Planing loooong boards?

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Grumple
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Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia

Planing loooong boards?

Post by Grumple »

So I've finally almost wrapped up house projects for the year, and got a chance this weekend to start real work on the canoe project! I figure my first step is making my strips, and the first part of that process is planing my rough boards.

I'd like to work with full length strips vs scarfing, and I have boards 18-20' long.

After a morning of setting up the bench planer in the yard (garage not long enough) with a approx full length out feed (16') and and half length (8') infeed table, I did a test run. The result was 'ok', but not good enough yet.

My board came out of the planer planed at a slight angle (ie one side of the planed face was clean, with some 'still rough' along the other side of the board face'. I stopped to investigate, and realized that my infeed (maybe outfeed as well?) had fallen slightly out of alignment horizontally with the planer, and were being fed with a slight twist. I had to stop due to incoming weather, and wanted to rethink my setup anyway.

So...I realize the simple solution is just to 'line things up better', but was wondering if anyone has good tips/tricks for processing long boards on uneven/soft ground? I did buy some cheap mastercraft support stands for the infeed/outfeed that feature adjustable height, so that helps, but the soft ground tends to allow them to shift/tilt under the weight of the feed tables.

I'm thinking next time I will cut a little (ie 2'x2') plywood pad for each support stand, and level those on pads of dirt before even attempting the rest, but the yard is also on a slight slope so getting everything level and at exact height of the planer bed is proving more complicated than I expected! :thinking

I figure it is worth the effort to get this right, as I need the same setup for cutting/routing the strips, and I intend to keep building canoes in the future.

Any suggestions/anecdotes appreciated!
Rick in Pender Harbour
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Re: Planing loooong boards?

Post by Rick in Pender Harbour »

Are you sure that the boards are not thicker on one side? What you describe sounds more like wedge shaped or cupped boards to me.
rgds

Rick
oysterbayboats.ca
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Grumple
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Re: Planing loooong boards?

Post by Grumple »

I wondered that as well....it is possible, but when I looked at the board as it lay across the infeed/planer bed, I did notice one side of the board seemed to be slightly raised off the bed while the other sat flat.

The board didn't seem to be twisted like this when just sitting on the garage floor, so I checked my infeed table and it was definitely slightly tilted sideways. To be fair, the sky had suddenly darkened a lot and I didn't have nearly as much time as I'd have liked to properly investigate. I will check the thickness of each side of the board again to see if the side that is still rough is, in fact thicker than the planed side...

I'd like to try again this weekend with more time and better quality control, hence asking for general advice on how to improve my results.
sedges
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check out your planer

Post by sedges »

check to make sure your planer carriage is not hanging up somehow when you crank it up or down. If the feed roller is not parallel with the platen the situation you describe could result.

Also, your infeed table, at 8 feet, is too short. If the board is hanging over the end and bowing it can produce all sorts of twisting forces at the other end.

You can clamp a scrap to table legs to adjust alignment. It is easy to adjust if there are two people, one holding the table level while the other adjusts the leg. If you are working alone it takes at bit more tweeking to get it right.
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Grumple
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Re: Planing loooong boards?

Post by Grumple »

Ok thanks for the tips, Sedges.

I thought an 8' infeed would be sufficient, as I set it back about 6 feet from the planer, with the idea that I would be standing there to support that last 6' of board myself as it came off the infeed table. I take it this is a bit of a no-no?
sedges
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Re: Planing loooong boards?

Post by sedges »

No I think that is fine for the infeed as long as you don't let the end of the board drop as it leaves the table.

Need to look at your board edge to edge thickness as stated above and also check out the alignment of your planer.
pwstndrf
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Re: Planing loooong boards?

Post by pwstndrf »

I have added a 6' Shelf to the base of my planner. It is a white melanime (sp.) shelf bracket (3/4 x 12' wide x 6' long) I purchased at Menards (all the big box stores sell them). Raise the planner head and slide the shelf through the head and secure it to the in feed and out feed tables. I used self drilling screws on the edges in counter bored holes. You can shim it with paper, thin cardboard to make it parallel to the cutters if necessary, I didn't need to.
There are two benefits to doing this. It helps support the strips and all but eliminates skype at beginning of the strip as you feed it into the planner.
:wink
phil w.
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Grumple
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Re: Planing loooong boards?

Post by Grumple »

Ok, thanks for the suggestions, guys. pwstndrf I like your idea of installing what amounts to a longer feed table on the planer....I might just do the same.

Cheers!
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Grumple
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Re: Planing loooong boards?

Post by Grumple »

Just a quick update in case anyone was curious, but I made a second attempt at this today.

The results were much better! I think part of it was just that a few boards were a bit wedge shaped as Rick suggested, making my test run result look worse than it was.

Another big factor was moving the entire setup so that the outfeed setup was in my garage, with the infeed in the driveway. The convenience of having the outfeed/planer together on the firm/level slab more than made up for the annoyance of setting up the infeed on a sloping driveway. =P
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Grumple
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Re: Planing loooong boards?

Post by Grumple »

One more planer update....maybe I can save someone similar headache in the future:

I tried a test setup yesterday planing strips to 1/4". My (Mastercraft) planer says it will go down to 3/16" so should be no problem! As it turns out, it hung up on itself at 5/16" and wouldn't lower farther.

After a long while of squinting and peaking and testing, I found that bolt heads were contacting each other from the upper/lower section of the planer. I ended up having to grind 1/8" off a few of the heads in the planer bed, but now it does lower to the 3/16" specified in the manual..

I could probably have just add some false bed to the planer to raise material up, but that seems like it could lead to other issues (accuracy, etc). I guess this kind of thing should be expect from the lower end of the tool price range. ;)
KenC
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Re: Planing loooong boards?

Post by KenC »

I could probably have just add some false bed to the planer to raise material up, but that seems like it could lead to other issues (accuracy, etc). I guess this kind of thing should be expect from the lower end of the tool price range. ;)
That's true ... but even with my mid-priced planer (Ridgid) I only use the built-in thickness indicator to get close, and then if it has to be precise I switch to using calipers (however, most of what I do doesn't require a high degree of precision).

I've used the melamine shelf trick (false bed) to get down to 1/16" veneers. I wouldn't want to go much thinner than that, though.
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