Milling rough lumber

[Greg Woloshyn]

Hi everyone, I understand that the first step in milling rough lumber is running one face on the jointer and then to the planer to bring it down to the right thickness. Most of us (I think) don't have jointers larger than 6" or 8" so how is it possible to joint a face of a wider board first? I suppose you could find a fairly straight board and then run it through the planer a little at a time to get most faces parallel but I've never tried this. Any input appreciated.

[Tony Shea]

Look up the topic planer sled of this site or google it. Fine WW has a set of plans for one that some people on this forum have built and posted pictures of the construction. If you have a membership to FWW then you can get the plans through them otherwise you can get a great idea of the plans through this forum. Do a search.

[Matt Newton]

I know the folks over here don't want to hear this, but you could flatten one side of the board using a hand plane, a good straight edge and a couple of winding sticks. I had some 12" curly and spalted maple boards that I did this to and then ran through my planer to finish the boards. A bit of sweat equity but it works.

[Jim Andrew]

Face planing is why I got a go609 jointer. If I wasn't so tight with my money would have gotten a 16".

[Tony Shea]

Tight with your money? Good god you bought a $2200 jointer, that's not being tight where I come from unless you're a profesional.

[glenn bradley]

As stated, planer sled (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=58735). Used one for about 18 months while I saved up to upgrade the 6" jointer everyone told me I wouldn't be happy with. I still use it for boards that my 8" jointer won't handle but that's been once (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=126387)since I got the 8". I was sure glad to have the sled already made though. Cut your material to rough size to reduce the impact of irregularities.

[Robert LaPlaca]

Another vote for a hand plane, all you really need to do is get the board flat without any wind, the planner will do the rest of the work.. And for a glass is half full upside to using a hand plane, you will not need to go to the gym for a few days..

[Steve Griffin]

I almost never face joint first.

First step is to cut to rough width and length. You may need to do joint one edge first so you can cut to rough width on the T-Saw.

Since most of the time you will have enough width on your jointer, you only need to resort to using a planer sled once in awhile.

Under no circumstances would I consider hand planing, but of course everyone enjoys life in different ways....

-Steve

[Michael Heffernan]

I often get very wide rough sawn boards, even too wide for my 13" planer. I hate to rip wide boards until I need them for a specific project.
I built a router planing sled, that I put the boards in, level them out with wedges and run my router with a CMT 1-1/2" Dado & Planer bit over the rails on the sled bed. The router is attached to a sled that rides on the two side rails, with side to side movement for the router. I run it up and down the boards, increasing the bit depth until one side of the board is flat, flip it over and finish the job.
It makes a real mess in the shop; make sure you wear a good mask, eye and ear protection, and have a good shopvac for clean-up. Chis and dust will fly everywhere, even with dust collection attached to the router.
You can Google 'router planer sled' for a lot of ideas.
I also have a sled for my DeWalt planer, but with wide and long boards, it is a little unwieldy to muscle the sled and board through the planer, even with infeed/outfeed rollers. And it really puts a strain on my planer, to say nothing of the knives. With the router sled, I put it on the workbench and rout away.

[Greg Woloshyn]

I remember reading about the router planer in a magazine, and totally forgot about it until now. This sounds like a good technique to use on occasion if I need it however right now I'm not even sure what kind of boards I'll be working with since my shop isn't quite setup yet (I'm a newbie). I have a 6" Ridgid jointer now but want to make sure there are other options should I need them. Thanks for sharing the good info.

[Richard Dragin]

Most of the lumber suppliers I deal with have the ability to face joint large boards so I have them do the one face.

[Steve Griffin]

You guys who face joint wide boards, and then later rip them to smaller widths do realize you are defeating the purpose of face jointing right?

For example, take 8" board and face joint it. You will have nice flat and true surface. Rip it to two 3" and one 2" and almost certainly these pieces will not be as flat as the stresses of the wood are released. They will have a little bow or twist here and there, unless you are very lucky.

Now in some cases that might not matter--like building a face frame which gets forced flat on a carcass. But if you are building big cabinet doors, it's a huge mistake to not do everything you can to build a flat door.

