correct way to size your proper wood.

[engineer one]

ok so having started to re-use my mafell ad160 p/t i wondered whether there is a correct way to size your wood for a project.

in the past i have just flattened the whole plank and then cut it to size for the particular project, but obviously if the plank is longer than the infeed table, getting rid of the bow is quite complex.

so the question is how do the experts out there size the real wood for a particular job?

do you plane first and then cut,
or do you size on the saw, and then plane to thickness??

also i have noticed that scrit says do not put a hold down on the infeed side, but on the out feed, can he or someone else explain why??

rather like hand planing, machine planing is not easily taught these days, so we have to ask, and hope that someone skilled will guide us through the best route.

paul :wink:

 

[MikeW]

Love the word "correct," Paul :lol:

I almost always cross cut down planks into rough length according to what parts will be cut from it. But from there, I don't just do it a single way.

Some of the time I will leave those sections as is and rough thickness them, sometimes I will rip various parts out and then thickness, and somtimes I rough dimension all the various parts individually and then rough thickness them.

Much of the reason I don't just do it a single way has to do with yield--sometimes if I simply thickness a plank I cannot resaw multiple parts out of it as I have taken too much of the thickness. Other times I may take a 3" thick slab and cut a single piece which will end up a mere 1" thick, too, in order to catch a particular effect of the grain.

To a large degree it is the wood and design which dictates how I process the individual parts.

Don't you just hate answers which don't answer your question?

Take care, Mike

 

[JFC]

I would face and edge the timber to get rid of the bow and then thickness to size . This way your starting your job with a straight bit of wood .

 

[Philly]

Paul
As you have found out, there is skill needed in using machine tools. Just buying them isn't enough :lol:
I find the surface planer to be a tricky one to use succesfully. You definitely need to practise with it as, like hand planing, you can mess up your straight surface by applying pressure in the wrong place at the wrong time. Practise definitely makes perfect!
So-which order?
Rough crosscut to length. This allows you to get maximum thickness from your stock.
Then I plane a face flat. That allows me to square one edge.
To the table saw to rip to width (leaving a little extra to allow planing to final dimension)
To the thicknesser to bring to (you guessed it!) thickness.
I then give the stock some time to acclimatise and settle. You normally need to gently tweak the boards back to flat and square.
Stock prep over and onto the fun bit-joinery! :lol:
Incidently-this approach works well with hand tools instead of machines.
Hope this has been of use,
Philly

 

[Anonymous]

If its a bowed board I'd put it into the machine bow upmost, it might take 2 or 3 passes to get a flat side.
Scrits advice is good because the outfeed table is the flat surface that "transfers" to your board. So the machined part of the board must be in flat contact with it at all times, dosnt matter about the infeed side as that is being cut away. If you start the pass, then let it rock back onto the infeed it'll still be bowed, a good reason to put it through bow uppermost. Once you have a good face side, mark it, then obtain face edge, then it'll go through the thicknesser to complete preperation

 

[Scrit]

In general I run the crosscut saw, rip saw then face and edge plane route before I thickness. BTW, Paul, that face doesn't need to be completely flat and palned end to end, there just need to be enough flat points on it to ensure that it will edge joint and thickness properly. If the board is flat across the width rip sawing it won't be necessary, so a bit of judgement is called for.

As Mr. Spanton points out bow uppermost - try it the other way round and you won't have the stability you need top get a flat surface. Hopefully this illustrates the point:

As to the down pressure position, if you apply pressure on the infeed table to a bowed piece it will simply spring back after you've planed it giving a thinner banana shaped board (this illustration was done to show the effect of a power feeder on the infeed side):

To the thicknesser to bring to (you guessed it!) thickness.
I then give the stock some time to acclimatise and settle. You normally need to gently tweak the boards back to flat and square.

Here's where there's another "tweak" - I only take the minimum I can off a board on the planer, just enough to give it a flat surface in the thicknesser. Then when I thickness I get a second side almost flat and then flip over the board each time it goes ough to try and equalise the amoint faced off each side. By doing that acclimitisation is a lot quicker as the amount from each face of the board is roughly the same.

Scrit

 

[Anonymous]

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[mr]

I appear to be doing the "right" way from looking at everyone elses posts.
Cut to rough length
Get one side flat
get one edge square to that side
Almost to thickness down the other side
Get that side flat
GLue up if its a panel
then final flatten
Cut to final dimension
Smooth.

 

[mailee]

I too plane and thickness my wood using this the 'correct' method. But what do you guys do about wood that is shaped like a propeller? I have had this problem a few times with cheap B&Q wood and end up having to cut it to shorter lenghts and use it for something else after planing. Oh it wasn't twisted when I bought it of course. :?

 

[engineer one]

mailee i guess if the wood is that bent, youcan do an IKEA and stick
shorter lengths together :lol:

as for the rest, it seems that every body who actually gets paid to work with the wood does it the same way, but why do the mags rarely offer this advice??

i guess the only other question is if you are lucky enough to think like krenov, and see a particular piece of the boards as the emphasis of your cabinet, what do you do with the rest??????????? :twisted: :roll:

paul :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

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[wrightclan]

...but why do the mags rarely offer this advice??...


paul :wink:

Actually, I've seen the process described in about half a dozen magazines just in the past year. (probably mostly American mags, but can't remember for sure.) Only one difference from most of the advice here, is that I think they all recommend thicknessing before edge jointing (edge planing). I've done it both ways. Both are successful. Sort of depends on what width of stock I'm starting with. Won't go into all the details, its just personal preference.

Important bit is to start with a flat(tish) face from which you can get a parallel flat face (thicknessing) and 2 square parallel (most of the time) edges (edge planing/jointing)..

BTW you can succesfully plane a board much longer than the infeed table. The important bit is to remember to use the pressure on the outfeed table properly and do not flatten it on the infeed table.

Brad

 

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

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[engineer one]

worryingly jacob there are times when you actually begin to grow on people, that is the best and yet funniest comment i have heard in years. :lol:

i guess the answer is to provide the wood that in context is the most suitable for the job in hand. a painted cupboard does not need the most figured wood to be suitable etc.

mind you that predicates that you actually keep stocks of wood for the "walk in" jobs, rather than have to buy the wood for the job.

what your comment should remind everybody is that the lauded older pieces saved the good bits for the top and drawer fronts, with the sides getting the less good, and the drawer sides and bottoms and the rear getting whatever they could get away with. also the predominance of veneers in much older furniture, and the comments about the "cr*p" wood used on so much foreign painted furniture.

reminds me of the woman who bought an oak kitchen, then after installation wanted the maker to paint it. she wanted to show she could afford to ruin good oak :roll: :?

anyway thanks again jacob for the viewpoint.

paul :wink:

 

[Alf]

I too plane and thickness my wood using this the 'correct' method. But what do you guys do about wood that is shaped like a propeller?

Ah, you must have missed this one...

 

[mailee]

Ha ha! Thanks ALF I hadn't seen that one, worth a thought might take a trip to the local airport. :lol:

 

[engineer one]

jacob, with your idea about holding the wood to cut each end of a bowed board.

i have been thinking, and wondering is it worth drawing a line along the board where you want to plane too, to give you a better idea of the horizontal as you start to plane???

part of what i was thinking is that on some boards, the figure is not quite straight to the board edge, so it might be better to shift the line off horizontal, and then plane to that line.

do you have any ideas about this???
paul :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

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[engineer one]

looking at the rest of the job later this week, i thought i'd better ask the other dumb question.

what room do you allow at the end of a stopped tenon?
assuming you are only going to glue, not peg it, how much squeeze out room should you allow??? :roll:

paul :wink: