With very limited space and equally limited budget, I'm filling in the essential tools for woodworking. As I purchased some materials at one of the local woodworkers supply stores yesterday I asked the salesman about jointers and planers. The upshot of our conversation was his recommendation to use my router with a straightedge for edging and buy a planer. So I did the later (the Delta TP300).
Now it occurs to me that I cannot face a board -- particularly the 2x6 Doug. fir I'm using for this weekend's project -- without a jointer. Or can I? I've read that just planning does not ensure two parallel faces, so I wonder what solutions might be available to me.
You are bass ackwards on this. Jointing two faces won't ensure that both faces will be parallel. A planer will ensure that both faces are parallel.
I'm only just getting to know my own lunch box planer but so far I've not had problems using it in lieu of jointing one face first. Of course this is dependant upon the thickness of the material, i.e., these planers don't have the muscle to flatten thicker boards that are cupped. Thin cupped boards will be pressed flat while under the cutterhead and will exit the planer with a cup.
Bowed and twisted boards are a whole nuther kettle of fish and should be flattened on one face prior to planing.
As always there are times that the final design/usage for the board will also lend itself to holding bowed/cupped/twisted wood flat/straight/true. This is one of those things you're better learning via experience and logged shop hours.
As always, Your Mileage May Vary.
Uh huh.
UA100, wondering when wedding announcements will arrive with TIA imprinted on them...
Power planers are designed to produce a consistent thickness. That's why they are sometimes called thickness planers. If neither face is flat, then the board won't be flat after "planing" with one of these tools.
However, by preventing the board from moving -- rocking or bending -- during its pass through the planer, you can cut a flat surface on one side. Here's one method for doing just that:
Make a sled from 3/4" sheet stock (melamine is good), as long as your longest board, plus two inches or so, and as wide as your planer's capacity. At one end, fasten a thin stop. Use countersunk flat head screws and attach the stop to the face of the sled, not into the edge. Make the stop an inch wide or so, and as long as the width of the sled. It should be slightly thinner than the thinnest finished dimension of the stock you will be flattening -- you don't want the planer knives to ever hit a screw.
Place the warped board on the sled, butted against the fence. Use shims every 4-8" to fill all gaps between the board and the sled. Use masking or packing tape to hold the shims to the sled. Make sure the shims do not extend past the edges of the sled. Feed the sled with the board on it into the planer, fence first. Take light (1/64"-1/32") cuts.
When one side of the board is flat, take it off the sled and plane the other side.
I did not clearly express myself. What I've read is that one should run one face through the jointer then place that down when running the board through the planer. I did not intend to imply that one should joint both faces.
The board I selected is quite flat and the longest piece is 25 inches. I'll probably give your method a try.
Every time I get it flat enough with a hand plane.
Due to lack of space, I chose not to get a joiner. Some careful work with a scrub plane and a jack plane will make a board flat enough to run through the planer and get good results.
I don't have room for either one o' them newfangled electrogadgets, and no money to buy one either. I have to do it all by hand. It can definitely be done.
I've done what you plan to do with good success. That 2 x 6 may have a 1/4" twist over the 8' length, but when you cut it down to smaller sections, you may find the twist is really in one small area that can be cut off. Make a few light passes in the planer and look at the result. If it is shaving off fairly evenly, flip it over and take a light pass on the other side. That fairly even also? You are on your way to a good finished board.
The planer is not going to replace a jointer, but with dimensional lumber in pretty decent shape, you can get by. I've been doing it for a few years, but do plant to have a jointer this summer. Ed snipped-for-privacy@snet.net
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