-Steve

[Matt Day]

If you have a 6" jointer and an 8" board, you can remove the guard and joint 6" of the board and let the 2" un-jointed piece hang off the side. Bring it to your jointer but place a piece of 1/2" ply under the 6" jointed section. This will create a flat surface on the bottom of the planer so you can plane the top parallel to the 6" jointed section. After planing, flip the board over and finish planing the remaining 2".

Just a safety reminder, but you do have to remove the blade guard so if you usually work with it on you should use extra precaution with it off. Much easier and better than a planer sled IMO.

[Steve Griffin]

If you have a 6" jointer and an 8" board, you can remove the guard and joint 6" of the board and let the 2" un-jointed piece hang off the side. Bring it to your jointer but place a piece of 1/2" ply under the 6" jointed section. This will create a flat surface on the bottom of the planer so you can plane the top parallel to the 6" jointed section. After planing, flip the board over and finish planing the remaining 2".

Just a safety reminder, but you do have to remove the blade guard so if you usually work with it on you should use extra precaution with it off. Much easier and better than a planer sled IMO.

That is the tip of the year!

I thought that was what the other posters meant by a planer sled. It seems to work best for boards not more than about 4"inches too big for the jointer.

I keep a board handy just for this purpose, and label it "Sister planer".

-Steve

[Robert LaPlaca]

You guys who face joint wide boards, and then later rip them to smaller widths do realize you are defeating the purpose of face jointing right?

For example, take 8" board and face joint it. You will have nice flat and true surface. Rip it to two 3" and one 2" and almost certainly these pieces will not be as flat as the stresses of the wood are released. They will have a little bow or twist here and there, unless you are very lucky.

Now in some cases that might not matter--like building a face frame which gets forced flat on a carcass. But if you are building big cabinet doors, it's a huge mistake to not do everything you can to build a flat door.

-Steve

I agree with this statement.. But I like to build 18th century furniture so using the widest boards possible is imperative.. I would never face a 14" wide board, then rip it into 3" strips

[Ben West]

You guys who face joint wide boards, and then later rip them to smaller widths do realize you are defeating the purpose of face jointing right?

For example, take 8" board and face joint it. You will have nice flat and true surface. Rip it to two 3" and one 2" and almost certainly these pieces will not be as flat as the stresses of the wood are released. They will have a little bow or twist here and there, unless you are very lucky.

Now in some cases that might not matter--like building a face frame which gets forced flat on a carcass. But if you are building big cabinet doors, it's a huge mistake to not do everything you can to build a flat door.

-Steve


And, by face jointing the full board, you're taking off more material than is necessary compared to ripping to approximate width and then face jointing. I always cut to rough width and length before I joint or plane.

[Tony Shea]

You guys who face joint wide boards, and then later rip them to smaller widths do realize you are defeating the purpose of face jointing right?



I also agree. You will just end up having to re-joint the smaller ripped peices which may not be an option any longer if you don't have enough thickness. I always cut my peices up into rough sizes before I mill my lumber as long as you acount for things such as snipe you should be better off this way.



Under no circumstances would I consider hand planing, but of course everyone enjoys life in different ways....


That's too bad...I think everyone should be handplaning at some point in their woodworking careers. It really lets you get in touch with the different woods you're working with. You can hear and feel the differences in grain patterns and types in different species of woods and you really take on a new perspective of WW. If the projects are small enough and I have no time constraints I will almost always chose to use planes on at least one side of the board, if not all sides. I really enjoy the workout, the silence, and everything about planing a board by hand. It's a great learning experience.

[Andrew Gibson]

At the hardwood Lumberyard I go to, they take the boards and run them though the 20" plainer and then only joint the edge. I ususally have them s3s it for me as I don't have a plainer. I have also bought boards that were in the14"-17" range several times. They tend to run it through the wide belt for me as well... I have not been charged a milling fee the last 3 times I was there. :cool:

Am I missing something, because the boards come out very nicely, and I have yet to have a problem. I do tend to joint faces of smaller boards when I want a very exact board.

