Need to plane boards thinner than 1/4" with my Makita planer

[David Tolsky]

Hi guys,
I got in a bind and need to plane some boards thinner than 1/4". I have a Makita benchtop planer that goes down to a little over 1/4". I thought laying the board on top of another thicker board might work but the top feed roller advances the thinner board right off the secondary board every time. Is there a trick of the trade for getting a thinner board out of the Makita? Tried my belt sander with a hard grit but that is long and tedious work :)

[Mike Kreinhop]

Can you add a piece of wood to the leading edge of the bottom board to act as a stop for the top board?

[Brian Henderson]

Do a search for "planer sled". Lots of information out there.

[Mike Kees]

I really like Mikes idea. Another option would be to glue the end of your 1/4'' piece onto a sacrificial scrap of plywood and run it thru then just cut the end off later.

[David Tolsky]

adding a lip to the leading edge may be the way to and is probably the basis for making a planer sled as mentioned below. I will look into it, thanks!

[Barry McFadden]

I cut a piece of 3/4" MDF just wide enough to fit into the planer and long enough to cover both the infeed and outfeed tables and clamp it in place off to the side. Now I can run thin stock right down to extremely thin with no problems.

[David Tolsky]

That's a great idea!!

[john bateman]

Get a piece of melamine coated particle board shelving, 1ft x 4ft. Insert it into the planer and fasten it to the infeed table of the planer using some small clamps. Then feed your stock through the planer, accounting for the added thickness of the particle board.

[David Tolsky]

I cut a piece of 3/4" MDF just wide enough to fit into the planer and long enough to cover both the infeed and outfeed tables and clamp it in place off to the side. Now I can run thin stock right down to extremely thin with no problems.


That's the quick solution I was hoping for! Thanks Barry!

[Andrew Hughes]

Mike Kreinhop from Germany got this one even before the question was asked.And it was his first post!
Nice one Mike.:)

Hello from Southern California

Tschuss

[Mike Kreinhop]

Mike Kreinhop from Germany got this one even before the question was asked.And it was his first post!
Nice one Mike.:)

Hello from Southern California

Tschuss

It seemed like a good time to stop lurking. :D

[al heitz]

How about double-sided turner's tape to affix it to a substrate?