Dummy questions about thicknessers

[Fromey]

I've spent another weekend in the shed doing nothing much more that simply preparing stock. I have quite a small shed that is stuffed full. No room to swing a cat, literally. That means I have to be hand tools only. I've largely cracked the issue of ripping (I've given up on my Lynx rip saw and found a ryoba rip saw works like a hot knife through butter in comparison. In fact, I discovered a common garden Bahco cross cut saw works ten time better than the Lynx at ripping).

Invariably, if I rip a 1" thick plank into two, there is a lot of cupping that results from the change in tension (perhaps I shouldn't be ripping a board down the middle and trying to get two out of one; see below). So planing such a board down to 4 square by hand is a time consuming process. I've found I spend as much time simply preparing my stock as I do constructing anything. My local timber merchant is too expensive for thicknessing and not very convenient in any case.

Thus, I'm seriously considering buying a thicknesser;

http://www.axminster.co.uk/jet-jet-jwp- ... rod365273/

I think I could just about accommodate this suitcase sized planer in my shed.

Problem is, I know nothing about thicknessers. Would I be correct in thinking that if I passed a cupped board through a thicknesser, all it's likely to do is flatten it under pressure and then it will spring back to the same, slightly thinner, cupped board?

Is, in fact, the proper way to do things to throw 0.5" of wood away by scrub and jack planning the excess off in equal measures from both sides a 1" board?

Any advice much appreciated as I'm beginning to lose hope.

 

[Graham Orm]

I've got this one, fantastic tool. http://www.lawson-his.co.uk/dewalt-...oogle&utm_medium=ncpc&utm_campaign=comparison Very similar spec.

Be prepared for knee deep shavings! Keep a tin of aerosol furniture polish handy to keep the bed/table shiny, it keeps the wood sliding. Mine sticks if I don't use the polish every now and again.

 

[marcros]

Keep a tin of aerosol furniture polish handy to keep the bed/table shiny, it keeps the wood sliding. Mine sticks if I don't use the polish every now and again.

i would advise keeping anything with silicone out of the workshop. better to get some machine wax, or silicone free polish for this purpose.

 

[Graham Orm]

Keep a tin of aerosol furniture polish handy to keep the bed/table shiny, it keeps the wood sliding. Mine sticks if I don't use the polish every now and again.

i would advise keeping anything with silicone out of the workshop. better to get some machine wax, or silicone free polish for this purpose.

Fair comment.

 

[marcros]

i have the older axi version of that machine linked to by grayorm, and agree with the "fantastic machine" comment.

 

[carlb40]

Yes you are correct, if you thickness a cupped/warped/bowed board. You end up with a thinner cupped/warped/bowed board.

You can use thicknesser's to joint a board by making a sled. Then hot glueing wedges to support the board where needed. Sending it through the thicknesser and when flat, remove from the sled and send it through as normal.

Or you could do the same with hand planes and get one surface flat and true, then use the thicknesser.

This could be an option aswell? With the added pleasure of 2 speeds.
http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-ax ... rod801596/

I have a tin of this i bought with my axi jointer about 8yrs ago. A little goes a long way

http://www.axminster.co.uk/liberon-libe ... prod22593/

 

[eribaMotters]

Fromey,
the only way to avoid cupped material if you wish to avoid many hours of hand planing is going to be a planer thicknesser. I appreciate your lack of space and how compact the Axi thicknessers are, but how about a compact planer thicknesser with a very similar footprint. My first planer thicknesser was such a machine, an Elu 1901 with a 8 x 5 capacity. It is a long time since it was made but it would be worth trying to find a 2nd hand unit.

Colin

 

[RogerS]

Wood is wood is wood. If it wants to move, it is going to. No amount of thicknessing is going to stop that.

If you do rip down a piece of timber and it starts to bow, take a little off the centre of the convex side...say about 1/4 of the overall length. Leave it overnight. If you are lucky in the morning, a lot of the bow will have gone.

Failing that and where a thicknesser does come into it's own is, as you suggested, get one side flat then use the thicknesser on alternate sides to get down to the thickness you need....'wasting' 50% of the wood maybe in the process but at least it should stay flat.

 

[Jacob]

Whenever I see the expression 'preparing stock' I wonder if someone is making the big mistake of preparing their own PAR prior to starting a project. It happens a lot.
So if that's what you are doing Fromey I'd stop it immediately!
You should start with your design, cutting list, cut to to length, rip to width, a component at a time, with allowance for planing, and only then start planing up your sawn stuff - rails, stiles, legs etc. individually.
Timber yards 'prepare stock' i.e. turn sawn stuff into PAR stock, but small workshops don't, hand or machine, in fact it can verge on the impossible if you are trying to do it by hand.