[Matt Day]

That is the tip of the year!

I thought that was what the other posters meant by a planer sled. It seems to work best for boards not more than about 4"inches too big for the jointer.

I keep a board handy just for this purpose, and label it "Sister planer".

-Steve


I sure don't take credit for it since it's one of the many things I've learned here on SMC. But am happy to inform others to help out.

Once I read about this technique I wondered why I ever cut down a board to fit my jointer. I also wondered why I didn't think about it on my own!

[Lewis Cobb]

I also agree. You will just end up having to re-joint the smaller ripped peices which may not be an option any longer if you don't have enough thickness. I always cut my peices up into rough sizes before I mill my lumber as long as you acount for things such as snipe you should be better off this way.



That's too bad...I think everyone should be handplaning at some point in their woodworking careers. It really lets you get in touch with the different woods you're working with. You can hear and feel the differences in grain patterns and types in different species of woods and you really take on a new perspective of WW. If the projects are small enough and I have no time constraints I will almost always chose to use planes on at least one side of the board, if not all sides. I really enjoy the workout, the silence, and everything about planing a board by hand. It's a great learning experience.

Just used a hand plane for the first time about 2 hours ago ! It was an old No5 my dad had and it has been in the box since he passed 7 years ago. I hauled it out, got a guy I know that's an expert to sharpen it and I was in business.

I have to agree - there's a certain satifying feeling when you hear that "shhhhwish" as the keen blade passes over the wood and the curl comes up. I have a planer and a jointer but consider myself a begineer until I can use hand planes to really tune those joints flush etc when building something.

I feel that hand planes should be used in unison with power tools when building projects.

Just my .02

[Phillip Pardue]

My typical method for boards greater than 6" (the width of my jointer) is to run one side throught the planer. This establishes a flat plane. I then flip the board and run it through the planer again. This establishes two co-planer faces with rough sides. I then take the board to my jointer, and, being careful to keep the same side against the fence to keep things a little more consistant, joint both rough sides. This establishes two sets of co-planer faces which are at 90 degree angles to each other (assuming your equipment is perfect like mine is).

[Jim Mackell]

My typical method for boards greater than 6" (the width of my jointer) is to run one side throught the planer. This establishes a flat plane. I then flip the board and run it through the planer again. This establishes two co-planer faces with rough sides.

I've found that this technique virtually eliminates the need for face jointing, IMHO. Working with rough lumber and running it though the planer - alternating faces with each pass - gets perfect wood as far as I'm concerned. Once the right thickness is reached, edge joint as necessary and then rip to desired width.

[Frank Drew]

My typical method for boards greater than 6" (the width of my jointer) is to run one side throught the planer. This establishes a flat plane.

Phillip,

Perhaps I don't understand you correctly, but without a sled, or without a flat reference surface riding on the tables, a planer will make a board smooth but not flat.

This issue of face planing boards wider than your jointer seems to come up every couple of weeks. For the record, it's quite doable, and quite safe, to face plane boards up to just under twice the width of your jointer by flipping the board after each pass. Planer sleds will work, as will Matt's suggestion, but, IMO, getting one face flat on the jointer before proceeding to the planer is the easiest method.

But for boards even wider than that, or even wider than your planer, then hand planing is the way to go; a little work never killed anyone :D.

[Rod Sheridan]

My typical method for boards greater than 6" (the width of my jointer) is to run one side throught the planer. This establishes a flat plane. I then flip the board and run it through the planer again. This establishes two co-planer faces with rough sides. I then take the board to my jointer, and, being careful to keep the same side against the fence to keep things a little more consistant, joint both rough sides. This establishes two sets of co-planer faces which are at 90 degree angles to each other (assuming your equipment is perfect like mine is).

Actually, a planer cannot establish a flat plane by itself, a planer can only make surfaces parallel. (This is why it's correctly called a thicknesser in Europe)

A jointer can make a plane surface, which is why in Europe it's called a planer.

Regards, Rod.

Regards, Rod.

