How thin???

[Bo McCorkle]

How thin of a board can you safely pass thru a thickness planer before you need to move to a drum sander???

[Karl Brogger]

Safely? You could probably go until everything goes out the chute. So long as the knives aren't digging into steel not much of a threat there.

My planer doesn't do a real good job when things start getting down to >1/8" But its an el' cheapo 4 post 15" planer.

[Todd Crawford]

Safely? You could probably go until everything goes out the chute. So long as the knives aren't digging into steel not much of a threat there.

My planer doesn't do a real good job when things start getting down to >1/8" But its an el' cheapo 4 post 15" planer.

> 1/8"? Really??? Interesting! :D

[Leo Vogel]

Bo - hot glue the thin board to a thicker board and have at it. Probably can plane it until it has no thickness left.

[Greg Portland]

Safely? You could probably go until everything goes out the chute. So long as the knives aren't digging into steel not much of a threat there....until the board explodes and sends shards back out the front @ high speed (it has happened to me). Leo has the right idea, use a planer sled & double sided tape to send the thin stuff through. Your planing performance will get worse before you have a safety issue. I use a (3/4" thick) sled for anything under a 1/2".

[johnny means]

IME after about an eighth inch the stock becomes to thin and flexible to resist the lifting action of the knives.

[Van Huskey]

IME after about an eighth inch the stock becomes to thin and flexible to resist the lifting action of the knives.


I agree, I generally move to the DS below 1/4" just because using a planer sled is more hassel than it is worth in most cases if you have a good DS.

[Roger Jensen]

I think it is going to vary by type of wood, irregularities, and sharpness of knives. I have had 3/8 inch knotty wood explode in my planer and been able to plane clear cherry to 1/8 without a problem.

As always, your mileage may vary.

[Anthony Whitesell]

Without a sled 1/4" or you risk the rollers and knives hitting the bed. With a sled and because of the pounding of the knives, I would try less than 1/8".

[Peter Quinn]

Without a sled 1/4" or you risk the rollers and knives hitting the bed. With a sled and because of the pounding of the knives, I would try less than 1/8".

What he said! Well, maybe 3/16" on some species on a good day with the moon in the right orbit and my fingers crossed. Sharp knives are a big help.

[Darius Ferlas]

Ridgid says not to plane to thickness less than 3/16" so I tried to plane less and I got down to 1/8". Luckily for me, it wouldn't go any lower.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I dunno about others, but my DW 735 has a turret stop at 1/8". So I assume that it can "safely" plane to 1/8". That being said, as Roger said, it REALLY depends on the wood. If it's figured, it blows up and makes horrible noises in the chip fan, even before 1/8". It happened to me too. For figured woods, it goes into the drum sander and many many passes, the chipout that I get is enough to not even try to get it to final thickness with a planer, no matter how thick or thin.

[Brett Clark]

I've gone down to just under 3/32 on maple and walnut using a sled and double sided tape. Then the biggest problem is getting the piece off the sled without tearing it up.