making thin strips flat

[sunnybob]

I have finally managed to get my bandsaw to cut a reasonably consistent thickness, thanks to purchasing some Tuffsaws blades. 8) 8)
But now I need the final smoothing advice.
heres the example;
I cut a plank of oak into strips 600mm long, 40mm wide and 7mm thick. the sawn surface still isnt smooth by a long way, but at least the thickness is more consistant than I have ever managed before. So, how do I smooth that 7mm sawn width to achieve a (say) 5mm thickness with finished surfaces?

i dont particularly want to spend on a planer thicknesser, but at the moment I have no other answers.

 

[custard]

Hand plane.

Incidentally you should plane the bandsawn surface of the main board between cutting off strips, that way one face of the sawn strip will be flat which you can then use to reference the other face plus you'll have a planed flat surface riding against the bandsaw fence.

 

[AndyT]

You have a choice between a low tech way, cheap on tools but needing some skill, or a mechanised but expensive answer.

The low tech way is of course to use a hand plane. Your strips are quite small so this is practical. A no4 smoother is what you need, for under £25 secondhand. There are loads of threads in Hand Tools about how to set up, sharpen and use a plane.

Have a look at my chest of drawers thread in the projects section where you will see me planing slightly shorter pieces of oak to about 60 mm wide by 9mm thick.

The mechanised way would be some sort of thicknessing drum sander, but I don't really know about these. There is an interesting diy approach to making one by Kinsella here https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/home-made-drum-sander-wip-t89443.html

 

[wallace]

If you have a p/t you could stick the strips onto a board with double sided tape then run through the planer

 

[custard]

You have a choice between a low tech way, cheap on tools but needing some skill, or a mechanised but expensive answer.

There is a third way, and it's proven irresistibly popular with thousands of woodworkers.

A really cheap planer thicknesser...and then stage two is to get angry and frustrated at the wonky tables, ear splitting din, sniping, tear out, tapering, poorly translated instruction manual, lousy dust extraction, broken components, and of course the fiddly need for frequent sharpening and setting of the planer knives.

 

[blackrodd]

As Custard and Andy T have said, shoot the 2 edges of the board and then cut 1 off each side, then shoot 2 sides, cut another 2 strips, etc etc.
As in making any mouldings, then plane the last side either by hand or through the thicknesser, 1 at a time just in case of a slight variation in sawing, otherwise you may get a ripple effect finish as the rollers will go to any thicker strips and the smaller will "rattle" about and even break and strike you in the Nadgers.
Regards Rodders

 

[Ed Bray]

Or you could just make a poor man's thicknesser, but you would still need to start with a flat side as a reference.

Any hand plane will do, but using a no 4½, 5½, 6 or 7 plane would be better due to the wider blade, a 5½ would be optimal. You will need to set the plane up to give you an even shaving across the blade.

Make a open ended box with no lid a fraction wider than your plane body and at least 8" longer than your strips. place a ¼" insert (on each side) and ensure they are about an inch lower than the top of the box. At one end, fit a piece of wood across the opening ensuring it finishes at the height of the ¼" pieces (I would put another piece the sae behind it to prevent breakout during the following step. Run your chosen plane along the inside of the box to take a cut. Continue to do this until the plane stops cutting. This will be your reference height (Remove the backing piece if you used one).

Using shims you can alter the height of the cut. If you make the tray 3" deep, you will be able to surface plane accurately up to 2" thick pieces, this may not be required and you could probably get away with making it lower if you choose to.

By making a set of shims to fit your 'thicknesser' in the following increments, you would be able to cover off all your needs. 1mm, 2mm, 4mm, 8mm, 16mm, 32mm.

Thus, if you made your tray, 50mm to the top of the runners, you could get a thickness of 1 mm by using the following shims: 32mm + 16mm + 1mm, then plane until the plane stops cutting.

If you wanted a piece 12mm thick you would need to use 32mm + 4mm +2mm shims.

 

[sunnybob]

While I try to come to grips with Ed brays idea (That may take some time (g), I didnt really make myself clear.
How would you hold down something that was only 5mm thick onto the workbench so you could plane it? Its too thin to be in a vice.

 

[Droogs]

i would use a bench dog as a stop and plane intowards the dog. This will stop the board moving about as you push the plane or use a good old fashioned holdfast.

or you could use this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlaGl2mGNnQ

 

[custard]

While I try to come to grips with Ed brays idea (That may take some time (g), I didnt really make myself clear.
How would you hold down something that was only 5mm thick onto the workbench so you could plane it? Its too thin to be in a vice.

Ah ha!

