A Woodworker’s Notebook
Jeff Gorman
Coping With Twist
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Left:A plot of a twisted grid - (Unfortunately twisted the other way from the adjacent drawings). Note that a line between the high corners, C&B is concave, and the other is convex.
Right:The lighter corners are high. Note the representations of winding rods at each end. The contours were derived on a drawing board by taking horizontal sections at equal intervals through a twisted plane. Real-life planing is more complex!
The first few strokes will snip the corners. If you consistently plane exactly along the same track, the plane will stop cutting because the lateral margins, shown lighter, act as skids…
By widening the path, you will be able to reach the half-way stage when AD will be straight.

Once the half-way stage is reached, you have the choice of continuing to plane in a direction parallel to DA, or to plane parallel to CB. In this case, since CB is convex, short strokes in the centre of the board will be needed, gradually lengthening as you go.

Make sure that the underside of the board is always properly supported, or the weight of the planing action will distort the board.

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