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Thread: Power planer to square timbers?

  1. #1
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    Power planer to square timbers?

    I have some 4x10 timbers that are slightly out of square on their edges so I bought a 4 3/8” wide power planer, both to plane the edges smooth and hopefully square them up to the faces. Has anyone made a sled to run the power planer down the 3.5" wide edges, squaring them up? Or is there another technique I could use? I haven’t done this before so would appreciate any pointers or tips!
    WoodsShop

  2. #2
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    The job is done by eye, and achieved experience, by using winding sticks and a square. The winding sticks help you test your surface to see if it is twisted, and the square is self explanatory. Get one side flat and straight with no twist, and then work your way around your timber, using the square to ensure 90°. There's always a learning curve, and with some adeptness, you'll get the hang of it quickly.
    Jeff

  3. #3
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    You'll need a string line or a good straight edge as well. Once you remove the twist, then check to see if the timber is bowed. You'll need to remove the bow after removing the twist (or a little or both at the same time is best). Do this on the 10" face first, then reference off of it to make a square edge. Then mark off of those faces to 3.5" and 9.5" (presumably) to get your outside edges.

    This will be a difficult job to do with only a power planer, you'll need a hand plane to true up the surface after roughing it out with a power planer, unless you can find a friend who has the Makita KP312 for the faces.

    If you have a lot of these to do you may want to consider finding a shop with a large jointer and planer. I setup my combo machine specifically for handling this kind of work on occasion, being that there are a good number of timber shops in CA you stand a good chance of coming across someone ready with the tools to do that sort of job in a reasonable amount of time.
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  4. #4
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    I'm sorry guys, here, a pic is worth a lot of words. With this 4x10, these two edges are slightly out of square to the faces, and I'd like to use a 4 3/8" Makita power planer to square them as I also surface them smooth. I'm wondering if anyone has made a sled / whatever, to hold the planer square to the timber face as you go down the length?

    my 12" T saw will square them up but I don't want to push a 14' 4x10 thru it!
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    WoodsShop

  5. #5
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    yes, that is exactly what I understood, but it’s more involved than you think. You must first create a reference face then square the edges to it. Otherwise your square will be reading off a twisted face.

    Ive squared a lot of timber by hand.
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  6. #6
    Brian and Jeff pretty much told the tale - If you want a quick solution, return the planer and buy some roller stands for your table saw.

  7. #7
    I'm not sure that a sled will help you if your timber is out of square, bowed, twisted. It will just telegraph whatever is happening on that part of the timber and not yield a truly flat or square result along the entire length of the timber.

    You need to physically layout what square "is" on your timber from one reference surface. Pick whichever 10" side is flattest and has the least amount of twist as you sight down its length from one end. Use a tight string line or ink line to see how un-flat your timber is. Use some winding sticks to see how twisted your timber is. Mark/layout accordingly and remove material, working towards flat and free of twist. This will start to become difficult with a ~4" planer the closer to flat you get as you'll have to make multiple (2-3) passes side by side just to try and remain reasonably flat and there will likely be plane tracks left behind that will need to be dealt with as you move through this process. It would be worth your time to try and obtain/borrow/rent/? a wide power planer (like a Makita KP312 - 12 1/4" wide "hand-held" power plane) for these 10" sides. It can easily handle those faces and save you tons of time and frustration. They are very popular in timber frame shops. That or as, Brian suggested, gain access to a jointer wide enough to handle this and with adequate infeed and outfeed support.

    Once you've established a flat and un-twisted reference surface, square around from that reference plane to determine how much and where you need to remove material on the other 3 faces.

    Marking accurately along the end grain and carefully using string/ink lines to mark along the length of the timber will help you visualize what needs to be removed. Work methodically and always from your original reference surface. If you work carefully and your material wasn't too squirrelly to begin with, you will hopefully have enough width and thickness left in the timber after squaring up all the way around. This sounds easy enough, but it really does take being methodical and check your work often, especially if you haven't done much of this before.

