Making super thin narrow poplar strips

[Tony Pisano]

I figured if anyone would know how to do this it would be you guys or gals. A woman in our weavers guild used to weave a "cloth" out of thin poplar strips.She would get orders from a two Shaker gentlemen who used it to make very small boxes and holders for sewing needles and supplies. They supplied her with the poplar strips. She gave me a small sample of the strips. It was a piece that measured about 3/4" wide and .020 thick, as in 20 thousandths of an inch thick. Thin strips 1/16" wide were cut from this, and left attached at the end. She seems to think that they ran it through something with rollers and probably razor blades that cut the strips. That part I can figure out. The thing I'm wondering about is cutting a .020" shaving from the edge of a 3/4" inch wide board.and having the strip remain fairly flat and consistent, and be around 24 inches long. Would it take some special kind of plane to not curl the strip? Thanks for any ideas.

[Simon MacGowen]

0.02" is 0.5mm, which I have cut thin strips that thick on the tablesaw.

To trim that to 1/16", sandwich a wider strip of 0.5mm thick between two ply or mdf and pass it over the saw. Clamp a hold-down to the fence to keep the stack from flapping if necessary.

Simon

[Wayne Cannon]

I couldn't find it in ten minutes searching on-line; but Michael Fortune taught a seminar at woodworking shows where he cut thin strips on a bandsaw and then scraped them to a smooth and uniform thickness using a jig to control the thickness. I'll keep looking.

[John Lanciani]

Sounds like unbacked veneer. Google brings up lots of options.

[Zach Dillinger]

A sharp, properly tuned single iron plane will eject a shaving that remains largely straight. It's one of the reasons I prefer them, the shavings just fly straight out of the mouth and back without curling up / jamming in the plane. This may not be the proper tool for the job but it might be a start if you can't find what you are looking for.

[Bill McDermott]

Basket-makers pound branches to separate the fibers then split the stock along the growth rings. Those splits could then be split even further until remarkably thin strips were produced. The stock was straight ash (green). If you google you can find "pounding ash for basket splints" and see how it is done.

[Jim Koepke]

If you use a plane on 3/4" stock, use a slitting gauge or a wheel type marking gauge before going over it with a plane. Then the plane will eject ribbons.

If they curl, it is likely they can be steamed straight if needed.

The tool the strips can be drawn through to size is likely similar to a tool used for inlay.

Here is the full page of inlay tools:

https://www.lie-nielsen.com/nodes/4180/tools-for-inlay

The thicknessing gauge may not be the only one to help with this project.

They can all be shop made.

jtk

[Steve Jenkins]

Commercially produced veneer is typically .020

[Tony Pisano]

Thanks for the suggestions. I had looked briefly into edgebanding but had only seen pre-glued or with a backing. After doing a broader search, I found some that is plain. As a test, I cut a thin strip of pine on the table saw, then clamped a few razor blades together to try cutting strips.The pine was thicker than the edgebanding would be but it worked fine. It would just be a matter of making a little fixture to mount the blades with a slot and possibly pressure plate for the edge band. Then I could just pull the strips through to cut them.

[Tom Bender]

This is going to get better with practice and development.

If you are having some success with Pine, try again with Poplar, it is a very different wood. I think it will work better.

This is a very grain oriented task. Try to cut your blank along the grain. Also try it flat sawn and rift sawn.

[Al Launier]

I think I would use a 24" guillotine paper cutter. A block of wood, or some other material, could be placed near the handle to control when to stop the cut. It should easily handle 0.020" thickness. Readily available on Amazon & might even find one on eBay or Craigslist.