I have a pile of QSWO that I have been air drying for about five years. Maybe 700 BF. I was considering taking it somewhere that has a big powerful planer and having it planed. I have a lunchbox planer and I thought this pile of lumber is going to wear it completely out. Was attracted to saving the work as well. Called a friend looking for someone with such a planer.
He pointed out that I would lose the opportunity to do some proper stock prep. That the big planer would only plane it, not straighten or flatten it.
If you can find a place with a Strato-planer style machine, it might not be a bad idea to have it skip dressed to something over thickness of what you will use in the future. That style machine will take out twist and cup before it hits the thickness head. Then final dress it when you need it.
... is that you will probably not be using full length boards, and a planer that takes out twist and cup could take you below the thickness you'll need for parts.
If finish thickness isn't an issue, or cup and twist aren't too bad, you might be able to get away with full length/width stock prep. Otherwise, I'd still wait until you have rough parts cut before flattening and planing.
I have used a lot of twisted, bowed,curved etc. rough lumber without having much waste. It is pretty easy to select a 3 foot or less section and finish planing it to get full thickness beautiful lumber.
Most long boards will have some of the above defects, if you try to full length plane the board you will end up with undersized thickness. I always pick out the section I need and cut it a little long for trimming before I final plane!
For your small crowded shop, you should consider *LINK*
Keith Newton
getting one of these. Rather than trying to run large boards over a 6" stationary jointer, its much easier to run the tool over the work on a bench, or saw horses.
These planers make a beautiful cut, and you can change the depth of cut on the fly.
Its one of those tools that once you get it, you'll ask yourself how you ever got along so long without it.
Mine is a Makita but only 3 1/4" wide. I have had it over 30 years. When I was a builder I used it to straighten "wild" floor joists. I may give it a try to flatten some oak.
Actually, I use a number of methods. I cut them down to size to minimize the arcs. I hand plane, a little, have not learned to love my planes yet. I use my 6" jointer. I have used a sled in my planer. I have used a router sled. I have also used my RAS. I have also cut deep slots in the underside and used battens or attached it to a table frame.
Somehow I lost my mind for a minute. The first few boards I pulled out of this stack were nice and flat and I made the likely false assumption that all of them would be nice and flat too.
If I knew where a big heavy duty planer was I suppose I could pull some already flat stock and plane it, saving the crooked stuff to do myself.
I am considering shopping around for a Maker Space and see what they have for flattening equipment and a planer.
"I have used a lot of twisted, bowed,curved etc. rough lumber without having much waste. It is pretty easy to select a 3 foot or less section and finish planing it to get full thickness beautiful lumber.
Most long boards will have some of the above defects, if you try to full length plane the board you will end up with undersized thickness."
I learned this lesson soon after getting a wider jointer. By the time I got a long board flat, the ends were 3/8" thick :-o. Thank goodness it was poplar.
Probably get reamed a new one for this ..... you shouldn't have got a lunch box planer!
Maybe I was spoilt in my raising, but my Dad worked at a place that had a 36" planer & a 12" jointer. The little jointers and planers that I seen were not for a decent shop IMHO. I went in debt and got a Jet 12" Jointer/Planer, & I don't do debt! People say "well they're a couple grand" well so is any other decent stationary tool. What other tools in the shop do you need to be more serious than a jointer and a planer.
I really can't argue with your point. I bought the jointer (TS, Shaper, & DP) right after college, before wife and kids. One of the goals for those tools and planer was some portability. I expected to and did move often early on. I would like to have a 36" planer or access to one, but my Dad was a dairy farmer. Cows don't do well planing wood.
I have considered buying a bigger planer, but most of the Old Iron stuff has 3 phase motors and I don't have room. I considered adding on to my shop. It got to be like the guy that bought the Bass boat ...and trailer....and truck....and fishing gear. That first fish cost about $98,000 a pound.