[Phillip Pardue]

Phillip,

Perhaps I don't understand you correctly, but without a sled, or without a flat reference surface riding on the tables, a planer will make a board smooth but not flat.

I am not sure what "flat" means. Perhaps no deviation in height across a plane or does it mean perfectly parallel with a refrence? My method produces boards with co-planer faces (faces perfectly parallel) such that if the board were laid on top of a "flat" refrence point, the top face of the board would telegraph the "flat" surface below it.

[Frank Drew]

In this context at least, flat means no deviation from straight in all directions.

For example, let's say you have a cupped board, the board has a hollow across its width rather like a very shallow rain gutter. If you put that board through the planer, the feed rollers might be strong enough to press the board flat while it's being cut, but as soon as the pressure is relieved the cup will reappear. Turn the board over and run the other face through, and it will be parallel to the first face, but the board will still be cupped.

Or, if you have a board that's flat across its width but curved along its length (put it on edge and sight along the top edge and you see a curve); if you run both faces of that board through the planer, you'll end up with a smooth board of consistent thickness that's still curved along its length. Which won't work for many applications (drawer fronts, door stiles, etc.)

[Phillip Pardue]

Perhaps we are mincing theory and practice.

In theory, the cupped board would not be elastic and thus its ridges would be removed leaving it flat. I see your point that, in practice, this might not happen as wood has the distressing tendency of moving.

As for the warped board, you are exactly correct that a conventional planer would pass the board much as a pipe bender does (with one point having a "flat" tangent line). One would need a planer of great length to hold the board flat over its entire length to ensure flatness. I don't understand, however, how a jointer could overcome this unless you had multiple people holding the board down. If you applied downward pressure in the area of the blades, the jointer is acting as in the example above.

[Dave MacArthur]

In this context at least, flat means no deviation from straight in all directions.

For example, let's say you have a cupped board, the board has a hollow across its width rather like a very shallow rain gutter. If you put that board through the planer, the feed rollers might be strong enough to press the board flat while it's being cut, but as soon as the pressure is relieved the cup will reappear. Turn the board over and run the other face through, and it will be parallel to the first face, but the board will still be cupped.

Or, if you have a board that's flat across its width but curved along its length (put it on edge and sight along the top edge and you see a curve); if you run both faces of that board through the planer, you'll end up with a smooth board of consistent thickness that's still curved along its length. Which won't work for many applications (drawer fronts, door stiles, etc.)

Yep, a thicknesser (planer) only squeezes a board through a slot of a set width, taking off material as it goes through. A jointer doesn't push the board against the knives, it lets the ends rest on a long reference bed so that only deviations from straight actually hit the knives, thus cutting it to straight/flat. If the two machines did the same thing, they wouldn't sell too many jointers. You can really see the idea if you watch a video of a combo-machine (jointer/planer) being switched between modes-- an arm is swung out to force the wood down onto the knives in planer mode.

[Frank Drew]

When you're passing a board over a jointer, you're not using enough pressure to flatten out, eliminate, irregularities, just enough pressure to keep it in correct contact with the tables and knives. It often takes multiple passes to truly flatten or straighten a board, which might be cupped or bent or in wind.... This applies to both edge and face jointing.

A thick enough cupped board might resist a planer's feed rollers and pressure bars and you'd be able to plane the top side flat (running the hollow side down); then turn the board over and plane the hollow side. But that wouldn't work for thinner stock (e.g. 4/4), and if the board wasn't straight along its length, then no matter how stiff it was the planer still wouldn't straighten it.

[Brent Ring]

Actually, a planer cannot establish a flat plane by itself, a planer can only make surfaces parallel. (This is why it's correctly called a thicknesser in Europe)

A jointer can make a plane surface, which is why in Europe it's called a planer.

Regards, Rod.

Regards, Rod.


