Making Big Wood Little

[Julie Moriarty]

Now that I finally have the right bandsaw blade, a decent fence and a new infeed roller for the planer (that took over a month), I am ready to go.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab233/jules42651/Woodworking/Kitchen%20Cabinets/Sapele_01_zpseb35b1b3.jpg
I had to start by removing the live end

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab233/jules42651/Woodworking/Kitchen%20Cabinets/Sapele_02_zpsaeee5574.jpg
I had one shorter piece that I had to rip to 8" and 9" widths so they would fit in the bandsaw for resawing. The Delta Contractors saw ripped the wood effortlessly. That's a thin kerf Freud Glue Line blade in the saw.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab233/jules42651/Woodworking/Kitchen%20Cabinets/Sapele_03_zps080e6f71.jpg
I then scored 1/2" on either side and found the center and scored 1/4" on either side of that. This would be the top of the board.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab233/jules42651/Woodworking/Kitchen%20Cabinets/Sapele_05_zps61f24406.jpg
With five rollers set up, and using the bench behind the picture as a support for the other end, I set the thickness in the middle of the waste area.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab233/jules42651/Woodworking/Kitchen%20Cabinets/Sapele_04_zpsa9e86926.jpg
Just another look from the other end. I found NOT having a full height featherboard to be an advantage. The rollers made everything glide smooth as glass.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab233/jules42651/Woodworking/Kitchen%20Cabinets/Sapele_07_zps75cc0dbf.jpg
Moving tools around again, I set everything up for thickness planing. I just replaced the infeed roller and while waiting for the parts, I added new infeed and outfeed tables in place of the stock flip down tables. I should have done that years ago, when I first thought of it!

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab233/jules42651/Woodworking/Kitchen%20Cabinets/Sapele_08_zps62a91f1e.jpg
The planks fed through almost effortlessly and there was no snipe! I kept running through all the planks, whether the cutters contacted them or not. Each pass was 1/8 of a turn of the handle. Once the cutters contacted the planks, I would flip them on the next pass.

I have to finish them up today. More flipping one side, then the other. On the last passes last night, I would run through the rougher side then flip it, without changing cutter height, in order to get some of the bow out of it. I'll do that again today.

Now it's back to work.

[Paul Saffold]

Looks like you have quite a few nice tools in your shop. What are you making? Nice wood. Cherry?

[Julie Moriarty]

The wood in the picture is sapele. It will be used for the panels for kitchen cabinet doors. I was hoping I could get it to 1/2" but it's closer to 7/16". My resawing skills need some more polishing.