planing

[james matthews]

I have a question about planing. when i plane a board i plane one side flat and then i flip it over each time i pass it through, is it alright to gust keep doing it on one side untill it's the size i want it ?

[Jason White]

You need to "joint" one side flat on a jointer before "planing" the opposite side flat on a planer.

Otherwise, both sides are unlikely to be parallel.

Jason


I have a question about planing. when i plane a board i plane one side flat and then i flip it over each time i pass it through, is it alright to gust keep doing it on one side untill it's the size i want it ?

[Paul Ryan]

James,

When you plane it you can just keep taking off the same side over and over, but I have been told that if you keep flipping it over the board will be more stable. I will have less chance or warping, cupping, etc. I usually do the flip method just becuase it isn't hard.

[Steve Clardy]

I flip it over each time, unless there is a defect on one side that the planer will take out, then I will surface off more on that side.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

You need to "joint" one side flat on a jointer before "planing" the opposite side flat on a planer.

Otherwise, both sides are unlikely to be parallel.

Jason


Jason, I think you meant that both sides may be paralell, but not flat if you skip the jointer.

Buying S2S or better lumber should make it possible to skip the jointing on your own machine, as long as the jointed face is used as the registered face for the first pass or two through the planer.

[Mike Cruz]

I whole heartedly agree that you want to run the board on a jointer on one side first. This gives you a flat surface to "mimic" with the planer. If you skip this step, the planer will simply flatten a cupped, twisted, or otherwise unflat board, take off whatever amount you have the planer depth set at, and then when it leaves the planer, it will spring back to the original shape...just thinner.

Too many people skip this step. Paying attention to this step will save a LOT of headaches later down the line...from ripping the board on your TS, to assembly.

The jointer is under-used in my opinion. Many people will set their TS to a given width, say 1 1/2", and just rip board after board. The end result is a bunch of 1 1/2" boards that are bent...following the grain pattern. I prefer to rip a board that has been run through the jointer and planer slightly thick, then rip a little oversized, then back to the jointer and planer for both faces respectively, and one edge, then rip to final width. It may seem like a lot of work, but assembly goes a lot faster and you'll notice yourself using a lot less choice four letter words "making" peices fit.

Long story short (too late), sure you CAN plane just one side, but there is no guarantee that the board is equally dry the whole way through. So removing more on one side than the other will increase your chances of wood movement.

I leave my soapbox now...

[Myk Rian]

If you don't joint a board first before the planer, banana in, banana out.

[Don Alexander]

part of the "banana in, banana out " problem is the tendency to try to take too much off the board on a single pass

when you don't have a jointer nor the room to get one you learn to take very light passes with the planer and flip the board often this isn't quite as good as jointing one side flat first but it does help alot and you can get the surfaces flat as long as you don't get in too big a hurry

the side benefit to taking light passes is that its much easier on my benchtop planer and with thousands of feet wood passed through it
its still running strong :)

[Chip Lindley]

Flattening and straightening rough lumber on a good jointer is one life's JOYS! I bought S2S only once when starting out 25 years ago. the stuff was not of even thickness and the snipe at the board ends was rediculous. I swore NEVER AGAIN! and havn't!

Crosscutting rough lumber a bit over-length, face jointing one side flat, edge jointing one edge straight, and THEN running it through the thickness planer (still a bit over-thickness to allow for sanding) is the only way I will prepare stock. Then and only then will I rip faceframes, rail/stile pieces or boards of a panel glue-up.

The Very straight/Very flat stock produced by this method, makes for a fine finished project. Skip or Skimp on any of the above steps only if your conscience allows...