Chipout on Flat sawn fir using Dewalt 734 planer. need help.

[Dave adamson]

275781275782
Hi,
I am planing flat cut Douglas fir and am getting chip out on half of the boards. People are saying to get a Byrd shelix replacement cutter head and this will eliminate the problem, but Byrd is 3-4 weeks delivery and expensive. are there any alternatives? i have a lot of boards to do, 300bf. this will be an ongoing small side business.

[Jason Beam]

Have you spun it around and fed the other direction? Looks like grain direction problems to me.

Also ... sharp knives will obviously help considerably.

[Dave adamson]

Will spin it around and change the blades. thanks,

[Matt Day]

And try to feed it on an angle rather than straight. I have that planer and it simply has limitations when it comes to irregular grain patterns. If new blades, changing feed direction, and feeding on an angle don't help, the only thing you can really do is 1 lots if hand sanding (likely you'll end up with an uneven surface) 2 drum sander or 3 Byrd head. For that planer, I don't think a Byrd is worth it financially.

[steven taggart]

As has been mentioned, feeding soft wood through at as extreme angle as possible will help considerably. And I wait to change the blades until the last pass for all the material. It seems to work for me.

[Paul Grant]

Wet down the wood surface generously. Let in soak in for 20 seconds or so. Wipe it dry and plane within a minute. Of course grain direction tops all.

[Lee Schierer]

Always examine the side of the board and feed it into the planer so the ends if the grain are pointing \\\\\\\\ when the direction of feed is ->
Feeding the wood with the grain ends on the top leaning ////// will result in tear out. I always take a light cut the first time and examine the surfice for tearout and then reverse teh feed direction if I see any.

[Phil Thien]

I plane fir all the time on my DW734 and get no tearout, your knives have gotta be dull.

[Peter Quinn]

Sharp knives are your best friend. Fir has lots of switch backs, so turning the board is sure to create a new sore spot if it fixes this one. Try the moistening thing, works well for maple. The Byrd head really does help. Also, take light passes and slowest feed rate your planer allows.