New to SMC

[Gregg Mason]

Hi Folks,

I've been looking around the forum for a few days. I see there are some very talented WWs here from the pictures. I hope I can gain a bit of your knowledge, I'm very much a novice.

A little background:

I've been out of the hobby for quite a few years, but I still have most of my tools. My basment shop consist of a few grizzley pieces (1022z TS, 1014z combo sander, 1182z jointer), a new dewalt 715 mitre saw, a craftsman bandsaw and an assortment of hand tools. I haven't done a lot of work in the basement because not having a DC. I will be adding that in my new shop.

I'm going to be building a new house within the next 6 months and plan to expand the shop, as I will have a very large basement at the new place. And lots of furniture to build too.

I may be able to get some lumber milled when I clear the property. I'm not really sure what value I have with these trees, but I would like to use them rather then make them into wood chips. It's mostly spruce, pine, and a few oak.(It used to be a christmas tree farm) This brings me to my first question. Are there any threads that talk about milling basics ? size, Such as min. diam., cost, etc. Or can anyone answer some of these questions for me.

The next tools purchase I'm planning is a 13" planer. I have a 300-400 budget,and will be purchasing soon. I have been looking at the usual 3 in that price range (delta 22-580, dewalt 735 refurb, and 1300 ridgid) Any more comments on these ? Where would put your $ ?


Well thats it for the introduction for now. I look forward to participating in the threads and can't wait to post my first picture.

BTW: I really liked the cutting boards I've seen here. I think that will be my first project to get me back into the hobby. Just in time for christmas. Anyone pointers or techniques I should look at.

Thanks,

Gregg

[Jim Knauss]

Welcome to the creek! Lots of knowledgeable people here and the nicest people you will ever meet. As far as a portable planer goes, I prefer a stationary myself. I'm sure you'll get some good advice though.
Again, WELCOME!
Jim Knauss

[Corey Hallagan]

Welcome to SMC Gregg! Can't help you on the Planer, just a big welcome! Sounds like you have the basics for a great shop.

Corey

[Jim Becker]

Welcome aboard, Gregg! SMC is a great place to hang out and even speak up once in awhile... :)

[Dick Parr]

WELCOME to the Creek Gregg:D

[lloyd morris]

Gregg,

Welcome to Sawmill Creek. The advice, thoughts, perspective and courtesy of members here makes it truly a wonderful woodworking forum. Glad you are here.

Lloyd

[Waymon Campbell]

Welcome aboard Gregg.

[lou sansone]

glad you could stop by and sit a spell
lou

[Bernie Weishapl]

Welcome aboard Greg. You will gain a wealth of knowledge here with some pretty fantastic people.

[John Bailey]

Welcome to the "Creek" Greg. As you will find out, it's the best of any site, WWorking or not. As far as planers, I've been in the shopping mode for about 4 months now, and can't make up my mind. Presently I'm leaning towards a vintage stationary. There were quite a few 12"rs made that can be had for not much more than your budget. Haven't pulled the trigger yet, and they may not be for everybody, but something to look into.

John

[Vaughn McMillan]

Welcome to the Creek, Gregg. You've already seen for yourself what a great bunch of folks congregate here.

For cutting board ideas, there's a nice tutorial/article by Mike Schwing in the Woodworking Articles and Reviews section of this forum. I've also just added a tutorial to my site that may give you some other ideas (see my profile for a link to my site, then look for the "3-D Board Tutorial"). I need to talk to Keith and Aaron about getting my tutorial added to the library here, too.

As somewhat of a novice myself (returning to the hobby after many years of being away from it), I can attest to the fact that cutting boards are a pretty easy way to get back into the wordworking stuff. You get good practice at a few basic techniques, and the results are almost always appreciated as gifts, and perhaps yu can even make few bucks in the process.

Looking forward to seeing you around -

- Vaughn

[Chris Barton]

Welcome to the creek and consider the two speed Dewalt. It has been very highly reviewed. I have the Ridgid and it is a fine tool but, not as flexible as the Dewalt. It would be a solid second place...

