Experiences working hickory with hand tools?
Doug Dawson
I was wondering if anyone out there has had any personal experiences
with machining hickory with hand tools. I'm considering making a trestle
table entirely out of hickory, and am trying to come to terms with
whether it's the least bit practical to expect to be able to hand-plane
it, for example. The tenuous impression I get from reading about it in
the data books is that one could expect some resistance, but I'm
wondering just how much. Any thoughts?
Doug Dawson
daw...@utpapa.ph.utexas.edu
I know the barrels are used to brew whiskey... Which came first... :-)
David Snoeyenbos
: Hi,
: I was wondering if anyone out there has had any personal experiences
: with machining hickory with hand tools. I'm considering making a trestle
: table entirely out of hickory, and am trying to come to terms with
: whether it's the least bit practical to expect to be able to hand-plane
: it, for example. The tenuous impression I get from reading about it in
: the data books is that one could expect some resistance, but I'm
: wondering just how much. Any thoughts?
Sounds like a great table. Good hickory is a beautiful and greatly
underappreciated wood. It also can be miserable to work. Whenever I
work it I think more like a machinist than a woodworker. Good hickory
is hellishly hard, and *particularly susceptible to tear-outs* (at least
the Northeastern species - don't know which of the many hickory species
you have available down your way). I can't recommend hand-planing a
tabletop ... perhaps do the glue-up and then haul it down to a local
shop with a big enough thickness-sander?
RayTSmith
>From: d...@umass.edu (David Snoeyenbos)
>Date: 27 Aug 1995 18:58:05 GMT
>Message-ID: <41qf7t$r...@nic.umass.edu>
>
>Doug Dawson (daw...@linux3.ph.utexas.edu) wrote:
>: Hi,
>
>: I was wondering if anyone out there has had any personal experiences
>: with machining hickory with hand tools.
I have done some handwork with hickory. With a hand plane it works
considerable harder than cherry or walnut, but easier than hard maple,
probably because it is a little more open grained. Hickory is hard to saw
by hand also, it bent several sections of teeth on a Ryoba saw blade, and
I don't think I hit any knots. Hickory is a very pretty wood when
finished. If you don't mind a good workout, go for it and keep your
sharpening stones handy. Try to keep the grain running in the same
direction on the tabletop if you can, you don't want to go against the
grain on this stuff.
This could be your big chance to justify a Stanley #8C !!
Chris Lewis
>Doug Dawson (daw...@linux3.ph.utexas.edu) wrote:
>: I was wondering if anyone out there has had any personal experiences
>: table entirely out of hickory, and am trying to come to terms with
>: whether it's the least bit practical to expect to be able to hand-plane
>: it, for example. The tenuous impression I get from reading about it in
>: the data books is that one could expect some resistance, but I'm
>: wondering just how much. Any thoughts?
>Sounds like a great table. Good hickory is a beautiful and greatly
>underappreciated wood. It also can be miserable to work. Whenever I
>work it I think more like a machinist than a woodworker. Good hickory
>is hellishly hard, and *particularly susceptible to tear-outs* (at least
>the Northeastern species - don't know which of the many hickory species
>you have available down your way). I can't recommend hand-planing a
>tabletop ... perhaps do the glue-up and then haul it down to a local
>shop with a big enough thickness-sander?
I tried handplaning a hickory (bitternut species) tabletop. I used a _very_
sharp plane. After that experience, I decided not to try again without a
hydraulic ram ;-) I was simply unable to push the plane more than a few
inches, even with "taking a run" at it ;-) Bitternut isn't the hardest
hickory, but close to it.
It is possible to handplane board edges. Though, I echo the comment about
tearout.
I ended up roughing the table top (the wood was roughsawn) with a power
handplane, and a fellow rec.ww'er surfaced the result with a 18"
planer. His planer is an industrial model, and they're used to working
with oak. He remarked that it was by far the hardest thing they had
ever planed - having to take no more than 1/64th per pass, and the machine
was screaming louder than they had ever heard it.
I like hickory. But I've come to the conclusion it is a machine-tool only
wood when trying to make things like tables. Now, if you're making lacrosse
sticks, handtools should be fine ;-)
--
Chris Lewis: _Una confibula non sat est_
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hau...@mbi.org
>From: daw...@linux3.ph.utexas.edu (Doug Dawson)
>Subject: Experiences working hickory with hand tools?
>Date: 27 Aug 1995 00:24:37 -0500
> Hi,
> I was wondering if anyone out there has had any personal experiences
> with machining hickory with hand tools. I'm considering making a trestle
> table entirely out of hickory, and am trying to come to terms with
> whether it's the least bit practical to expect to be able to hand-plane
> it, for example. The tenuous impression I get from reading about it in
> the data books is that one could expect some resistance, but I'm
> wondering just how much. Any thoughts?
>
I started using hickory because I thought it was pretty, and it was cheap.
Then I found out how hard and heavy it is. I've had lots of trouble cutting
and surfacing it with power tools - I can't imagine planing it with a steel
hand plane.
If you're up for a challenge, try it out on a smaller project.
Rich
Just say it's also unstable, like most really hard woods.
WDWRKR
experience. I recently finished an entertainment center out of solid
hickory with some walnut trim and accents. The hickory that I used was
from North Carolina and of unknown species. The wood is hard in the
extreme and subject to tear out with both hand and power tools. Sanding
works well if needed to even out glued edges. Using hickory on the shaper
or router is a real challenge as the toughness of the wood causes the
smallest splinters to grow into long slivers that ball up the knives and
guides.
I tried planing to flatten the panels; it took sharp blades and hard work.
Scraping with a Stanley #112 or similar worked much better and left a
better finish.
Due to the variations in the heart and sapwood color, staining is
necessary. It takes stain well and evenly. Finished with a varnish and
wax leaves the wood as smooth as any factory finish.
In short it is possible, but difficult. I woudl recommend a smaller first
project to aquaint yourself with hickory before attempting a larger
project such as you stated. Good luck
Eric Bickel
All opinions expressed are my own.
All opinions are subject to change or ridicule, as appropriate.