 

[Noggsy]

PAR means what Jacob?

 

[Jacob]

PAR means what Jacob?

Planed All Round i.e. planed on all four sides.

 

[Jacob]

.......
Is, in fact, the proper way to do things to throw 0.5" of wood away by scrub and jack planning the excess off in equal measures from both sides a 1" board?........

No it isn't. You don't need a scrub at all unless you have some very severe bumps to take off. The scrub plane was almost unknown until recently re-introduced by LN and it's become a bit of a fashion item.
How you proceed is;
Start with cutting list for the thing you are going to make.
Cut longest lengths and/or biggest sections first from the smallest pieces available, cut for each component to length and rip to width. If too bowed set lengths aside for shorter components.
Plane best side flat and then one edge straight and square.
Mark up and reduce to thickness, then mark again and reduce to width.
Mark up again for your mortices, tenons, and everything.

 

[Fromey]

Thanks All for your comments.

Grayorm: Yes the DeWalt does look nice and is sure to be a better build than the Jet, but is appropriately more expensive. The tip on machine wax is noted.

eribaMotters: Yes, a planer/thicknesser would be better but they look like you can't fold up the table so the foot print would be larger. One of the advantages of the portable thicknessers is that they should be quite compact. Never the less, I'm now investigating the Charnwood bench top model, but it looks to be a bit too narrow (only 8" wide). Any opinion on which is the better brand; Charnwood, SIP or Woodstar (I certainly won't be looking at a Clarke).

RogerS: That's really helpful advice. I'll certainly be investigating this while I'm still hand too only.

Jacob: Yes, I understand the principle. I do cut down to near size, create a true face and then true edge and then laminate or thickness or what ever is needed. It's still a lot of work by hand so, dear I say it, a machine would be a God send. I also know scrub planes are relatively recent, but my ECE scrub works wonders at quickly reducing stock if it's too little to try sawing down to near size.

The learning curve continues.....

 

[Graham Orm]

What about a hand electric plane if it's just for scrubbing off excess, then get it trued up by hand after?

I had SIP table saw, lovely beast, couldn't find fault with it. Forced to sell to downsize last year.

 

[AndyT]

What about a hand electric plane if it's just for scrubbing off excess, then get it trued up by hand after?

I had SIP table saw, lovely beast, couldn't find fault with it. Forced to sell to downsize last year.

I don't have a powered planer or thicknesser but I do have an electric plane and that's the only thing I use it for, especially if recycling reclaimed timber. Connecting the workshop vacuum cleaner to the shavings outlet means that the room doesn't fill up with shavings and works reasonably well with an extra length of hose so it can loop round out of the way. Not the pleasantest stage in a job though, and definitely not a finishing tool.

 

[Graham Orm]

What about a hand electric plane if it's just for scrubbing off excess, then get it trued up by hand after?

I had SIP table saw, lovely beast, couldn't find fault with it. Forced to sell to downsize last year.

I don't have a powered planer or thicknesser but I do have an electric plane and that's the only thing I use it for, especially if recycling reclaimed timber. Connecting the workshop vacuum cleaner to the shavings outlet means that the room doesn't fill up with shavings and works reasonably well with an extra length of hose so it can loop round out of the way. Not the pleasantest stage in a job though, and definitely not a finishing tool.

I'd prepare for mountains of shavings from a thicknesser! #-o :wink:

 

[Fromey]

OK, following this path, can anyone recommend a good electric hand planer?

 

[Jacob]

OK, following this path, can anyone recommend a good electric hand planer?

They are all c\rap, suitable for rough work only.

 

[marcros]

often a decent second hand buy, because they have been bought, used to plane a couple of doors, and then sat in a garage for a few years

 

[AndyT]

For what it's worth, mine is just an ordinary Bosch diy grade that I bought about 25 years ago. I suspect that they are all much the same and use the same standard disposable cutters, though trade rated ones might be different. I see from the Axi site that the current equivalent of mine has a single cutter only - I've no idea if that's an improvement or not.
IIRC it cost about £50 - which is about the same as you would pay for an equivalent one from Screwfix or B&Q. Well, maybe not exactly equivalent - I've just been and checked and mine was made in Switzerland, not China!