Don't run a board thru your planer 90 degrees to grain!

[Randall J Cox]

So I had a minor little project that the redwood boards were a little to thick. They were to short to run thru the planer safely but were long enough (15") to run thru 90 degrees to the grain. As I had not done this before thought I'd give it a try as they were not critical boards. Worked fine for about 4 passes, then lots of splinters left on the board. Knew the dust collection was clogged. Turned it off and sure enough, lots of long grain "splinters" clogged within the first 6" of the dust collection hose (5"). Cleaned that out and turned on DC again, not pulling like it was. Has to be clogged somewhere else too. Now I get to start taking it apart to find the clog. Guess i'll never do this again. Admitting my stupidity to stop anybody else from trying a bonehead move like this. The boards actually planed ok, but it was certainly not worth the trouble this is going to be!!!

[Cassius Nielsen]

I've clogged my 1hp DC jointing pine in the same way as you I think. Bunch of long shavings all bunched up at the intake. It is a small DC but it works well for me moving it from one machine to another. I ended up sawing off one of the crosses at the intake of the machine. Now it is one horizontal bar that keeps you from putting your hand into the machine instead of a cross. Much less prone to getting clogged up. It is infuriating when something like DC goes down but I do not think you did anything wrong. I could either joint slower or remove a safety feature of the DC. I decided that the chances of me putting my hand into the running fan were slim to none so I went the route of removing a safety feature for better flow of long thin wood shavings.

[Frank Pratt]

There is also the danger of busting off the trailing edge of a board & having it bang around inside damaging other parts or kicking it back out the planer. Same danger as running end grain through the planer. It can be done, but there are risks.

[John TenEyck]

Next time you need to plane something that's too short glue a narrow boards the same thickness as your workpiece x whatever length is needed to bridge between the hold down rollers to the edges of your board. Superglue sets very quickly so you don't even have to wait for glue to dry.

John

[Richard Coers]

You also ran a good chance of damaging the planer. A chuck of wood rattling around in there can break the chip breaker of dust shroud. Not to mention spitting a chunk of wood into your gut. Use your head before your hands!!!!!!

[Scott Clausen]

I think at that size I would put the board in a planning stop and switch to a hand plane.

[Brian Tymchak]

A couple of times I've 2-sided taped a bunch of shorts head to tail on a planer sled with a lead and tail waste block. Take light passes.

[johnny means]

Nothing wrong with what you did. You just need to be aware of what happens when you do it.

[Randall J Cox]

I have learned my lesson. I posted this in case someone else might have decided to do this..... Randy