[John Miliunas]

Hey Gregg, glad you found this wonderful site! Probably one the friendliest places you'll find on the Web!:) Don't be shy about asking questions or adding your own input!:)

On the planer, I've got a stationary unit now but, prior to that, I had the Dewalt DW735, two speed, 3 knife unit, which did an admirable job! If I'm not mistaken, I believe it may be the heaviest of the "portable" planers out there, so if you need to move it around the shop, some type of mobile stand will be in order. If you search around, you will also find some very positive reviews/opinions on the 2-speed Delta, as well as the Ridgid planers. All nice units but, IMHO and please, take this with a grain of salt, I don't believe any of the "lunch box" planers are really built or designed for a LOT of heavy duty work. If you take your time and don't try to hog off too much material in a single pass, you'll get good use out of them.:)

Good luck with your search and be sure to post progress, additional inquiries and, of course, pictures! We LOVE pictures!!!:) :cool:

[Ken Shoemaker]

Welcome to the Creek ! You coundn't have made a better chioce than meeting these wonderful folks.

I should first say my experience is EXTREAMLY limited. However, I bought the Delta and can't be more pleased. Priced right and I've used John's advise and not tried to hogg off too much at a time.

Best of luck.......... Ken

[Doug Shepard]

Welcome! You couldn't have come to a better place for getting back into WW.

[John Hart]

Welcome Greg!! Nice folks...and a great education. You picked a nice spot to sit down. I don't know anything about planers....I just sand a lot!!:rolleyes:

[Greg Tatum]

Welcome Gregg....there are some threads relating to sawmilling...also, check out Jim Becker's web site(hope you don't mind the plug:) Jim)...he has an article on milling logs from his property....by the way, what's with the extra "g"?:D ;)

regards,
Greg

[Bob Oehler]

Welcome to the sawmill
These guys are the greatest, willing to share knowldge at a moments notice.

Bob Oehler

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Welcome to the Creek Gregg! Wade right in the water's fine! From beginners to pros they are all here willing to share opinions, ideas and information! Again....Welcome!

[Gregg Mason]

Wow, what a welcome. Thanks everyone. Not only talented, but a freindly group too. This seems like a great site, where everyone is very helpfull. I look forward to participating.

Gregg (yes, with 2 g's for those that asked)

[Gregg Mason]

Welcome to the Creek, Gregg. You've already seen for yourself what a great bunch of folks congregate here.

For cutting board ideas, there's a nice tutorial/article by Mike Schwing in the Woodworking Articles and Reviews section of this forum. I've also just added a tutorial to my site that may give you some other ideas (see my profile for a link to my site, then look for the "3-D Board Tutorial"). I need to talk to Keith and Aaron about getting my tutorial added to the library here, too.
- Vaughn


Vaughn, Thanks for pointing me to the tutorials. I checked out your site, and 3d tutorial. Very nice work, great how you took a flat board that seems like something so simple, and turned it into a piece of art. I can see how you could get hooked on making them. I'll take a look at the other article too.

Gregg

[Mike Zozakiewicz]

Greg,
I'm pretty new here myself and I am amazed at the willingness and quality of help offered here. Best resource available in my mind.
As to your planer issue...I don't have alot of experience with planers, but when I was looking for one last year, everyone recommended the dewalt, the guys at the local Woodcraft shop said they would often bring their wood into work to use the DeWalt, even when they had a nice delta at home. They told me zero snipe when tuned up. I hemmed and hawed about it for a month and ending up going with the Makita because of cost. I like what the Makita turns out, but I do get some snipe. Best thing about it is that it is pretty quite.

Mike

[Chip Charnley]

Well Greg, You are about to do what I did about 2 years ago. I had the luck to have a lot of all hardwood so my answers may be somewhat off given the Pine you have but here goes...

