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Thread: Running edges through a planer..

  1. #61
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Bolton View Post
    Imho there is no way edge planed material is going to compare to any shaper/molder based result. The finished width will of course be consistent over its length but the planer option does virtually nothing to further straighten the workpiece. A long fence (shaper or jointer) far exceeds the capabilities of a short planer bed and additionally with proper setup the shaper feeder will not exert enough force on the piece being edged to flatten a bow out of the workpiece. A planers feed rollers are going do do exactly as they do with a face planed board and squeeze it down flat, thickness it, and when it comes out the other end its just going to spring back to where it was.

    With light feeder pressure the workpiece is straightened just like it is on a jointer if you present the workpiece with the crown out. Edge squareness is a given.

    Im not saying edge planing/sandingg is not acceptable for certain operations, it surely is. But in the time it takes me to crank the handwheel on the planer down to 6" to feed a half a dozen 1x6s' on edge through the planer, I can stick a back fence on the shaper and be done.

    Mark, I would disagree but again it depends on the planer. My Martin planer has a bed length of about 50”, no bed rollers to mar the wood or cause snipe, high height accuracy side to side, digital readout and powered up and down so going from 1/8” to 10” quickly is no problem. With the Tersa head cut quality is the same as the four sider or any of my insert shaper heads. I don’t count on the planer doing any straightening. Material needs a straight and square edge going in. We get this usually with the jointer because we are already there facing, but could be done on the SLR or even the sliding saw.
    Seems like for the shaper- outboard method to be effective in a shop would need to be a dedicated setup especially for the many times just a few boards need to be edged. When we had our straight knife 16” planer it was limited for keeping square on height and cut quality. With this planer we did use the shaper method at times especially for face frames where surface quality needs to be high and edges square and crisp for joinery.


    I prefer to work with hit and miss material but a lot of times only rough is available in some species. We either rough crosscut first or straighten on the SLR first depending on the job. Parts are ripped ¼” oversized if going through the S4S, a little less if going to the planer. Most parts are faced unless it’s something like running house trim. The S4S machine has a 80” infeed table for straightening edges and faces (like using a power feed on a jointer) but we still hand face on the jointer critical parts like door stiles and the such.

  2. #62
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    Some planers will do it and some will not, its as simple as that.

    When I had a Powermatic 180 it would do it until I installed a Byrd head, then it wanted to lead it off angle away from 90 . I have had other planers with mixed results but my current planer with a Tersa head is just fine. The finish is just as good as the finish on the face, and as long as I leave 3/32" as Mel has suggested I get no marks from the feed rollers. If I run a bunch of strips for a glueup the end results are perfect, no gaps, and flat. One thing I did figure out is if you plane a wide test board and it is not exactly the same thickness on both sides you will not be able to plane edges. This adjustment is critical to them staying at 90 degrees.

    Everyone has to work within the limits of the machines that they have in their shop, if its not something your machine will do you just find a different way. But because your machine will not do it does not mean that everyones machine can't do it. To each his own.

    Martin, made the switch to genuine Tersa carbide, could not be more pleased. Very much worth the cost. Oh, my planer has no crank at all.
    Last edited by Larry Edgerton; 07-17-2017 at 8:12 AM.

  3. #63
    Quote Originally Posted by Larry Edgerton View Post
    Martin, made the switch to genuine Tersa carbide, could not be more pleased. Very much worth the cost. Oh, my planer has no crank at all.
    I think when I'm done burning truckloads of capital on my new building, I'll order up a set of the carbide knives. They are not screwing around when it comes to charging for those are they? eek...

    I was being a smart ass, my planer doesn't have a crank either.

  4. #64
    Quote Originally Posted by Martin Wasner View Post
    I was being a smart ass, my planer doesn't have a crank either.
    My point exactly. Most people in this thread are going to be in the taiwan/import category and a planer with far less than a 50" bed. Joe, I would never doubt your breadth of knowledge with regards to any of this but we are getting up into the echelon of shops that are going to have dedicated planers with smooth/rubber rollers, no bed rollers, and so on for specific tasks. In the context of this thread I assumed a basement or garage shop with a single 15" or perhaps 20" planer. Bed length of less than 3' or even a lunchbox.

