Planer/thicknesser blade issues.

[byyt]

Hi. I bought a Charnwood W588 a few weeks back to help in the resizing of pallet boards. As a newbie to using planers, I have so far gone through 4 sets of blades, which is not doing the budget any favours. Even when I plane the boards first with a hand held planer I am finding the blades get chipped.

I have got round this by sending the planks through the thicknesser several times at the same setting but this is too time consuming. With my analytical head on, is there a blade system that rotates not only perpendicular to the board, but also sideways similar to a cylinder mower so chips in the blade become less of an issue?

Alternatively is there a blade sharpening/reforming system that is accurate and costs below £100?

 

[carlb40]

It depends on your blades. If they are disposable then they cant be resharpened as there will be no height adjustment on them.

 

[marcros]

unfortunate;y that is one of the inherent problems with pallet timber- embedded grit and metal. A stiff brush will help, and you may be able to offset the blades a few mm to avoid the nicks the first time.

How much resizing do you need to do on it- could you use a belt sander instead?

personally, i wouldn't put pallet wood anywhere near my planer or thicknesser, for the reasons that you have encountered.

 

[wizard]

Get them sharpened at a saw doctors and stop planning pallets, they will wreck any blade on ant machine.

 

[deema]

I hope you don't mind me asking, but are you putting the blades in the right way around? If the blade is reversed it will cause it to potentially chip very quickly? It's an easy mistake to make.

 

[blackrodd]

As you have mentioned hand planing prior to thicknessing, the only suggestion I have is After a good inspection for more nails etc,trim 5mm off each end first,
As you will probably find oodles of grit etc embedded in the ends.
Any less than a 5mm end trim will probably mean damaging the saw blades.
HTH Regards Rodders

 

[byyt]

Thank you for all your replies.

I took great care to put the blades the same way as it arrived from Charnwood. I think I will triple check though.

I run a detector over the boards but I hadn't thought about cutting the ends off. On reflection it makes sense. Good one!

I will try this tomorrow, as I have a pile to go through. I know pallet wood is not an easy medium o use, despite it being "trendy" I am just fascinated by how beautiful the hardwoods are when the crap is taken off.

Maybe I will knock up a prototype of the cylindrical blade I have in my head, which would plane regardless of the odd chips.

Thanks again for your suggestions.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

Spiral cutter blocks do exist already with numerous small square cutters arranged in a helical block rather than the continuous mower blade idea you're thinking of. Mighty expensive mind!

http://landingpages.felder-gruppe.at/fe ... ntpower-2/

 

[blackrodd]

I love re using pallet timber, some of them are really substantial in size and the timber used can be really clean from the usual defects.
I usually plane only clean looking wood, that you can see is free of grit etc, as the re set time and plane/saw blade cost will make "free" timber a little costly.
A good quality wire brush will tend to find most grit etc, with the grain, NOT a cheap one as the wire "bristles" come out, themselves a hazard.
Its probably a good idea to have two timber piles, keeping suspect "staves" to one side for a risk assesment, if you like.
Don't forget the fire lightings can go for silly money, especially at the Grocer Garages. Regards Rodders

 

[byyt]

Thanks Bob. That's some tech. Thinking out aloud, I wonder how an adaptation of the Philshave technique would work for wood.

Rodders. My guilty pleasure is to plane a really filthy hardwood board to reveal the unblemished wood. I know this has cost me blades hence my thinking about cylindrical blades to lessen the pain!

 

[blackrodd]

Thanks Bob. That's some tech. Thinking out aloud, I wonder how an adaptation of the Philshave technique would work for wood.

Rodders. My guilty pleasure is to plane a really filthy hardwood board to reveal the unblemished wood. I know this has cost me blades hence my thinking about cylindrical blades to lessen the pain!

I think that you're initial idea of hand planing first is as good as it gets, a cheap planer with a fast TCT blade-change ability will be the most cost effective, and as you are taking a small cut as a sacrificial planer, you can keep the nicked blade in place until it's blunt, as you will have "cleared" the timber.
The cutterblocks you mentioned are a real expence to buy, and just means you will have 8 damaged blades as opposed to 2 for replacing. Rodders

 

[byyt]

I think that you're initial idea of hand planing first is as good as it gets, a cheap planer with a fast TCT blade-change ability will be the most cost effective, and as you are taking a small cut as a sacrificial planer, you can keep the nicked blade in place until it's blunt, as you will have "cleared" the timber.
The cutterblocks you mentioned are a real expence to buy, and just means you will have 8 damaged blades as opposed to 2 for replacing. Rodders[/quote]

Yeah planing first works. I am currently thicknessing the boards into 13.8mm with straight edges. It's kind of an epic task as I have to source the pallets and take them apart before the good stuff begins. I think your suggestion of taking 5mm off each end has made a difference. Its just my inability to leave a crud encrusted board that gets me into trouble as the nails can get properly embedded. This leads me to ask why to thicknessers not come with a built in metal detector that trips the off switch? Is there such a device?

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

not that I'm aware of. When folks are reclaiming antique wood, floor boards etc they generally use a metal detector not unlike the kind airport security use ie an aerial/wand type device that you hold over the timber and it squeaks when it detects ferrous metal.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

This is what I mean


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAP6tryC2OU

 

[byyt]

Thanks Bob. My problem is when I forget to run the detector over the board. I have been thicknessing 30+ boards in one session and I admit to being sloppy with the detector. I was just wondering why there isn't a built in detector in thicknessers which trip a safety switch. makes sense to me?

 

[blackrodd]

A couple of weeks ago, a member had a nail extractor, It was under a title "can anybody identify this tool".
This would be possibly a good tool for you and the pallet exercise.
With a bit of luck a member will find the thread for you, as i am not too good on the keyboard.
HTH Regards Rodders