Plywood...in a planer???

[Harold Burrell]

Has anyone here ever run strips of plywood through a planer?

[Stephen Edwards]

Yes, I have. What's the intended purpose of the strips that you're considering running through the planer? What kind of plywood is it?

[Steve Jenkins]

I did once years ago. I wanted to reduce the thickness. Because every other ply is cross grain the dust collector looked like it was full of straw and depending on the size of your pipes it may clog it up. That doesn't even begin to address how dull it will make your knives. The glue in plywood is really hard. If you are talking about running it on edge you will quickly have a flat spot in your knives.

[Myk Rian]

I did once years ago. I wanted to reduce the thickness. Because every other ply is cross grain the dust collector looked like it was full of straw and depending on the size of your pipes it may clog it up.
+1 on that. Been there, done that.
That was when I decided to cut the guard out of the DC intake.

[Andrew Nemeth]

I had plane a few veneer layers off 8" wide ply for a project last year. Even small amounts will dull your blades VERY quickly. I have a hunch that it also may overheat the blades ruining their temper. Dust collection was a BIG pain, clogged up in the planer with every pass. As for safety, I think it was questionable at best. I would not recommend anyone do it, I know I won't.

[Harold Burrell]

I actually wasn't planning on doing it. I talked to a fella today who said he does. To smooth the surface on some rough stuff.

I thought, "maybe...if the veneer was thick enough..."

[Chip Lindley]

Sure, it's possible Harold. But, as mentioned, may have consequences.

I had one occasion to plane down some 1/4" oak veneer ply which only had one good side. I planed two pieces down to 1/8" and laminated them together to have a nice face on both sides, for a small panel which would be seen on the inside. That was only one small piece, not a day's worth!

[Dan Mitchell]

I've done it, but it's said to be hard on the blades.

[J D Thomas]

I did it once many years ago. I knocked out a bearing wall on my house and was constructing a beam out of 2x10s where I needed 1/2" plywood in between. It was late on a Saturday and all I had on hand was 3/4" ACX and I didn't want to go to the borg. So I took it thru the planer several times. It probably didn't do my knives much good, but it worked.

[mike holden]

Harold,
plaining the surface lightly *MAY* be okay, but I DO NOT recommend jointing the edges!

The glue chipped my jointer blades so that I had "glue stripes" down my work until I changed the blades.

Mike

[Mitchell Andrus]

If you are talking about running it on edge you will quickly have a flat spot in your knives.

When I didn't know any better, I ran some plywood through the jointer. It got progressively harder to push the pieces through.....
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