Thanks Rod - I was hoping someone would clarify that. A planer never makes flat boards, only ones with parallel sides. Some may prefer to work with parallel lumber only. I much prefer to work with parallel and FLAT lumber.:)

[Rob Holcomb]

I use the same method (router sled) as Michael Heffernan uses except once I have one slide flat using the sled, I do the other side in my planer. Then I continue with the planer, alternating sides until the boards are about 1/4" thicker than what I need the final thickness to be. Then I set them aside for a few days just in case the wood wants to do some more moving. If they do, it's back to the router sled followed by the planer to get to final thickness. Nothing worse than bringing boards down to final thickness and then have them bow, warp or twist.

[Loren Hedahl]

I use a modification of the hand plane method, substituting a power plane.

Mine is the smaller, less expensive Bosch model with just a single replaceable carbide blade. I doesn't give a nice cut with a sheen that a hand plane does, but that is hardly necessary at this stage.

What I do is mark the high spots with a pencil or chalk using a straight edge to find them. Also use winding sticks to find twist as previously mentioned.

Then, just knock them down with the power plane. Perfection is not needed. The board just needs to be flat enough to make my bench top planer happy.

Incidentally, this is not something I thought up. I seem to remember seeing it on this forum several years ago. But it works for me and I seldom use my jointer any more.

[Frank Drew]

What I do is mark the high spots with a pencil or chalk using a straight edge to find them. Also use winding sticks to find twist as previously mentioned.

Then, just knock them down with the power plane. Perfection is not needed. The board just needs to be flat enough to make my bench top planer happy.



Exactly, you're creating a reference surface, not a finished surface.

[James G. McQueen]

If I only had a 6" jointer and wanted to keep widths wider then 6" then I personally would rip the wider board down the center. I would face joint and edge joint and plane pieces 1/8" heavy and then glue up piece exactly as they came apart.( be sure to get joints as close as possible) After the glue dries I would plane to my finish size. You might be surprised how close the pieces will match.I've used this quite a few times.

James

[Mark Kosmowski]

If we handplane just to make reference surface to feed into thicknesser, then we can suffer a little tearout while handplaning? Meaning, is it ok to use a 62 for this task?

[David Nelson1]

Originally Posted by Matt Day http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1362551#post1362551)
If you have a 6" jointer and an 8" board, you can remove the guard and joint 6" of the board and let the 2" un-jointed piece hang off the side. Bring it to your jointer but place a piece of 1/2" ply under the 6" jointed section. This will create a flat surface on the bottom of the planer so you can plane the top parallel to the 6" jointed section. After planing, flip the board over and finish planing the remaining 2".


Sounds good, but this rookie can't seems to get a visual. The mention of the planer twice with the 1/2 plywood makes me think your going to the dimensional planer instead of the J/P. From what I have read, seems that most folks use the planer with the wood situated so they remove the crown from the warpage, then plane the other side parallel. Just a rookie but what is wrong with this method.

[Steve Griffin]

You are correct. Once you get a flat face it's time to go to a dimensional planer. It's just a typo--Matt meant to say "Bring it to your planer" rather than "Bring it to your jointer".

-Steve

[Bill Rogers]

Phillip,


This issue of face planing boards wider than your jointer seems to come up every couple of weeks. For the record, it's quite doable, and quite safe, to face plane boards up to just under twice the width of your jointer by flipping the board after each pass. .

:D.


Can someone expound upon the process of "face plane boards up to twice the width of your jointer by flipping the board after each pass"? Is the idea to flip the board over so that the opposite side is being jointed or is the idea to rotate the board 180 degrees so that the remainder of the same side is being jointed?
Also, if the idea is to joint the opposite side of the board does it matter whether or not the two jointed sides are directly above and below each other?

Bill

[Prashun Patel]

...or is the idea to rotate the board 180 degrees so that the remainder of the same side is being jointed?...

I think this is what he means. I've never got it to work perfectly, though. Many times it works good-enough.

If you have a planer, then you can flatten a wide board by jointing 1/2 on the jointer, letting the edge overhang. Then you put it thru the planer, 1/2jointed-side-down, using a sled under the just jointed-face. The planer will plane the opposite face parallel to the jointed 1/2-face (with means it's in effect JOINTING the top side. Then you flip the board the board over and run it thru the planer again without the sled. This'll remove the ridge. Confusing?

http://www.finewoodworking.com/fwnpdf/011204070.pdf

[Mike Harrison]

The first step, is to buy only flat boards. No cupping, twisting, or warping.

