Fat to thin - Wood planing help!

[entozoon]

Hello all, relative beginner here looking for advice.

So, I've inherited a bunch o' softwood pieces and want to use them to make jewellery boxes and suchlike just for the fun of it.
Roughly they're 300mm square with a chunky 60-70mm thickness and of course I'm wanting more like 10-20mm to use as little panels for the boxes.

Is it feasible/sensible to achieve this with cheapish tools? I don't have a band saw or planer (just hand tools mostly) but would be willing to buy something under a hundo.

What do you all reckon? hopeless cause? Thanks in advance!

 

[Ttrees]

Hello
You need a rip saw if your budget is within a hundred
You should be able to get one for buttons
Here is about the most comprehensive info you will find on the subject

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-_MF2Mnxwc&t=45s
[youtube]=u-_MF2Mnxwc&t=45s[/youtube]
Good luck
Tom

 

[Tasky]

Is it feasible/sensible to achieve this with cheapish tools?

Yes and yes... Chuck it in the vice and re-saw it like you would on a bandsaw, but instead using a rip-cut handsaw.
It will require a bit of skill and a relatively notable amount of time, though. How straight can you hand saw something?

Alternatively, there may be a bandsaw-owning forum member close by, who could help with the resawing for some beer tokens... perhaps one of those Men's Shed groups, or a local Hackspace?

 

[entozoon]

Wonderful ideas, thanks guys! You're right, I should totally give hand sawing a go.. why not, eh?
Failing that hackspace or, I dunno, planing with a hand router perhaps

 

[El Barto]

You could get one of these and maybe watch a couple of YouTube videos on how to use it. They are brilliant: https://www.workshopheaven.com/gyokucho ... 240mm.html

Here's a bloke doing something similar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rzNsqA4Kfc

Whichever saw you choose, it'll be hard work and probably frustrating but it'll also be invaluable practice!

 

[Steliz]

I may be mistaken but some of those off cuts look like scaffolding planks and may have grit and metal bits on/under the surface which won'y be good for your tools.

 

[entozoon]

Yeah a lot of it is useless, except for firewood

 

[Jacob]

Do you have a bench? If not you really do need one. At the very least a solid table, probably braced against a wall for stiffness and OK for taking the odd nail. A workmate is not good enough but might help with the rip sawing if you haven't a proper vice.
Have a go with your offcuts - doesn't matter if they still end up as firewood it's all good practice!

 

[entozoon]

I've got a table, but good tip yeah I should bracket it up to a wall thanks

 

[sunnybob]

Youre going to have the upper body of He-Man if you hand saw all those :shock: :shock: . And thats BEFORE you try to hand plane them flat. #-o #-o #-o

If you have an interest in box making in general, I strongly recommend looking out for a bandsaw.

with a decent bandsaw you could get three slabs from a 60 mm chunk. Even an out of tune old bandsaw will get you two pieces with minimal effort.

 

[custard]

Trying to learn to work wood, using salvaged bits and pieces, is turning an interesting challenge into a sweaty, frustrating, pig of a job.

At the same time as learning the basics you'll be compensating for your lack of skill in dimensioning rough sawn timber, meaning you'll be struggling with wonky boards.

Timberline sells quality hardwood in the thinner scantlings required for box making, plus they'll deliver by post. Your chances of a successful outcome will be far greater if you source your timber this way.

http://www.exotichardwoods.co.uk/Woods_ ... xmaker.asp

I appreciate this isn't what you probably want to hear, but after many decades at this game that'd be my suggestion.

Good luck!

 

[deema]

With a decently sharpened 3 or 4 TPI rip saw that’s just a few pounds off an auction site ripping a 12” square block will be both relatively quick and not unfortunately create a He-Man physique
A no 4 and a no5 or 5 1/2 with a traditional convex sharpen will have them flat in no time. Both planes can be picked up for buttons at car boots. The No 5 won’t need any fettling just a sharpen of the blade.

 

[dzj]

Even if you had a lightsabre and managed to effortlessly rip all these off cuts in half, by the time you
weed out the cracks, knots, nails, cupping, twists etc, you be lucky if you had material for a single box.
If you're after some inexpensive stock, old discarded furniture is a better option.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Take notice of Custard ............... unless you enjoy peeing into the wind.

 

[deema]

I think there are two questions being answered, the first is a cheap solution for processing blanks and the second is the suitability of wood for the proposed project.

 

[John15]

Take notice of Custard ............... unless you enjoy peeing into the wind.

+ 1. Woodworking is a great hobby so set off on the right foot as Custard has advised.

John

 

[MikeG.]

With a decently sharpened 3 or 4 TPI rip saw that’s just a few pounds off an auction site ripping a 12” square block will be both relatively quick and not unfortunately create a He-Man physique
A no 4 and a no5 or 5 1/2 with a traditional convex sharpen will have them flat in no time. Both planes can be picked up for buttons at car boots. The No 5 won’t need any fettling just a sharpen of the blade.

These are scaffold boards we're talking about. All that work will simply produce thinner crap than the thick crap he started with. It isn't worth the effort.

 

[entozoon]

Again, I really appreciate all the suggestions. I've tried lots of the tips and must admit, the wood is turning out to be rather low quality - splitting down the middle, nails, knots, etc (not to mention the exhaustion) so I'm a little disappointed. Ends up being a lot of work to produce small 100mm sections.
Timberline might be a good shout. Looks like they have 1m lengths for £15+ which, isn't cheap (to me) but would finish real nice I'm sure.
Perhaps I'll practice with some discarded skirting boards or something before chiseling the heck out of anything of worth

 

[lurker]

Well you now know for sure that what folks were saying is good advice.
Old furniture can be a good source of decent wood.
Much to my wife's annoyance I have difficulty passing by a skip without a rummage