Time to resurface the bench. This will be the second time and it’s been a couple of years of regular hard use. Two tools are used: a No. 7 jointer plane; and a No. 85 scraping plane. No sandpaper. The bench is made of hard maple and there are a couple of boards with grain switches that like to tear out and did tear out the last time this was done, much to my dismay. The goal is to get it done this time with no incidents of tear out. I was pleased to achieve this goal the second time around.
Sharpening was done carefully and frequently, with a secondary bevel of about 50 degrees. The chip breaker was set very close to the edge of the iron: about a skinny 1/32″. The throat was closed down as tight as I could get it to work without clogging from the shavings.
After planing, problematic areas were touched up with the No. 85 scraping plane, and the top was finished with standard oil varnish (1/3 boiled linseed oil, 1/3 satin oil poly, and 1/3 mineral spirits).