    Brian is correct in pointing out that it will be difficult to do this with a power planer alone, but it could be done if you were careful and took light cuts. This process takes some experience and patience to learn. Check your work often as you go, as it's easy to take too much material off if you start day dreaming and planing the same spots over and over again without intention. Don't ask me how I know this...

    Perhaps this should have been the first question: What is the intended use for these 4x10s? Will there be joinery happening?

    PS: I'm a professional timber framer and have done more of this than I care to at this point, so I'm not just talking of out my @$$
    Last edited by Phillip Mitchell; 05-05-2018 at 5:41 PM.

  8. #8
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    Depending on how many you have to do , what your finances are like, What your skill and knowledge level is, what kind of tolerance you are working too, if your faces are "Flat" enough for you, or if they need to be trued up first, and what level of woodworking crazy you are currently at etc..;
    You could make up a sled with your power planer, i don't think that it would be too difficult.
    Or a simple fence mounted to the side of the planer to reference 90 degrees.
    Or use a hand plane,
    Or my personal preference, A nice Fukami right angle jointer.

    SAM_2800.JPG

    Followed up by a Marunaka right angled supersurfacer for a guaranteed square and perfectly planed surface.

    RightAngleSupersurfacer5.jpg

  9. #9
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    I'd just clamp it to my sliding saw carriage and rip a reference edge, then proceed as usual. You can do similar with a regular saw, screw the timber to a straight board to run against the fence. The complicated factor will be inversely proportional to your cleverness.

  10. #10
    Joe I haven't done so but do believe it is possible. I have the same planer and it has a hole across the nose for the fence attachment. If you were to put a ground steel rod, drill rod for instance, through the hole sticking out the sides enough to ride the top of 2 rails sitting on either side of the timber. You would also need to make another to clamp the tail of the planer over the top to also ride the rails. Sort of like _______|---------|________ where the planer is in the dashed line area. The beam will need to be placed such that it doesn't move with the lowest point where the plane's rods will bottom out on the rails after planing the wood away. Basically it would be the same as using a router to flatten a slab. Once one side is done flip the beam and you can plane the second the same way. They will be parallel to each other but not to the wider sides but that is what you drew.

  11. #11
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    Once you have two adjacent faces flat and square you can run the board through a planner to get the two other edges parallel to the good faces. if all you have is a lunch box planer support the board and let the planner run free down the board.
    Bill D.

  12. #12
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    bandsaw mill?

    Quote Originally Posted by Joe Wood View Post
    I have some 4x10 timbers that are slightly out of square on their edges so I bought a 4 3/8” wide power planer, both to plane the edges smooth and hopefully square them up to the faces. Has anyone made a sled to run the power planer down the 3.5" wide edges, squaring them up? Or is there another technique I could use? I haven’t done this before so would appreciate any pointers or tips!
    Joe, I recently squared up a 16' long 6x6 beam that was twisted. I clamped it on my WoodMizer mill and made a skimming cut down one side for a flat reference, then flipped and rotated as needed to make the other three sides square with the first. I left this beam rough-sawn which was fine for my use, but it was perfectly square and straight all the way down. (As long as the mill rails are straight the cut edge will be straight all the way down the beam.) The whole thing took less than 15 minutes.

    In your case it seems like a simple matter to first clamp the beam standing on edge and square to the mill, skim the top edge, then perhaps flip it over and skim the bottom. Seems like that method could square the edges nicely then planing could be easier, even if by hand. Someone near you probably has a mill and could do this. Just an idea.

  13. #13
    Google hand plane usage or technique then plug in and have at it!

  14. #14
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    You guys are great! I was thinking along the lines of what Peter suggested, using the round fence hole somehow but I think what I'll end up doing today is using the fence that comes with the tool but bolting a 1/2" thick x 3" tall auxiliary fence to the narrow fence part so that it references off the side of the beam better.

    thanks for the real good advice folks :-)
    WoodsShop

  15. #15
    Given two flat, parallel faces you could square half the edge with a 2" cutting length router bit guided by a straightedge and finish up with a 2" flush trim bit from the opposite face. (Carefully, given the bit length.)

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