I’m working on a table in white oak. I was planing a leg (with the grain) when all of a sudden….a tear…>1/16″ deep, maybe 1/2 inch long, 1/4 wide. It’s hideous and I can’t plane it out….too deep. I think I hate white oak…the grain seems very erratic!
Anyway, any suggestions on how to fix it? Patch? Fill?
Thanks in advance!
Cliff
Replies
KD7NKN,
Just patch it an move on. The worst that can happen is that your piece does not look like it came from Ikea.
I had a similar happening with maple on the table top of an end table for my sister. The patch is prominent. Everyone knows the piece was hand made...not so bad.
ive been having similar problems with 1/4 sawn white oak, hand planing can be going great then a big ouch!!
but oak being oak, its easy to patch and with care ful selection of a "dutchman" patch, a repair is almost invisible
You can always laminate another piece of oak to the leg and take it down from there!
If your real carful with your matching of the grain and prep the surfaces accordingly no one will be the wiser.
Chaim
Cliff,
There is an entertaining and informative thread going on in the handtool section concerning the planing of QS white oak. I wonder if you could elaborate on the nature of your tearout - the grain structure thereabouts and the plane setting/action that did the evil deed? This might add to the arcane lore about planing the stuff that is emerging over on that other thread.
The subject has become fascinating to me as I plan a couple of QS oak items in the next month.
I endorse the dutch-patch fix. I have made several in the past, first with annoyance that it was necessary but later with the dawning realisation that (done well) they do indeed add a certain something to the piece. A good grain match and use of an irregular shape gives a good "invisible" match but still will show ever so slightly when looked for.
If you use an irregular shape, like an elongated and assymmertical diamaond, this makes life easier (only straight edges to cut/match) but still tends to aid in "disappearing" the patch as much as possible.
Lataxe
Cliff,
Sometimes these happy little accidents are remedied by incorporating a small design element that will cover up the blemish but ultimately add to the piece. Depending on its location perhaps some inlaid banding of a different wood around or on the leg and subsequently each leg is an idea.
In my experience it is often better to highlight whatever the fix is rather than try to hide it. If you fail to hide it, it will stick out like a sore thumb. If you fail to highlight it, it will only add to the fact that the piece was hand made.
-Paul
Knowing how to successfully disguise mistakes is what separates the "pros" from the "amateurs!"Rich
Cliff , Were you using a hand plane or running it through a planer ?
If this piece is to be your best work , I would first opt for cutting a new leg , heck it's only a piece of wood .If you repair it your eye will forever go to that spot each time you look at the piece.
Or Slice off enough to clean up the tear and glue on a matching colored and grained slice this won't show in Oak if careful.
regards dusty, who just got a load of QSWO and then some ,beautiful !
A little more information:
I was hand planing with my trusty #5. I was taking approximately 2-3 thousandths shavings. The oak was quartersawn with lots of flecking.
It was such a surprise! Everything was going very well...very smooth... then that dreaded feeling when the plane catches. I checked the plane on another piece of wood right after it happened to see if the blade had slipped...it had not.
Thanks for all the great responses! I think I'll do a dutch patch...the problem is that so much of the affected area is flecked it's going to be difficult to match. But, as many of you said, no one will be able to confuse my work with Ikea. ;)
Some spots look like you could take a tweezers and remove a layer of fleck or ray . You would think the problem or solution would be the direction of attack , but with these beautiful massive rays and fleck they seem to run in layers in places . Seems like no matter which way you sliced it the wood was going to do the same thing maybe ?
If not all the pieces you ran tore out then how is the grain different where it did tear out ? Is it curly or have some other then straight grain orientation ?
regards dusty
I was planing a leg (with the grain)..
If a hand plane.. You should have saved that hunk of wood!
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