surfacing large boards

[joe milana]

Normally I cut rough stock to the shortest length & width possible before jointing and then planing (ie. 48" or so for face frame stock, etc.) but I need to plane some 4/4 rough stock to 11" x 8'. I'm not feeling confident jointing boards that long (hard to control, too much down pressure, etc.)
What kind of result can I expect if I just run the rough stock through the planer taking small bites, and continually flipping? The stock is quite flat for being rough sawn.

Thanks!

[Brian Mills]

I'm a NOOB but that sounds like a bad idea to me. From what I've learned the planner references the cut based on the bottom of the board. If that isn't flat then the top of the board isn't going to be flat either.

When we jointed my 80" boards for the bed I build a friend and I worked together to get the job done. He was at the front and I supported the board at the end and walked it up toward him. It worked out very well.

[Paul Atkins]

Actually I've done that a few time and had good luck. If you can take the tops off the high spots a bit at a time it will work. It won't take big arcs out, but usually that is taken care of in glue up. Twists are another problem though. For boards that are thick enough I have used hand planes or my power hand planer to get it close and that worked too. Usually I do all this because the boards are wider than the 8" jointer.

[Glenn Vaughn]

The planer is the only way I can do most of the board for my current project. The boards are rough 4/4 7" - 14". I rip the boards wider that 13" to get pieces that will run through the Ridgid R4330 planer. Each pass takes 1/32" off. So far I have planed about 500 BDFT of coffeetree with no problems.



Cupped boards have not been a problem. Bowed boards have not been a problem either (the bow is taken out on g;ue-up.

Twisted boards are a different story - those are set aside for other use (have only had a couple of them).

I do have the Ridgid JP0610 jointer and use it when I can - right now primarily for jointing the first edge after planing.

[Peter Quinn]

I do this all the time. Not everything needs to be flattened perfectly on the jointer, and not everything can be anyway. If there is any bow or twist in a piece of 11" 4/4 over 8' you probably wont be able to flatten it and have much thickness anyway.

Plane it and move on is my mo.

[Michael Weber]

I agree with most of the others. If the boards are already flat and you take very small bites it should work fine. If my boards are cupped or bowed a little I start with the concave side down and take really small amounts off so there is little pressure from the rollers until I have a flat reference surface (not necessarily the full board width), then flip as necessary to finish the job. As another poster says, twisted boards are a different matter.

[John Downey]

I do this all the time. Not everything needs to be flattened perfectly on the jointer, and not everything can be anyway. If there is any bow or twist in a piece of 11" 4/4 over 8' you probably wont be able to flatten it and have much thickness anyway.

Plane it and move on is my mo.

I concur with this, had to do it many times in production, once on a 14' top. Wood is quite flexible, depending on your use, you may be able to live with what looks like a huge bow or twist on an 11' long board. Just look how much it will sag under its own weight to get an idea how little force is really required to straighten it over 11' :D

Worrying about the total deflection is pointless without the corresponding length - that's why span tables for joists and rafters are always a ratio, with lengths and loads that will correspond to that ratio.

So what I would try to do in your case is joint one face to a smooth continuous surface, whether flat(ish) or slightly curved, and then plane the other face parallel. The amount of curve I could live with would depend on the application, more for a carcase top, less for a table top, less for a shelf, as little as possible for a door.

[David Nelson1]

Hi Joe,

I was involved in a discussion about the same topic and was given a suggestion to plane the board on a jointer, 2 sided then place the faced board on a known flat board and run it through the planer. When you have established a parallel surface to the faced section flip the board over and run it through to remove the step. I realize that this might not be possible with the length of the stock you are using. I just mentioned it because it's too simple a process not to know about. Pic attached courtesy of Matt Day. Here is the reference thread.

http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=1362163

[David Nelson1]

Forgot the attachment

[joe milana]

Thanks for all the replies. I've milled a few boards using both methods

1. jointing first then planing (its nearly impossible for me to joint such large boards without getting heavy handed and flattening out bows)

2. planing only taking small bites and flipping after each pass

I am getting similar results ( smooth planed boards of uniform thickness with very slight twists and bows) As I mentioned in my OP, these boards were very flat for rough milled stock certainly lending to the good results.

After finding a post on planer sleds, I am thinking about building one for my next batch of stock

[Lit Jones]

I built an 8' sled for these types of things. It's a simple design with some sand paper glued to it. Loose wedges are all I use to stabilize the board on the sled as it passes through the planer.


put board on sled and wedge along edges where there are gaps.
send sled and board through planer.
unwind height adjustment 3 turns, and pull sled and board back through.
wind height adjustment 3.5 turns, re-snug all wedges, and repeat.

This is quick and easy, and I get a flat side each time. It will take you just a few hours to make a decent and flat torsion box sled like mine, and you will have it forever.

[Josiah Bartlett]

A board that long and thin is flexible enough that it doesn't much matter what you do with it, it won't stay face jointed once you machine it even if you do it perfectly, without support. If you support it right in the final application, and start with fair stock, just planing both sides evenly will be about as good as you can do anyway.