Getting a bit of wood machined

[Hitch]

Bit of advice please...
I have a bit of Mahogony, which I could do with thicknessing, I can saw to a rough width, planing the edges by hand isn't a problem, but i don't fancy taking 20mm off the thickness by hand. Perhaps even bandsaw first to remove the majority?

The chunk I have is about 40mm thick sawn, but I could do with it about 20mm, only concern is the length, its only about 600mm long.
Is that going to be too short to run though a thicknesser?

I can drop it into a local joinery shop, but dont want to seem like a fool, if you see where i'm coming from. (homer)
Or if there is anyone in South Somerset/North Dorset that could do it for me :wink: (Not looking for a freebie here, happy to pay)

 

[adidat]

I think the minimum for a P/T will be about 450 mm but a four sided moulder will be longer, do you live near wellington?

Adidat

 

[Fiddler]

I used a router in a home made jig for thicknessing timber for a guitar body. There's a pic of my jig in this thread:

router-thickness-jig-t58612.html

 

[Hitch]

Wellington is a bit of trek from here, i'm near Wincanton.

Thanks for the idea Fiddler, might be the way forward if its too short for a thicknesser.

 

[bodge]

I used a router in a home made jig for thicknessing timber for a guitar body. There's a pic of my jig in this thread:

router-thickness-jig-t58612.html

That is bloody genius! So simple yet brilliant. I may have to steal that idea and give it a go.

Apologies for threadjacking Hitch!
PS> Are you the same Hitch who hangs out on the Mig Welding forum?

 

[Hitch]

Yes yes, that is I.

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

600mm is more then enough for a thicknesser. I have put only 10" though mine before but used a push stick.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

If the board is not too wide to go through a bandsaw, re-sawing might give you two thinner boards for the price of one thick one. Seems a shame to pay for 40mm timber and then turn half of it into shavings.

(I should point out that I'm commenting from a position of supreme ignorance here - don't have a bandsaw. However, I have read many an article in the woodworking press about sawn veneers, re-sawing to make book-matched panels etc. Mahogany is a reasonably mild timber, so it might be worth a try.)

 

[Dusty]

Hi Hitch .....I am from near south petherton , about 2 miles from Yandles , if that helps ,I can put it through my thicknesser for you .
PM me if that helps
Kind regards Dusty

 

[deserter]

We thickness items as small as 300mm on ours at work, it all depends on the machine we use a jig for that size but it can be done 600mm is easy and straight through. But as said if you can bandsaw it in half that would be more economical.

 

[OPJ]

300mm or 12in is generally the shortest that your average thicknesser will be able to take (without firing it back at you!). You only need to know the distance between the centres of the two feed rollers to work it out on any machine; that's the minimum that the machine can safely support. What you don't want is a situation where the timber leaves the infeed roller before it's reached the outfeed at the other end.

I like the router idea though, even if it means making a simple jig. With the right cutter and a bit of sanding, you may even be able to get less tearout on certain timbers.

 

[mickthetree]

you might be alright with a Mahogony typw wood, but worth considering that you will be taking considerably more material off one side that the other. Could lead to warping in the wood. In that instance it might be better to take 10mm off both sides.

 

[parvum]

The staff of the sawmill at Yandles of Martock have always been very helpful with this problem

 

[Eric The Viking]

Bandsaw it first!!!

If it really is proper mahogany, you'll be converting a lot of money into chippings otherwise.

+1 for Yandles as well: kind and helpful people.

E. (the skinflint!)

 

[Hitch]

Thanks people, seems its doable then.

Not keen on running noisey tools for long periods at home, hence not wanting to use my router unless I had to.

I shall probably drop you a PM at some point then Dusty, once the design and sizes are sorted. Thanks.


I did wonder about removing more from one side, same problem as machining steel.

I think its proper mahogony, I acquired it sometime ago, along with some other chunks of who knows what.