Just don't try to do 500 bd ft in an afternoon. They put on a much better surface finish than any 36" planer I've worked with. You just need to know the limitations.
I bought the jointer first because I knew jointing came before planing and I'm not sure lunchbox planers existed in 1971. Belsaw made a smallish planer that was somewhat reasonable in price and size, but I ran out of bucks. The little Dewalt planer was a game changer in my shop. Allowed me to prep stock without driving over and spending the day with my friend and his planer. And you are right about the finish. Far superior to any big planer I ever used. I bought the version with knives I could sharpen myself and I have sharpened them several times.
I have a Performax 16/32 and like it, but talk about slow.....
I also recently got a Grizzly 5hp 24" dual drum sander. It's a beast and much faster and more powerful that the Performax. Unfortunately, I don't really have room for it and it's in a awkward location. thinking about putting my TS on a mobile base to allow me to move it a few inches to improve the usability of the big sander.
Barry, apparently you haven't used a planer with a carbide inserted Byrd style head!. I started with a Dewalt lunchbox planer, it did a fairly good job (other than the snipe that seemed unavoidable) if you were very careful about the direction you fed the stock.
My son purchased a 20" stationary planer for my retirement equipped with a Byrd head. The finish is far superior to the portable planer. I don't even worry about which direction I feed the stock. I can't remember ever getting ANY tear-out. I get zero snipe unless I am very careless when feeding long stock (over 6 foot). I can remove stock more than twice as far as the lunchbox with no problem.
I had already replaced my old 6" straight blade Grizzly joiner with an 8" Griz segmented spiral head and had the same type results. After joining / planing I lightly orbital sand with 100 grit and it removes all the light marks left!
With the old equipment I had to do far more sanding.
You can purchase a 15" spiral cutterhead planer for under $2k or a 20" for just under $2500. Both are single phase 220V
By the way if you really want to purchase an old iron 3 phase unit, it is less problem and expense to install a phase convertor than change the motor!
Larry, I have read about your planer here. A wonderful gift from your son. Yesterday I was poking around on the Jet and Grizzly sites and discovered what you said was true.
I converted my 6" long bed Delta/Rockwell jointer to a spiral cutter head about a year ago and am very impressed. I can joint end grain sections of cutting boards.
Exactly what planer do you have and do you have any specific recommendations?
I have access to a Powermatic 8" jointer and 22" planer. Both have helical heads and carbide inserts. They are great.
But my Rigid 13" planer leaves a glassy smooth surface on non-gnarly grain because the universal motor runs at much higher RPM, increasing the cuts per inch.
Doesn't solve every problem, but leaves a nice finish.
Barry, my machine is an import, purchased from Wilke machinery. It is a 5 hp, 240V single phase machine. The motor did die, but Wilke sent a new motor at no cost. They quit importing off brand planers a few years after I got mine. They did (do?) still carry parts for my machine. I believe it is branded Shop Craft or something of the sort.
I think most of the planers sold under the old good names like Powermatic, Delta etc. are imported and are built in the same Asian factories, and are the same basic machines, however there may be different specs on things like the feed tables, motors, paint etc.
Personally I have had darn good service from the Grizzly machines I have owned. They have been importing machines longer than the others, have better part availability and have been excellent in solving the few small problems I have encountered. I think there quality control at the factories is better than Delta and similar machines and are sold at a lower price.
If I were purchasing a new planer I would have no hesitation in buying a Grizzly, although there is a slightly different configuration of the inserts in the spiral heads of my Griz joiner and my planer Byrd head, I can see little, if any difference in the finish obtained. I know Grizzly does now sell the Byrd heads and used to sell the machines with either their head or the Byrd (at an additional cost). Doubt if I would pay any extra for the Byrd Shelix head.
Many years ago I had a 6" joiner from Grizzly. I replaced it with a 8" with the inserted head. I also have their 3 Hp. cyclone dust collector. I have been quite happy with both.