You really don't want to spend time milling anything under roughly 12 inches in diameter although, with Cherry and Black Walnut you *might* consider down to 9-10". With Pine, if you want some dimensional lumber, you could consider some smaller logs for 2x4 or 4x4 (boxing the pith on the 4x4). On the hardwood, you will probably want mostly 4/4 or 5/4. That will air dry in about 9-15 months depending on your local weather conditions. You can consider some 8/4 but it will take longer to dry unless you are going to get it kiln dried (additional cost).

Two very important points. First and foremost, go to https://www.uccoatings.com/uccoat.php and order some anchorseal. Paint this stuff on the end of the logs the day they are taken down if possible. Just get a crumby old brush and slather the stuff on. Throw the brush away when you are done (they are a b*tch to try to clean). This will prevent end splits that can ruin part or all of the log.

Second, if you are going to air dry the stuff, build some nice, level drying beds to dry them. Use a base of well set, leveled, planar cinder blocks topped by PT 4x4. As you have both hardwood and softwood, make yourself 2 beds minimum. Depending on the type of hardwoods you have, you may want 3.

For drying, I found lots of opinions on what to use for stickers. Many said just rip some out of the trim from hardwood logs (never use green pine for stickers). Others said any wet wood could cause staining problems. I went ahead and bought 1x6 and ripped it down to 1" x 3/4" (actual not nominal dimensions) for stickers so I had KD stickers.

You also will want something to top of the stacks to keep them shield from rain filtering through the stack and direct sunlight on the top of the stack. I used PT plywood. Others used corrugated roofing material. You will find lots of choices. You also want to put as much weight on the tops of the stacks as you can find. I used lots of log cutoffs (2'-3' long 18"+ diameter logs) and cinder blocks.

Now, as to drying various hardwoods, some you want to slow down and others you want to dry fairly fast. As I could not afford Kiln prices, I stacked all mine together and let it dry. I got some degrade in my oak from drying to fast but that's life. If you have enough wood and time to sort it, the oak and some others should be stacked in one stack with something like Shade-Dri draped around it to slow the drying process while others, like maple, should go without the shade-dri and dry as quickly as possible to prevent discoloration. Lots of other bits and pieces you can dig up.

Bottom line, the important pieces are above. If you get a good drying bed and anchorseal and just trust to luck with the rest, you won't end up too bad (at least I didn't).

Chip

[Allen Bookout]

I have been using the Dewalt 735 for several months now. I bought mine (reconditioned) from Tool King and I could not tell it from new. It has been excellent so far but I have not put it to heavy use as I do not use it in a commerical environment and I have not pushed it with real heavy cuts. I can not emagine any other brand in its class being any better.

I have only had one issue - some snipe but I think that you would have that problem with any simular unit if you are not using a very level outfeed table or even one that would put just a little upward tension on the emerging stock. I solved the problem by just walking around to the outfeed side and putting just a little upward pressure on the outfeed board as it emerges. Not much trouble as I have to go around there anyway to retreive the planned board. There are outfeed and infeed wings that bolt to the unit, I understand, but have not looked into it as I am restricted on space as it is.

When I was looking for a planner for myself I saw a lot of good reviews and am very happy that I went ahead and went with the 735. If I was doing really heavy duty stuff I might have a different opinion but it is plenty good for me now.

Good Luck!!! Allen

[Andrew Ault]

Gregg,

I've found Sawmill Creek to be really friendly and a source of useful information. I'm learning a lot here and have been enjoying the good culture here.

I happen to have the two-speed Delta portable planer. It is my first planer. I have been very pleased with it. It works better than I hoped and really operates smoothly and efficiently. It is just so great to be able to mill parts to a given size.

I am sure that other planers work at least as well (as described in this thread, for instance) so this should be compared in price and features to the others. All I know is I can run a board through it and it comes out smooth and uniform (after jointing one side). Then I just joint an edge and rip it to width. I've been able to resaw a 4/4 board and run both halves through the planer...perfect results.

I love being able to quickly plane components that go together to exactly the same size.

I was able to buy mine on sale for a good price.

- Andy

[Mark Singer]

Velcome Vats goin' on?

[Tyler Howell]

Gregg,
Welcome to the Creek. I have the DW 735 great machine.:cool: