Beginners question - squaring sawn timber

[Rich C]

Why have all you chaps gone off about hand tools ? The OP has asked about planers and thicknessers ...being the sort of sensible chap like me :wink:

Garyk...look at this for example...

https://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-c ... ser-105115

because he asked 'how do you guys do it' I do it with handtools, so do others on here. £850 vs £75-£100 for a vintage no7 plane :roll:

o
I also use hand tools, mostly my no. 5 plane. £30 off ebay and it can square a board just fine. Not to mention it doesn't require a few hundred quid (minimum) of dust extraction.

 

[dzj]

If I worked in a 3x5 shop, I'd opt for a combination of hand planes and a lunchbox type thicknesser.
Use a hand plane to get one side flat enough to run through the thicknesser, then do the rest with hand tools.
You can, of course, do everything by hand and it is a good skill to know, but if you have a lot of board feet to go through, it's pretty hard work.

 

[Geoff_S]

I use something similar to this:

https://www.dm-tools.co.uk/product.php/ ... ZDz1S2ZMUE

Many other brands and suppliers are available.

So. I get my length of wood and pass it through the machine planing one side until it is level. Might be one pass, might be a few. Then I turn it over and do the same for the opposite face. Then turn it 90 degrees and plane again then turn to plane the opposite face.

Works for me.

 

[MikeG.]

I don't want to be too contrary, Geoff, but that produces parallel faces without necessarily producing any flat faces. A thicknesser won't take out wind, for instance. You need a flat face on the bed before you can be sure that the top face will be flat, and to achieve that initial flat face you only have the choice of hand planing or using a planer with a reasonably long bed.

 

[Woody2Shoes]

Hello

Im new to woodworking and the forum. I'm sure this will have been asked numerous times, but i can't find any other threads on it.

How do the more experienced users plane and square timber? The internet keeps telling me to use a surface planer and a thicknesser. But i can't find any suitable surface planers. Are their alternatives? Am i looking in the wrong place?

Thanks in advance

Hi, I'm interested to know why you "...can't find any suitable surface planers...".

I think you need to be clearer on what your needs are (and therefore to clarify what "suitable" means for you). For example, by giving more thought to:

- Number and size of pieces (are you planning on making doors/windows/furniture/boxes?);
- Type of wood (clear-grained stuff like pine or tulip poplar, hardwood like maple/oak, wild-grained stuff like elm);
- What trade-offs are you willing/able to make between muscle power (all is possible by hand- it's how the old boys did it) and machinery (money/space/time/effort)?

I use one of these, which is a pretty generic design (similar ones can be had from Record Power etc. etc.): https://www.angliatoolcentre.co.uk/meta ... d1076.html It's on wheels, which is very handy.

If I've got long timbers to work on, I wait for a dry day and work outside - using roller stands like this: https://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-f ... s-ax825905

or one of these (or one of its longer/shorter sisters): https://www.workshopheaven.com/quangshe ... plane.html

Whether working by hand or by machine, I follow broadly the same process:
a) Plane one face flat (and use this subsequently as the 'reference' face) - this may require shims underneath to support a cupped/twisted board and stop it flexing while being planed;
b) Plane one edge square to that reference face (and use this subsequently as my 'reference' edge (on a machine this is done using the flat reference face held against the fence);
c) Plane the reverse face flat and parallel to the reference face (by referencing off the 'reference' face);
d) Plane the reverse edge flat and parallel to the reference edge (by referencing off the 'reference' edge)
There are loads of YT videos (many of which show scary lack regard to machine safety) showing how to do it - don't forget that US folk refer to a 'planer' as a 'jointer'.

Cheers, W2S

PS
Peter Parfitt doing it with a machine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh-jo11lsMs
Paul Sellers doing it by hand: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl5Srx-Ru_U

 

[ED65]

A thicknesser won't take out wind, for instance. You need a flat face on the bed before you can be sure that the top face will be flat, and to achieve that initial flat face you only have the choice of hand planing or using a planer with a reasonably long bed.

You can remove wind with a planer sled and shims surely?

 

[MikeG.]

A thicknesser won't take out wind, for instance. You need a flat face on the bed before you can be sure that the top face will be flat, and to achieve that initial flat face you only have the choice of hand planing or using a planer with a reasonably long bed.

You can remove wind with a planer sled and shims surely?

On a planer, yes. But That'd be a real task on a "lunchbox" thicknesser, and besides, it isn't what was described.

 

[johnnyb]

a good planer/ thicknesser is a real joy to use. producing four square timber in a short time. doing every other process by hand would not be a stupid thing to suggest. its that important.
planing and thicknessing by hand is a really daft suggestion.

 

[Droogs]

This thread is almost as visceral as a sharpening thread. To the OP, welcome to the forum. You are obviously watching a fair few vids online and by the sound of it feeling a little intimidated by it all.
Firstly take a step back and think about the kind of things you want to make. Do you feel you want to put the time in to learn how to make them by hand, if yes then hand tools are the way to go and you will spend at least a few hundred hours learning (technieques and tool care/use regarding) how to create the most basic (but most important) aspect of all woodworking : 2 flat and level surfaces at 90 degrees to each other.
If you want to do it a little faster then using machine tools are the way to go, you've just built a new garage, will it be used just for your hobby or other stuff? This will dictate what you can have in it. The most versatile tool would probably be agreed to be the router, you can make anything with it using the appropriate jig/bit. This includes making timber square and flat. you could use a planer or a combination machine planer/thicknesser. they come in all sizes and it is the thing you plan to make that dictates the size you ultimately need. Just remember you can open the door to the garage and move the planer to a spot to give you the space and even put up a gazebo type thing if raining.
The most important point to take from any advice given here is one that most of us deep down probably wished we had either heeded or known at the start and understood it to be true: Buy cheap, buy twice. You really do have no option but to buy the best you can afford even if it means you have to wait a little while to get it. Seriously believe us it's true

You have the option of (until you know what you want tobe mainly making) of buying your wood already dimensioned - it is more expensive - but would get you bashing wood much more quickly. Or see if there is a local joiners who is willing to size rough stock for you until you know what you are doing.

hth

 

[MikeG.]

Well said Droogs. However, I take issue with "buy cheap buy twice", because there are plenty of really high quality second hand tools which are still relatively cheap.........both machinery and hand tools. I've never bought an expensive tool in my life.

 

[Droogs]

I get your drift Mike, I used cheap deliberately rather than inexpensive or bargain to try to emphasize the fact that the OP should be looking to get the best quality tools he can

 

[MikeG.]

I think that using a price-description is misleading. If you said "avoid poor quality tools", I'd agree with you 100%.