You need a planing stop. Get a bit of hardwood, say 250mm x 100mm, and plane it down to about 4.5mm, then screw it to a batton that's 100mm x 50mm x 50mm. Fasten the batton in your vice so the bit of hardwood lays flat across the bench, then use that as a planing stop for your 5mm thick pieces.

 

[sunnybob]

i would use a bench dog as a stop and plane intowards the dog. This will stop the board moving about as you push the plane or use a good old fashioned holdfast.

or you could use this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlaGl2mGNnQ

Now thats a video I understood! Thanks for that, i now know what I need to buy. It isnt a planer, its a bench vice. i only have my engineers vice, which has 5" jaws and is 6" above the bench. i like the simplicity of the depth adjustment.
The vice in that video... I have seen one of those exact vices for a 160 euro. think I need to go shopping.

 

[sunnybob]

While I try to come to grips with Ed brays idea (That may take some time (g), I didnt really make myself clear.
How would you hold down something that was only 5mm thick onto the workbench so you could plane it? Its too thin to be in a vice.

Ah ha!

You need a planing stop. Get a bit of hardwood, say 250mm x 100mm, and plane it down to about 4.5mm, then screw it to a batton that's 100mm x 50mm x 50mm. Fasten the batton in your vice so the bit of hardwood lays flat across the bench, then use that as a planing stop for your 5mm thick pieces.

Custard, see my reply above. I need more hardware, not more tools!

 

[custard]

While I try to come to grips with Ed brays idea (That may take some time (g), I didnt really make myself clear.
How would you hold down something that was only 5mm thick onto the workbench so you could plane it? Its too thin to be in a vice.

Ah ha!

You need a planing stop. Get a bit of hardwood, say 250mm x 100mm, and plane it down to about 4.5mm, then screw it to a batton that's 100mm x 50mm x 50mm. Fasten the batton in your vice so the bit of hardwood lays flat across the bench, then use that as a planing stop for your 5mm thick pieces.

Custard, see my reply above. I need more hardware, not more tools!

Not a problem, get a 300mm square of 4mm thick ply and cramp it to the front edge of your bench...instant planing stop! If you've only got an engineer's vice you'll need lots of simple basic work holding devices like that. Can you cramp onto the rear edge of your bench? If so that opens the door to all sorts of things, for example the planing stop could be a thinner strip that runs right across your bench and is cramped front and back.

 

[AndyT]

You could just nail some thin strips to your bench. If it's a 'nice' bench nail some thin strips to a bit of flat board, eg some flooring chipboard, and use them to plane against.

 

[sunnybob]

The bench is against the wall. Its just a single garage which was used for motorcycle customising until I gave up last year due to being unable to ride any more.
So I diversified into woodworking. Thats why I ask so many stupid questions.
The bench doesnt lend itself well to woodworking, its 6ft x 3ft x 3ft 6 high, but made from 1" square metal tube, with 20mm wet grade chipboard covering the top, middle and bottom shelf.

it will take a fair bit of modification to fit the record wood vice, but I'm capable of that.

I had been thinking of getting that vice, but had got sidetracked into more power tools to do the work for me 'cos I'm too old to start a 5 year apprenticeship now(lol)
I have tried cramping wood to the bench top, but the plane needs such force that the cramp always gives way.

 

[Paul Chapman]

With material as thin as 7mm, you need to secure it to the bench so that it is in tension - in other words, you need to secure the end that is nearest to you. This can best be done with small a piece of double-sided tape. Then just plane the piece. Quite straight forward really.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[custard]

Double sided tape would be ideal on a flat smooth surface, but the OP is trying to plane something that's bandsawn both sides. That could spell a whizzy rush off the end of the bench if and when the tape lets go!

 

[Paul Chapman]

Double sided tape would be ideal on a flat smooth surface, but the OP is trying to plane something that's bandsawn both sides. That could spell a whizzy rush off the end of the bench if and when the tape lets go!

But as you already suggested in your first reply, if he planes the edge of the board before bandsawing, then one side of the strip will be flat and smooth.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[sunnybob]

double sided tape doesnt work out here, its too hot for it. I have tried it several times on router templates and the sticky just dries out and the cutter goes walkabout. Too much excitement!!!!. Ambient temp at the moment is mid thirties, shut up on a shelf in the garage its over 45c. And no, I cant put it in the fridge, I would have to take some beers out!

 

[Paul Chapman]

Well, if you can't use double-sided tape, another method would be to make up a planning board. Cut four thin strips (less than 5mm) of wood and pin these to a board (or your bench) so that the piece you are planning is supported on both sides and both ends.

Cheers :wink:

Paul