Popular Woodworking 2001-02 № 120, страница 49

tamin

A few simple tricks and a jig

will help you say farewell to tear-out forever.

after building a project using curly maple for the first time, you probably thought the wood should be named "cursed" maple instead. Unless you know what you're doing at the jointer and the planer, highly figured woods are likely to emerge looking like a buffet lunch for a rowdy beaver.

Why should you work with these difficult boards? While these figured woods are a challenge to joint, plane and nail, they can make a simple cabinet scream for attention and praise. And learning to properly surface these woods is a simple matter of changing the way you run your boards over your jointer and through your planer.

Don't I need special equipment to work with curly woods?

The best way to surface highly figured woods is with a thickness sander. However, a high quality thickness sander is going to cost you at least $900. That's a fair price for a professional who deals with curly maple every day. But for a home woodworker, $900 is a lot of flame birch. Rest assured your standard jointer and planer can still tackle the task.

So what do I have to do to my machines to get them to surface figured woods?

The first step is to do a quick tune-up. Install sharp knives, or at least hone

by Troy Sexton

Troy Sexton designs and builds custom furniture in Sunbury, Ohio, for his company, Sexton Classic American Furniture. Troy is a contributing editor for Popular Woodworking.

49 Popular Woodworking February 2001