Many will disagree with my method, but, after purcheing the above, I just run the material through the planer taking a couple light skip plane passes at first, flipping end over end each pass, keeping the grain properly oriented. Once I have the board surface fully planed I continue with fairly heavy cuts till its at proper thickness.

I do ALL boards for a project at once so all the material is the same thickness, this helps tremendously in doing setups.

[Frank Drew]

...is the idea to rotate the board 180 degrees so that the remainder of the same side is being jointed?


Yes, as Shawn noted, that's the idea.

Let's say you have an 8" inch jointer and want to face plane a 12" board. Aiming to work on roughly half the board's width at a time, adjust the fence so that about 6-1/4 - 6-1/2 inches of cutterhead is exposed; remove the cutterhead guard (this isn't unsafe since the board you're working on will be covering the exposed knives all of the time) and face plane half the board's width along its entire length; flipping, or rotating, the board end for end, you now face plane the other half of the same side. Depending on how straight your board started out, and how heavy a cut you're taking, you might have to make multiple passes, flipping end for end after each pass, to get the board flat enough to go planed-face down in your planer.

Keep in mind that the face-jointed surface done this way doesn't need to be perfectly even and smooth and might have a slight ridge along its centerline where the cuts overlapped -- don't worry about that, what you need is a reference surface for the planer, and any imperfections will be corrected by the latter machine once you've done both sides.

This took longer to explain than it is to do, and it's a very common procedure in the trade. Using a planer sled works but is hugely fussy and time consuming in comparison, and gives no better end results.

Hope this helps.

[Steve Griffin]

Yes, as Shawn noted, that's the idea.

Let's say you have an 8" inch jointer and want to face plane a 12" board. Aiming to work on roughly half the board's width at a time, adjust the fence so that about 6-1/4 - 6-1/2 inches of cutterhead is exposed; remove the cutterhead guard (this isn't unsafe since the board you're working on will be covering the exposed knives all of the time) and face plane half the board's width along its entire length; flipping, or rotating, the board end for end, you now face plane the other half of the same side. Depending on how straight your board started out, and how heavy a cut you're taking, you might have to make multiple passes, flipping end for end after each pass, to get the board flat enough to go planed-face down in your planer.

Keep in mind that the face-jointed surface done this way doesn't need to be perfectly even and smooth and might have a slight ridge along its centerline where the cuts overlapped -- don't worry about that, what you need is a reference surface for the planer, and any imperfections will be corrected by the latter machine once you've done both sides.

This took longer to explain than it is to do, and it's a very common procedure in the trade. Using a planer sled works but is hugely fussy and time consuming in comparison, and gives no better end results.

Hope this helps.

I'm sorry, but I still don't understand. No amount of imagination on my part and understand how this method could flatten a twisted board. Seems like you would have a board with two separate flat surfaces with no reason at all why they should be coplaner. In fact, it's easier for me to visualize producing two flat surfaces that are worse than if you did nothing...

-Steve

[Frank Drew]

Steve,

For any method of flattening to work, somewhere within the warped board there has to be a straight board as thick and as wide as you need; if the board is too far off flat and straight then no method of jointing/planing/cursing will work if you want to keep the board in its original width.

But for a board that's just somewhat in wind (twisted), prior to starting the flattening process you'll need to have sighted along the board with winding sticks to see where the high points are -- usually diagonally opposite corners -- and concentrate your face jointing on those areas, or maybe use a hand plane or power plane to knock the high spots down a bit before face jointing.

For boards that are less drastically warped (simply cupped or bowed or crooked), then it's easier to salvage that straight board that's hiding in there somewhere.

Unlike Mike in KC, despite my best efforts I still ended up every now and then with boards that weren't perfectly straight and true; I had a 12" jointer but from time to time worked with even wider stock and I didn't want to rip them to narrower widths unless absolutely necessary, and this method of face jointing that I've outlined worked fine, within the parameters I set out above (i.e. the board can't be totally fubar.)