    We will soon be moving in a 5 head machine but as you say, short/quick runs, of just a few boards still have to be addressed. We do have a shaper that sits with a corrugated head and straight knives but even to have to setup for a small batch is extremely fast with a clip on back fence assembly that has scales for fast cut width settings. I use that setup regularly for random width flooring. As has been stated, some machines will, some wont.

  5. #65
    don't see how planer bed length enters into this, planer is making stuff parallel its edge straight already before any of these guys edging to width on it do that. If you are putting material in and worrying about the planer not making it straight then its not machined right already never mind anything wide and thick that has a bend will probably not get pressed down, at some point anyway.

    Faces, you can take any straight piece of wood and put a bend in it, parallel still but no longer straight.

  6. #66
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    You guys with the Martin T45's or other high-end planers, do your machines have the standard two speed feeding or infinitely variable speed option? I am ordering a T45 this fall and the only option I can't decide on is the speed choice? About $2k more for the IVS. And the speed range is not that much different. I am guessing for edge jointing you guys are running your planers slow?

    Thanks

  7. #67
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    John, mine has a four speed. I would not prefer the complication that comes with a IVS myself as I have no need. I rough in 4th, and finish in 1st, seldom use the other speeds. The 4 knife Tersa head turns at 7200 in my machine, so at 16FPM I get a finish almost ready for finishing, and in 4th at 72 FPM its about on par with your average Eastern import. I don't see variable being of use to me. I would pass on $2000.

    I do all final passes at 16FPM. I no longer have a WB, but really with a planer in this class the need for a sander is minimized. One side benefit is that when I had a wide belt my shaper cutters always wore at the spots where the wood ended, sanding grit embedded in the surface cut a groove in the carbide fairly quickly. Coming off the planer directly to machining eliminates this problem .
    Last edited by Larry Edgerton; 07-17-2017 at 7:24 PM.

  8. #68
    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Bolton View Post

    We will soon be moving in a 5 head machine but as you say, short/quick runs, of just a few boards still have to be addressed. We do have a shaper that sits with a corrugated head and straight knives but even to have to setup for a small batch is extremely fast with a clip on back fence assembly that has scales for fast cut width settings. I use that setup regularly for random width flooring. As has been stated, some machines will, some wont.
    When the time comes to pull the trigger on an s4s machine, I plan on keeping my scm shaper setup for short runs, or for replacing that part that got fumbled to the floor and has a dent. Or, for the paneled end parts that are two wide for the other machine.

    Quote Originally Posted by John Sincerbeaux View Post
    You guys with the Martin T45's or other high-end planers, do your machines have the standard two speed feeding or infinitely variable speed option? I am ordering a T45 this fall and the only option I can't decide on is the speed choice? About $2k more for the IVS. And the speed range is not that much different. I am guessing for edge jointing you guys are running your planers slow?

    Thanks
    Mine has a variable feed speed, I haven't played with the speed at all though. I bet we haven't punched 500bd/ft through it yet.

  9. #69
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    Quote Originally Posted by Martin Wasner View Post
    I think when I'm done burning truckloads of capital on my new building, I'll order up a set of the carbide knives. They are not screwing around when it comes to charging for those are they? eek...

    I was being a smart ass, my planer doesn't have a crank either.
    Yes, tough pill to swallow, but so much more economical in the end, Tersa carbide is incredible, you won't believe the finish.

    And yes, I knew that, I thought it was my turn to be a smart ass?

  10. #70
    $460 I think I saw for a set of four knives?

  11. #71
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    Sounds about right for 520's. There is a place in B.C. that I found is the cheapest for genuine, and the exchange rate favors us right now. I tried several clones, don't waste your money.

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