Thread: Plane body timber

Hello,

I can't take aim at them jarrah gum lines (is it practically equivalent to a crack? Or not?) but that tone and grain of that wood is so cool .

kippis,

sumu

A little hard to tell from a photo how bad it is. It may stop in a little way and be ok.
You could work out where you are going to make your opening and drill and exploritory hole. It may not affect the performance of your plane at all, are you happy to have the gum line showing? If you are I would go ahead and make it. You could always fill it with epoxy if it is too open.

Gum Vein is a structural defect and often much of this defect is often hidden as the gum vein can run deep out of sight.

Ultimately it will compromise your plane body, due to the stresses placed upon the body by the wedge.

You can simple proceed with making the plane and you will surly discover how bad the gum vein is.

Considering that its on the edge, it will be a problem because your cross pin or brass abutment will intersect go through the gum vein, making for a major weak spot.

Sumu, a gum vein is defect that Eucalyptus suffer from, that is caused by damaged to the living tree, and is much like a blood clot for a tree it is part of the healing process. Gum vein a soft, resin, that chips and breaks away. It can be used decoratively as part of the aesthetic of a piece.

Hi Helmut,

Originally Posted by thumbsucker

Sumu, a gum vein is defect that Eucalyptus suffer from, that is caused by damaged to the living tree, and is much like a blood clot for a tree it is part of the healing process. Gum vein a soft, resin, that chips and breaks away. It can be used decoratively as part of the aesthetic of a piece.

Right. In eucalyptus trees, does the gum resin harden as "hard" while aging? I have understood that in gum trees the resin is much more like rubbery even as aged. Is it so with all gum species?

For example hereabouts with coniferous trees and in older stock, if aged and being in contact with oxygen the resin can become quite crystalline. It does not alone carry that much loads, but embedded in cellulosic part, it does not much matter there, either.

I wish to gain more experience on true Oz gum wood in near future. In those three samples of Jarrah I have had there were no particular gum veins, only random smallish spots. (Well, that hyperburly sample was beyond interpretation anyway .)

Kippis,

sumu

Originally Posted by sumu

I have understood that in gum trees the resin is much more like rubbery even as aged. Is it so with all gum species?

Not rubbery, more like shellac resin. Dry, and crumbly, even crystalline you could say.

Some species are more prone to it then other. For example Vic Ash/ Tasmanian Oak can have huge tracks of gum vein.

Gum vein is more like a rive of resin that can form pockets, and even cavities. I have cut into some eucalyptus only to have to find it completely hollow from a huge gum resin pocket, it can be a huge comprise to strength, depending on how extensive it has spread.

Originally Posted by thumbsucker

Not rubbery, more like shellac resin. Dry, and crumbly, even crystalline you could say.

Some species are more prone to it then other. For example Vic Ash/ Tasmanian Oak can have huge tracks of gum vein.

Helmut, Thanks for this info. I wonder how extensive it could be, for example in what kind of frequency (timber-wise) these defects would occur? I want a big slab of jarrah or some other wood as cool, so any info is just helpful.


If getting back to those wood blocks Sawdust Maker shared with us: If those were european beech or baltic birch, the bigger piece would be the seen as plane heel end towards camera, top side upwards. Would you choose the same directions for that jarrah block as a plane?

kippis,

sumu

Hi Guys, Sumu, if it was mine I would have the end towards the camera as the toe, you want the grain of the timber facing towards the heal so as you push your plane along you are not goig againt the grain of your plane, much smoother ride, less friction, easyer to use. Go with the flow baby!!

Originally Posted by Claw Hama

o as you push your plane along you are not goig againt the grain of your plane

Agree with claw hammer, however I pull my planes as much as I push.

I am going with HNT Gordon and Clark & Williams that the sapwood side should be on top as it is the less durable and stable timber. With the heart wood being the sides that makes contact.

Sumu as for how common, if you the board has ZERO visible gum vein on the outside then it should fine. If you get a single line / spot of gum vein in your board you have a good chance that it could be riddled with the stuff. It is all luck. Think of it as a bad knife wound that has healed up the scar that you see on your skin is on the tip of the ice berg and the scaring is deep inside the muscle and bone.

I almost put pull in the previous post for those of you who like a tug. But we are still heading in the same direction. I would leave it the way it is siting now, although Thumsukers points are good. I feel there is less chance of fracturing the timber when you cut through it or from the forces of use. You have good clean timber on the lower half of your plane. I don't think lack of hardness should be a problem for Jarrah.
Sumu, in our common timbers ie building, flooring, general purpose timber, you will find gumlines to some degree in most of it. Select timber and top of the range stuff anything with gumlines is picked out. In other words gum lines are very common and I consider part of the naturl beauty of our timber. Not something to be avoided or covered up. Unless it's a structural issue like above.

Hello,

Originally Posted by thumbsucker

Agree with claw hammer, however I pull my planes as much as I push.

You know, the liquid level in that bottle of Speyburn was kinda little low this morning. It looks like I just fluently failed to make the difference between "heel" and "toe" .

But I'm improving, I'll arrive with this english language and I promise I will come up with a serious mess all in good english someday, not far in the future .



To get back in the business, how do those Sawdust's blocks look like to you? If considering jarrah and your experience on it, would it be possible to judge their quality level kinda further than with some other wood you know, just by looking at the pictures?

I think for example, I can say a thing or two about european beech and some other local timber just by looking at a fair amount of pictures. No one can tell a perfect prediction on no wood until it is in one's hands and prepared into an item.

What I'm after is that would some Oz species be easier judged by a set of pics than other species? If so, which species would those be?

Are there some species (although being hard wood, tough and pretty) that are still (1) absolutely beyond judgement (2) absolutely beyond use in planes or other tools (3) "safe" to pick up if there is pics and a sound salesman. I'm asking a lot, I know.

Sawdust Maker's blocks look like something I'd like to have, too. Normally hereabouts you need to stain for example ash, to get that tone of colour.

Thanks!

kippis,

sumu

I have a pile of Jarrah so I can send you a bit if you need it (trade for something)

TS tells me that Jarrah is too soft for planes though...

I was going to take another couple of pics of the larger piece, showing both sides and the bottom. Can still do that if you like Sumo.

I had hoped that the gum line was only on the one side but unfortunately goes through the whole piece. (the original photo was from the mate and I hadn't actually seen the piece yet) I'd hoped to be able to fill it with epoxy to keep the strength up. But no go, I'll trust the experience of thumbsucker (as much as I don't like the advice)

Looks like I'll use the smaller piece or maybe laminate some spotted gum I've got hidden away somewhere.

According to an article in the latest AWR (ed no 59):
Jarrah has a hardness of 8+ and a density of 9
Spotted Gum 9+ and 9+
red ironbark 10 and 10
grey ironbark 10+ and 10+

I was going to use the Jarrah because I had it coming, Now is earmarked for something else

Most of the European planes are beech so jarrah should be ok. Mind you I am not a plane maker.

You do not need a monster billet, cheap flooring or flat board, can be cleaned up and laminated into a suitable billet.

Sorry to hear the bad news, but it was much as I expected, gum vein runs deep.