Wednesday, August 08, 2007

They Call Me Rose.....


I've finally broken down and used a piece of Rosewood that I have been hoarding. That beautiful plank has been sat in the woodpile waiting for a suitable project to materialize. And here I go.......
After ripping it down on the bandsaw it immediately becomes obvious why it is called Rosewood - the sweet, fragrant scent is very reminiscent of roses. Yum!
Planing. First up was my L-N 4 1/2 with 50 degree frog. Nope. Big tear-out, even with a freshly honed iron. So out comes Mr. Problemsolver, the L-V BUS. With an effective pitch of 62.5 degrees the plane cleaned up the timber with no problems, leaving a shimmering, blemish free surface.
Incidently, the iron was ground at 50 degrees. Now that is one tough angle to sharpen at (using a Veritas MK II honing guide) so I ground a wider bevel on the iron with the Tormek to give more surface area to balance on.
Another tool that works this timber real well is the humble scraper. Effectless shavings that leave a clean surface - the right tools make life somewhat easier!!
So what project is the rosewood for??
Let's just say it has a plane-like flavour.......... ;)
Cheers
Philly

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

sweet!
i've got a wooden plane question for you! how would a plane with a 62 degree bed hold up? lets say the blade is bevel down, wouldnt that make it the same cutting angle as a low angle bevel plane with a 50 degree grind?


PS. get crackin on the krenov cabinet before i do! ;)

-nick

Philly said...

Yup, same effective pitch. I have made planes with 50 and 55 degree beds.60 degrees is coming up, soonish :)
I so want to make another cabinet - I have some awesome quartered English Oak. All I ask is a little more time ;)
Cheers
Phil