Hi
Just brought myself a 12" thickenser and was wondering if it's safe to dress the sides of timber like 2x4" etc. Personally i can't see too much that can go wrong as the timber would be trapped between the feed rollers and couldn't tip over. I would not attempt it with much thinner stock, but was just wondering peoples view
Dee
I do this all the time. If the stock is too thin, I'll gang several pieces together with clamps.
Kevin
You can dress it, but it will do only minor straightening, if that's what you want.
I've made it a practice to take final passes on the thickness planer for components that must be square.
I have found that 2x4's edged dressed on the planer tend to become trapezoidal in cross section. I have only done it once, to a whole lot of stock. It was really rough sawn pine. For what it is worth. Dave
Could it be that the blade is not parallel to the base?
Bill.
I think variations in the bulk modulus of compression (hardness) will cause wood, especially softwood, to lean as it is squeezed through the rollers. That's one reason ganging multiples helps. Of course you must be sure you clamp them square, which you can check with a square.
As you get down to 2-3" widths you have to be pretty careful with the clamps. Keep the c-clamps AND HANDLES horizontal!! NO, I have not yet heard the sound of a clamp being caught by the knives. Wilson
I have been doing that for a couple years with no problem. Usually pieces a foot or two long and 2" by 1/2". The one way I can guarantee the edges are parallel. (My TS fence is a piece of garbage and I haven't saved up the bucks for a decent one yet. Something else always seems to get in the way.) No problems yet but then I NEVER stand behind the thickness planer when feeding the stock and the only thing behind it is a concrete wall
Rick
I think you must have one hell of a strong set of springs to do that. What kind of planer?
More likely that the stock wasn't square in the first place.
Fri, Jul 16, 2004, 6:59pm (EDT+14) snipped-for-privacy@te.Spam (Dee) wants to know: Hi Just brought myself a 12" thickenser and was wondering if it's safe to dress the sides of timber like 2x4" etc.
Funny you should ask that. Awhile back i made a sled, just for that purpose. It's for edging 2-3" wide pieces, that are from 1/2- 1/4" thick, several pieces at a time. Of course, it works out to be wider than the height, even with the pieces of wood in it, Works quite nicely too. Possibly better results, and almost certainly faster, with a proper jointer - which I don't have.
That being said, I've never tried sending just a section of 2X4 thru my planer, on edge, and don't think I will. I don/'t know that it wouldn't work, but just a feeling that I don't want to try it. Something about the width being less than the height, I would imagine, makes me nervous. I wouldn't have any qualm about sending a 2X4 thru on its side, or if it was on edge in my planer sled.
And, any wood in the planer sled, is firmly clamped in place - all wood, no metal in the sled. Works great. All my own design - at least I've never seen, or heard of, one similar.
JOAT
We've got a lot of experience of not having any experience.
- Nanny Ogg
Stick with the word "Theory" and adjust the pressure on your infeed roller so you can feed a cupped 1/2" thick piece without compressing it. That's the joy of having real iron to work with. I've got the prototype for all those Chiwan 4-posters and it's great to have a serrated steel roller and anti kickbacks.
Oh yes, check your bed rollers if you're having some out-of-parallel problems. They're on cams on your model?
Thanks for the replies all.
I'll give it a try in the near future when the need arises, and i like the idea about a sled to hold thin stock.
first job for the thickenser is to make myself a half decent workbench, so will probably lam some stock together in suitable sizes to fit thru the thickenser, then glue them up later.
Is it true that glued lams will blunten the blades very quickly ? I might go out and grab another set of blades now, just to have handy if this is the case.
Dee
Or use clamps with the pins removed, and a separate tommy bar.
Dee wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.tpg.com.au:
Replacement blades are always nice to have, but, if you scrape the glue squeeze-out off, before planing, the edges don't knick up as quickly. When the weather is warm, maybe 20 minutes after glue up? It's still pretty soft, but has jelled up pretty well.
Otherwise, paint scraper or power sander...
While on topic, I have found that an extension board (insert) for my planer makes things a bit easier. Melamine (3/4"), with a cleat underneath, extends the base of the planer to maybe 36", but removes and stores behind the planer, which folds and rolls away on it's stand when not in use. Snipe is reduced. I can run shorter stock more easily. And thinner stock doesn't seem to tear out as easily. Made with an off cut, so the price was right.
Have fun with the workbench. It makes so many other projects easier.
Patriarch
Sat, Jul 17, 2004, 1:15pm (EDT+5) snipped-for-privacy@codesmiths.com (Andy=A0Dingley) says: Or use clamps with the pins removed, and a separate tommy bar.
I designed my planer sled with C-clamps. I figure using my sled, the strips being edge planed would always stick up high enough there's no danger of EVER hitting a clamp or whatever with a blade. So I redesigned it, and made it 100% wood. LOL
If I can ever get something that'll take a decent picture, especially closeups, I may try to take some pictures of it one day. It's one of those terribly hard to describe things, and one of those "that's easy" things when you see it.
JOAT
We've got a lot of experience of not having any experience.
- Nanny Ogg
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