[David Nelson1]

If you have a 6" jointer and an 8" board, you can remove the guard and joint 6" of the board and let the 2" un-jointed piece hang off the side. Bring it to your jointer but place a piece of 1/2" ply under the 6" jointed section. This will create a flat surface on the bottom of the planer so you can plane the top parallel to the 6" jointed section. After planing, flip the board over and finish planing the remaining 2".

Just a safety reminder, but you do have to remove the blade guard so if you usually work with it on you should use extra precaution with it off. Much easier and better than a planer sled IMO.

OK I got the picture now. I bought 400 BF of reclaimed 100 year old oak which is way wider than my jointer. I have been passing it through the planer 1/64 @ a time to see the what the wood looks like. With an 24 inch machined straight edge, everything that has been milled is dead nuts flat. So...... I guess I'm still confused which technique is better/correct.

[Steve Griffin]

OK I got the picture now. I bought 400 BF of reclaimed 100 year old oak which is way wider than my jointer. I have been passing it through the planer 1/64 @ a time to see the what the wood looks like. With an 24 inch machined straight edge, everything that has been milled is dead nuts flat. So...... I guess I'm still confused which technique is better/correct.

I believe you are the only woodworker in 100 years to pass 400 BF oak boards through a planer and get a stack of flat lumber. :D

Recently I ran 200 BF of quarter sawn white oak about 50 years old through my shop. Without the jointer, it would have been a disaster. Actually some where 15" wide for a table top and I used the sled method for those. But still, even as nice as a pile of lumber this was, I had plenty of warps and twists which needed to be taken out.



-Steve

[David Nelson1]

I believe you are the only woodworker in 100 years to pass 400 BF oak boards through a planer and get a stack of flat lumber. :D

Recently I ran 200 BF of quarter sawn white oak about 50 years old through my shop. Without the jointer, it would have been a disaster. Actually some where 15" wide for a table top and I used the sled method for those. But still, even as nice as a pile of lumber this was, I had plenty of warps and twists which needed to be taken out.



-Steve
nope only 8 boards so far and I'm just going far enough to see the grain so I can decide what is good and what is not. Believe it or not is all pretty flat to start with but checking is a major problem.

[Frank Drew]

If the boards are more or less flat prior to planing, they can come out flat, barring post-planing wood movement. I bought some wide, resawn Old Pine from Mountain Lumber years ago and it didn't need any prep before planing; beautiful stuff.

However, that's the ideal; the real world often presents us with less perfect raw material.

[David Nelson1]

I have to agree Frank, but I still have plenty of reservation though. I got a chance today to use the helper board on the 6 in face I jointed. I think the next time I do it I'll get some of that stairway tread (sand paper stuff) and use it to hold the the 2 boards still. BTW that was the cats meow for slightly large boards. I think someone called a limitation of around 8 inches makes sense to me with the over hang.

[Tom Killian]

The first step, is to buy only flat boards. No cupping, twisting, or warping.


That would be great if it were possible. However, it is not possible to buy flat lumber, even lumber in your own shop with start to warp over time.

Tom

[Mike Harrison]

Tom,

I suggest you purchase your material elsewhere.


...even lumber in your own shop with start to warp over time.

Interesting.... and if you build something and leave it in the shop??

[Prashun Patel]

Mike, I'm with Tom on this one...
I do buy s4s lumber on occasion - and more times than not it's good to go and doesn't require acclimatizing. Specifically, if I need a few pieces of 3/4" red oak, maple, or poplar, the BORG stuff tends to work well off the rack.

But with thicker and wider stock, it often does move once in the shop. In fact, it can move after machining. It's not just a function of moisture but also of interior tensions in the wood that are released during machining.

It's almost never an issue after assembly, because you have glue and mechanical fasteners and other pieces of wood to hold things in place.

[Matt Day]

Sorry for the typo in my description. This graphic might help those who were struggling with trying to visualize it.

[David Nelson1]

Got it. I tried it the other day worked great.