Thickness Planing Rookie

[Will Hon]

Hey, so I am new on the forum and relatively new to woodworking. I recently purchased an old 14' shuffleboard playing surface for a whopping $40 from an older couple who had bought it years ago and never got around to building a cradle for it. So now the cradle project is on me...

Today I set out and bought some wood from a small town gentlemen with a kiln outback. I got 2 pieces of white oak measuring 1.75" by 12" by 12'. My main question comes as to whether i should thickness plane the entire 12' boards or make slightly over sized cuts of the tables components and then joint/thickness plane each part individually?? My first undertaking will be the legs which will require planing down to about 1.25" and then the leftover pieces planed down to 1".

I guess I am worried about irregularities in the thickness of the board if I plane the entire 12' piece at once, or losing excessive length, but perhaps I am wrong. Also, i payed $35 for the two pieces, is that a fair price? It is plane sawed not quartersawn unfortunately, but that was my only option. Thanks,

-Will

[Joe Chritz]

#1: Welcome

#2: If you can do the entire board fine, but generally it is easier/better to cut an inch over dimension and face joint, edge joint, plane, rip to get square stock then final the cut.

#3: 12"x144"x1.75" is 21 BF. 35 bucks for 21 BF of WO even flatsawn is a decent enough deal. I would buy a bunch and use it for drawers and secondary parts if nothing else. 7/4 is a strange size, was it skip planed or just an oddball milling?

#4: Ask away, you will find a large number of knowledgeable people who are willing to share what they know.

Everyone likes pictures so post when you can.

Joe

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Will, the first step would be to flatten on e face, and establish a square edge on the jointer.

Next step would be to plane it to the thickness you desire, the rip to the required width.

A planer only makes surfaces parallel, not flat. The planer uses one face as a reference, and then copies that onto the other face.

Put in crooked wood, get thinner wood out of the planer with the crooked surface copied.

If you don't have a jointer, you can make a sled for a planer, do a search for planer sled and you'll find many suggestions.

I personally don't have the patience for using a sled, so I own a jointer, which of course can also make a square edge on the work piece.

You are correct that cutting your material about 4 to 6 inches longer than finished size, will improve the planing/jointing process.

Regards, Rod.

[Mike Parzych]

Definitely rough cut the pieces you need first. A piece of lumber that heavy would be tough to plane/joint with any accuracy because of its weight.

For example, on the leg stock cut a piece 1.5" wide and then cut the 1.75" dimension down to 1.375 or 1.5" depending obn the original flatness of the board. The more you can saw off the better. Less work for the planer knives.

The same goes for jointing. a 12' length is hard to joint because of the amount of weight hanging off the infeed and outfeed tables. You should rig some kind of supports on either side at the heights of the infeed and outfeed table.

You stole that wood!

[Will Hon]

Thanks, everyone for all of the suggestions, that really helped.

So, it seems as though I should make rough cut pieces about 4-6" longer than necessary and then face and edge joint one face and side and allow the thickness planar to do square the other face? I guess I should ask how much wider to leave the rough cuts to allow for enough material to be taken off, and I slightly misstated originally, my leg blanks are to be 1.5" x 3" x 26". I have also read that when jointing you should always joint one face and then flip the board over and joint the other face, so that you always joint each face/side an equal number of times... is this true?

"7/4 is a strange size, was it skip planed or just an oddball milling?"

I was told that the boards were originally cut to be stair treads, but the 42 bd ft I purchased was excess.

"You stole that wood!"

I kind of thought that I did but I wasn't totally sure... It would have figured to like $0.83/bd ft.

[Mark Godlesky]

I think you want to joint one edge, then one face. That will give you two surfaces that are flat and perpendicular to each other. Then plane the second face and rip to width. With a good blade in your table saw you get a pretty smooth edge.

[Will Hon]

sorry, just wanted to bump this to hopefully get an answer to the last question

- Will

[Joe Chritz]

If you are refering to taking equal amounts off both sides then yes it is a good idea but I wouldn't get to worried about it. Just try to be somewhat close and all is good.

Also I wouldn't joint both faces, I would do just like my original post. Joint a face, joint an edge, plane to final thickness (this is where you would do some flipping if you have a lot to take off) and then rip to final width.

As mentioned above a jointer will leave one face flat, reference that face against the jointer fence and do the 90 degree face and you have two faces flat and square to each other. (assuming the jointer is set up correctly). The planer will make the second face parrallel to the one the jointer made flat and the Tsaw will rip the second edge parrallel to the first edge and also square, again assuming all machinery is set up correctly.

Joe

[Peter Quinn]

I have also read that when jointing you should always joint one face and then flip the board over and joint the other face, so that you always joint each face/side an equal number of times... is this true?


Hi Will. Welcome. Not sure which of us is confused, me by your wording or you in your technique, but here are my thoughts.

To make wood flat, to begin to establish the right angles necessary for most joinery techniques, you need a jointer and a planer (or very good facility with hand tools to accomplish the same tasks). A jointer (first stop in every milling operation after rough cutting part to length) make things, if all goes well, flat on one face and and creates a reference edge which is both straight and 90 degrees to the flat face. The longer and wider your stock is the more difficult it will be to flatten a face and joint an edge, so always begin with your parts conservatively oversized but close to your final dimension. How oversized? Depends on the wood and the amount of snipe your planer will later create. I typically go 6" over on length unless the wood is very precious, and 1/2" over on width once I have established a straight edge IF i feel the wood is fairly stable, more on width if i am experiencing some movement as I work it. When splitting the width of particularly wide boards, I may leave more width to allow for movement. Make sense? When you start removing material from a board at equilibrium it will often seek a new equilibrium regardless of your attempt to tame it and render it flat, so be ready for that. Once one face has been flattened on the jointer, do not bother to JOINT the other face. It will not be parallel to the first, you will merely be removing material needlessly.

Next stop, planer, or thickness planer as it is known in some part due to it inherent main function, to bring lumber to a specific thickness. Once one face is flat, your planer will make the other face parallel and uniform in thickness. This often takes several light passes. On rough stock it should be obvious when a clean face has been established, on prepared or skim planed material a series of diagonal pencil lines over the length of the board across its width will help to highlight your progress.

And now to what I think was your question. Once you have jointed one face flat, and planed the other face parallel, how do you proceed at the planer to reach your final thickness? If you remove all the necessary thickness from one face, the board will often bow to reach a new equilibrium. If you flip the board with each pass blindly, the board will often bow to reach a new equilibrium in spite of your effort. Often flattened boards will develop a slight crown as you plane them. You can either rejoin, if extreme flatness is required. Or you can observe the board carefully and plane each pass with the crown UP, as by removing material from the crowned face you can often get the board to return to flat or some close approximation. It sort of like giving the ball a little English when playing pool or pinball.

Many wood worker will flatten, plane a bit over on thickness, and wait several weeks to proceed with the wood stickered, giving it time readjust to its new more slender self. Then you can begin again by joining and planing, honing in on your desired final dimension, taking less off this time so as not to anger the demons of wood movement. It a solid time honored method to avoid the "I am at final thickness and my parts are all warped" post.:D

Sound tricky? It can be. It is not unfortunately and exact science. I work with a dozen guys that each ha his own trick and methods for milling flat stock. It often borders on voodoo! There is no substitute for experience and careful observation. And remember, your mistakes or mishaps will contribute greatly to this experience, so proceed with confidence and caution and enjoy that wood!

[Will Hon]

Thanks to everyone for all the help, esp. Joe and Peter on final clarifications, i really appreciate it all.

Kindest Regards,

Will