Edge planing with Shelix head

[David Utterback]

Responders below have let me know my mistake. Cannot change title, though.

Is it okay to edge plain thin pieces with a Byrd Shelix head on my DW735? I was planning to gang 4 pieces of 3/8" thick x 2" wide walnut together but do not want to send any or all of them across the room in the process. Thanks

[Gustav Gabor]

Is it perhaps a spiral insert cutter head you have on your DW735, rather than a Tersa? I haven't heard of a Tersa cutter head in those small planers yet.

As to ganging pieces together, I've done it many times and so far has worked very well. Saves a bunch of time, and tends to keep the pieces at 90 degrees better than passing them through individually.
Just keep them fairly tight together.

[Andrew Hughes]

A Tersa head on a 735 would like having a pearl handle on a pick and shovel.:)

[glenn bradley]

Or a few pieces of scrap for a jig and move on.

428803

[David Utterback]

A Tersa head on a 735 would like having a pearl handle on a pick and shovel.:)

You've seen my shovel? I made a mistake. It is a Byrd shelix head. Thanks for the input.

[Jim Becker]

I routinely do this with my J/P to final size components width wise. Something greater than 19mm/.75" will generally stay on edge just fine with a careful start. For something thinner but still tall, which I have not really done, a jig like is shown in Glenns posts is a darn great idea.

[David Utterback]

It worked fine. Thanks

[johnny means]

Squeeze them together to make sure they go in as a unit, and you'll be fine.

[David Utterback]

I tried make a very light cut with the first pass and one of the pieces on the outside of the stack was slightly smaller than the other 3 pieces. The take up roller did not make contact. When I grabbed that piece to move it forward. it tipped and made contact with the cutter head. Instant snipe. So all the pieces went through additional passes until all were smooth again. No big deal since they are for a picture frame.

[Gustav Gabor]

Assuming the pieces are all close to the same length, and should you need to do this again in the future, perhaps tape the stacks together tightly at the front and the back.
That should alleviate any tipping tendencies and also help pull any of the slightly smaller pieces through with the rest of the stack.

[Sam Puhalovich]

429059
I've been edge-sizing for 22 years ... started with the planer-thicknesser ... 'graduated' to the drum sander 8 years ago. I have a variety of 'clamps' to accommodate different heights and groupings. Shorter length pieces are grouped in the middle ... singly or end-to-end ... depending on the length. A little careful clamp-tightening assures that all stay together while being handled for another pass. I typically keep 150 grit in the oscillator. Before un-clamping ... a quick pass with a ROS using 180 grit, then 220 ... renders surfaces ready for either finishing or further edge treatment. I very much like Glen Bradley's set-up ... I once did something similar when I needed to edge-size 16 2x6x8' ... though I succeeded, I'm sure that his set-up would have netted very good results with less 'apprehension'.