I have a new Ridgid 13" planner...not having used one before...I have a question. Can I "gang plane" the edge of a number of identical boards on the planner ? I have about 200 42"L x 3/4"W x 3"H soft wood (Alder) slats that I need to edge plane/joint before I glue them together in 24" wide panels.
They have been pre-cut on a good table saw and are prretty uniform in width
Is it safe to plane the edge of more than one board at a time...and are planners used for this type of operation?
Thanks, TR
It can be done and there are numerous magazine articles that address planing the edge with a thickness planer. I would not however depend on the planer giving you a straight edge if one edge is not perfectly straight to begin with. Reasonably straight is probably not good enough for a panel glue up.
first off, your machine is a planer. a planner is a person who creates plans for things.
second, it will do what you want, probably.
alder is pliable enough that a 3" wide piece that is 1/2" or so out of straight in 42" will probably pull tight in the clamps- but if it was oak I wouldn't be so sure. get them as straight as you can and as close to the same width as each other as you can before you send them through the planer- it'll save you some hassle with the planing process.
TR, Think of your new planer as a "paralleler". It will leave the top surface absolutely parallel to the bottom surface - except for a couple of inches at each end which will snipe. It does a wonderful job of making narrow boards ready to glue up IF the bottom edge was straight and square to the sides to begin with. The only problem I've had with "gang planing" is that if some of your boards are a little shy in spots or a little too crooked, the rollers will not make sufficient contact with each and every board and some will get left behind until the high boards get through. You may start out with them all together and end up with them coming out the other end sort of staggered. This shouldn't be too much of a problem except you get pretty busy trying to catch them all as they exit. Have fun with your new toy - er - tool.
DonkeyHody "Every man is my superior in that I can learn from him." - Thomas Carlyle
Safe enough if the boards are clamped or otherwise attached together for the operation, and this method is sometimes recommended as a way to ensure all pieces are the same width. However, it does not joint the edges. OTOH, for your stated purpose and with the materials you are using it is likely good enough.
On Nov 2, 10:47 pm, "tr" wrote: [snip]
As mentioned by others, if the opposite side is off square, than the freshly planed side will be off square by the same amount. That doesn't matter if you flip the boards during glue-up so that the error is cancelled. That is a produre that should also be used, even when using a proper jointer. All of which are moot points if your table saw is set up properly with the right blade, in which case, you won't need a planer (as a jointer) or a jointer *G* It is also a good idea to make sure the grain direction alternates from board to board when doing a panel glue-up. Also try to make sure that the grain runs up from the direction of feed so that the cutterhead doesn't try to 'lift' the grain, but rather 'pushes' down on it.
rAs others noted you can do it just fine. I have gang planed two or more with pretty good results. Be careful during feed because you can multiply snipe over a bunch of workpieces (experience).
RonB
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