Switched to a smoother plane blade and instantly regretted it

I swapped to a high grit polish on my No. 4 plane blade before a big job on some red oak last week, and it kept chattering and leaving burn marks. Turns out I went too smooth and the blade wasn't gripping the wood fibers right. Anyone else run into this with hardwoods?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_emery24d ago

Tbh that high grit trap is real on hardwoods. Sometimes rough and ready just works better.

olivia39824d ago

Maybe it's just me but I run a camber on hardwoods for that reason.

rubysingh24d ago

Oh man, that's the worst when a "better" setup backfires like that. @olivia398 is onto something with the camber though, even a slight one helps on oak or maple (it kind of breaks the suction effect). I had the exact same problem on some cherry last month, went back to a 8000 grit and a light camber and it was like night and day. Definitely feels like a trap though, you think smoother is always better.