Electric hand planer

[jonluv]

Hi,
I have recently found a supply of good fir and pine 8 inch wide and 11/4 thick ,it is reclaimed and a bit rough.
I have been sanding using a belt sander to give me a workable finish for scroll sawing and wondered if I would be better off using an electric planer. I have no experience of these at all so would like some advice

Thanks
John

 

[carlb40]

I would say carry on as you are. You will need to sand/scrape the surface anyway before planing. Otherwise you could have unseen grit etc which will soon dull the blades.

 

[AndyT]

I think it depends on how well set up you are for controlling the dust from your sander. If you have proper extraction and it's working OK, carry on, but a basic hand held planer can be good for taming reclaimed wood. I used one on some old floorboards to make a light weight picket fence and it was fine for that, with the exhaust port connected to my workshop vac. Not a fine finished surface though, even if you mostly manage to take a deepish cut below any grit - you'll get a nick in the blades soon enough. I would not want to use one without extraction, at least not indoors.

 

[jonluv]

Thanks for that-- I stick with Sander and use it outside , will try and make a cyclone dust collector this afternoon

John

 

[Stu_2]

Can you post up some pics of the cyclone, when done, please. Thinking of doing this myself.

Cheers

 

[jonluv]

Just finished it --- waiting for silicone to dry will photo it tomorrow and let you know how (if) it works
Total cost 99p (for silicone)

John

 

[jonluv]

Here it is --- bit of a Heath Robinson contraption but it works great very little dust going through to vac

Very pleased with it

John