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- From: pauld@mail.boi.hp.com (Paul Davis)
- Subject: Re: thickness planer minimum (thinness planer?)
- Sender: news@boi.hp.com (News Server Project)
- Message-ID: <C1F6BK.II6@boi.hp.com>
- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 17:09:19 GMT
- References: <gnc.362.727963591@ace.acadiau.ca>
- Organization: Hewlett-Packard / Boise, Idaho
- X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1.4 PL6]
- Lines: 34
-
- I've used my Ryobi AP-10 thickness planer to plane stock down to
- 1/16" many times. Straight-grained maple and birch work very well.
- I used to use a carrier board and a small piece of double-stick tape
- (not the whole length--that tape's expensive), but now I have my planer
- installed in a table, with 3/4" plywood running through the bed to
- extend its effective length to six feet, and I just run the stock right
- through by itself. I cut the stock to 1" by 24-36" by just over 1/16",
- then take sparing passes with the planer until the stock fits the slot
- I'm going to use it in.
-
- With this method there are frequent "explosions" (maybe 1 in 5 times) where
- the stock shatters when it's part way through, usually where the grain
- changes direction. These explosions are alarming, but so far nothing has
- shot out of the planer and the knives have shown no damage. Still, I
- don't like the experience, so I've been trying to get the same precision
- of thickness with the tablesaw, with fairly good results.
-
- I use a lot of these thin splines on my picture frames, and I've tried
- many methods to thickness them accurately, including handplaning,
- bandsawing, beltsanding, and passing them through a thickness sander that
- I cobbled up from a drum sander and a fence on the drill press (this
- method resulted in a few projectiles). The tablesaw is probably best,
- but, in order to get the precision I need, I have to set the fence to 1/16"
- and cut the splines between the fence and the blade, instead of off the
- other side of the stock, which is much safer. I made a big push block
- that sits on top of the stock and pushes both sides through the blade,
- instead of just the piece between the fence and the blade, but this
- operation requires removal of the guard and the splitter, and I try to
- avoid doing that whenever possible. I also clamp a sheet of masonite
- over the whole table top, then run the blade up through it. This gives me
- an instant tight-fitting throat around the blade, preventing the narrow
- spline from dropping through it the gap..
-
- Paul Davis
-