Dimensioning Small Woods

[Burt Alcantara]

I'd like to run some short pieces of wood thru my DW735. As I recall, there are some "tricks" involved as boards shorter then the planer will not work so well. I searched around but didn't find much.

I have quite a stack of these boards. Some of the wood is outstanding. Will probably make small boxes.

Can someone point me in the right direction? (I don't have a drum sander).

Thanks,
Burt

[Josiah Bartlett]

If they are all about the same thickness, feeding them sequentially or overlapping a bit works pretty well for me.

[David Nelson1]

double side tape might work never tried it. If it sits flat i see no reason why it wouldn't work.

Second thought: if its too thin I would look at the double sided tape, if its too short to go through the planer it might get thrown or something stupid might happen. I would shy away from that.

[Dewayne Reding]

I'd like to run some short pieces of wood thru my DW735. As I recall, there are some "tricks" involved as boards shorter then the planer will not work so well. I searched around but didn't find much.

I have quite a stack of these boards. Some of the wood is outstanding. Will probably make small boxes.

Can someone point me in the right direction? (I don't have a drum sander).

Thanks,
Burt

On occasion, I have lightly edge glued narrow strips of scrap that are equal or slightly thicker than stock I wish to plane. (to make boards longer). I did it to avoid snipe on a project board I couldn't shorten. Not something I would do on a whole pile of boards, but it does work very well. Quick pass through the table saw when done and board is cleaned up.

[David Weaver]

Sounds like a good time to learn to use a hand plane.

Do you have a bandsaw to resaw them? Resaw slightly large and then plane or scrape to finish thickness.

Of course, if you're talking about several dozen pieces, you might not be quite so enthusiastic about that.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Your planer came with instructions that tell you a minimum length to run through. Follow that advice. If you need short pieces, dimension the stock in longer lengths then cut to length last. Be safe.
fmr

[Glen Blanchard]

On occasion, I have lightly edge glued narrow strips of scrap that are equal or slightly thicker than stock I wish to plane. (to make boards longer). I did it to avoid snipe on a project board I couldn't shorten. Not something I would do on a whole pile of boards, but it does work very well. Quick pass through the table saw when done and board is cleaned up.

Yep, Dewayne hit the nail on the head. Although I have never done this myself, it is frequently stated as a way to overcome this dilemma.

[Lee Schierer]

The center to center distance on your feed rollers determines the minimum length that can safely be sent through a planer. The wood has to be held down by one of these two rollers at all times or it can become a pile of splinters.

With that said you can make a sled to run shorter pieces through your planer. See attached sketch. The length should be longer than the minimum recommended length of piece for your planer and longer than the pieces you intend to run through the planer. The side walls need to be as tall or taller than your work piece which is mounted in between with double faced tape. The side walls are sacrificial and get trimmed down with each pass through the planer. Make sure you use a good quality double sided tape and that the piece to be trimmed is securely attached to the sled. Note the stop block behind the piece that is permanently attached to the sled to prevent the tape from slipping.

[Prashun Patel]

How short?
How wide?
How many?

I vote for planer sled if there are a lot. Butt them end to end and run them thru ds-taped to a long, flat sled. I like MDF. Use a strong ds tape, like carpet tape or 2-sided duct tape.

If the pieces are less than 6" high, you can rip and flip on the tablesaw, and then clean up with a handplane or jointer. I'm nervous about running anything with a lot of figure thru the planer.

[Brian Tymchak]

I personally haven't tried to run multiple short pieces (are those "short shorts"? ;) ) through the planer. But, even though it appears several here on the thread have done this, I would hesitate to use double-sided tape to stick them down to a sled. My experience is that the ds tape compresses under the fairly considerable pressure of the rollers, even on 1/32" cuts. I would think that with pieces shorter than the recommended minimum length, you could get uneven results (iow snipe) from one board to the next. I like the idea that Dewayne offered of glueing the scrap to the sides. Seems like that would minimize if not elimate snipe, particularly if the scrap rails were 4-5" longer on each end than the project boards.

Brian

[Burt Alcantara]

Here's a little more detail. I have about 100 boards consisting of Kentucky Coffee, Spalted Silver Maple, Local Cherry and a few unknowns. These were logs I collected over the years for turning but never got around to them. Now they are very dry and too difficult to turn so I decided to cut them up into small boards and make little things. The first batches were resawn around 1/2" while subsequent batches cut at around 1". No rhyme or reason here. Just want to get them off the floor.

They range from 6" to 14" long with widths of 4" to 7". I haven't used the planer much but have the feeling that running short boards is dicey...that's why I asked. I'm considering getting some kind of sander but am clueless as to what's best and affordable. I still have lots more logs and turning blanks that I will resaw as well.

Under ideal conditions, how would you go about getting this wood dimensioned?

Thanks for all the advise,
Burt

[Lee Schierer]

I would hesitate to use double-sided tape to stick them down to a sled. My experience is that the ds tape compresses under the fairly considerable pressure of the rollers, even on 1/32" cuts.
Brian

That's why I use the film type double sided tape that is 1-3 mils thick....no compression there. Carpet tape will compress. The acrylic adhesive tiype is difficult to separate pieces after planing or clamp pressure is applied.

[Prashun Patel]

I just took a countertop down to a mill and had them flatten both sides with a drum sander for about $60. It was the best $$ I've spent in a long time. You might consider pricing that out.

Although, I'd be a little afraid of dimensioning everything at once b4 you have particular projects id'd.

[Larry Fox]

Sounds like a good time to learn to use a hand plane.

+1 on this. Hand plane should make quick work of it.

[Brian Tymchak]

That's why I use the film type double sided tape that is 1-3 mils thick....no compression there. Carpet tape will compress. The acrylic adhesive tiype is difficult to separate pieces after planing or clamp pressure is applied.

Hey Lee, thanks for the tip. I'm not familiar with a "film type" ds tape. Can you tell me the brand you use? The stuff I tried is from HD (think it was right next to the painters tape). I don't remember it being labeled in any way as a carpet tape. But it is definitely thicker than a few mils.

Thanks, Brian

[Lee Schierer]

Hey Lee, thanks for the tip. I'm not familiar with a "film type" ds tape. Can you tell me the brand you use? The stuff I tried is from HD (think it was right next to the painters tape). I don't remember it being labeled in any way as a carpet tape. But it is definitely thicker than a few mils.

Thanks, Brian

Its been a while since I purchased any but I used to use a 3M product that was see through with a mylar layer between adhesive. Duck Brand also used to have a tape that was very thin. What I have now is white film, but I no longer have the oringal box it came in and the core doesn't have any information. I think I got it at Lowes, but when I last looked they only had the thicker type carpet tapes. An earlier thread here said Woodcraft carried a good double sided tape (http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2000848/3906/Double-Sided-Tape-2-x-36-Yards.aspx), but I have no experience with it.

[Brian Tymchak]

Thanks Lee. Now I have an excuse to go wander around Woodcraft tomorrow on my lunch hour.

[Burt Alcantara]

Tested a few of the smaller boards. They came out smooth. A few had some bad snipe but I think that's my inexperience with the planer. As I have so much wood, I'm not going to cry over a few bad boards. Thanks to all for all your help and suggestions.

Burt