to look for the predominant grain direction of the board and mill accordingly. There are several tactics used to reduce tear out around the eyes.
The easiest is to take light cuts and dampen the surface slightly. Some that work with figured lumber often, may have a separate set of knives that are sharpened to a more blunt angle. I prefer to do the final surfacing with a sander. You don't have to worry about tear out with abrasives.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
.... You don't have to worry about tear out with abrasives ....
Sir, no disrespect from me to you... As in NONE. But...
I have had some VERY pretty (expensive) birdseye that seemed to plane reasonably well when taking very light passes with new planner blades. I think it was a bit over 1/2 inch thick. I was going to use it for panel inserts. I then hand sanded with (probably 120 grit on a flat wooden block) which I usually start off with. Some of the 'eyes' popped out! Lucky it happened on a test sample I was using some scrap? for finishing test. As I recall the 'eyes' that popped out were very shallow. I remember that if the 'eye' was a bit bigger and deeper into the wood it seemed to stay put. Even a card scraper pooped out some.
To save the wood I applied a few wash coats of shellac. I applied a heavy application of liquid and just let it soak in the best it could within the short time shellac flashes off.
Not sure what to say. Defective birdseye? Anyway, most of the wood worked well with the shellac and a few sticks I had to trash.
All I can say is the wood 'looked' very nice and I could not find any obvious hint of 'there will be a few sleepless nights'....
I believe I have posted this before. All I know is the work still seems OK.
Hi Mate
Don't know how much or how often you want to work birdseye maple or similar but have you checked out the Shelix Spiral Cutter head. Pretty exe I believe but may be a worthwhile investment if you use much of this type of timber. Just google for reviews etc.
Cheers
Ditto Hammer to a tee. If you do use the planer.. get yourself a piece of scrap the same thickness. Run it through first to make absolutely sure the cut is micro thin. If you have to make several passes.. the first two will tell you which way the major portion grain is running. And before you make each pass with the blades lowered.. run that scrap through first and mic it to confirm exactly what your taking off.
Good luck as it is indeed squirrely grain and the abrasives mentioned is really the sure fire method I believe. The only time I miss not having a large belt or drum sander really.
Sarge..
Woodworkers' Guild of Georgia
A third to Hammer's advice. Thin cuts and wetting the wood does help a lot.
I also resaw rather than plane if I have a significant amount to remove.
I have Byrd helical carbide insert heads in my jointer and thickness planer and they do a great job but still not foolproof so I still end up taking light passes to be sure. Mind your ears when planing as they can tell you much and you can often hear tearout happening.
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