Planing to 3mm tips

[D_W]

I've revised my thought on this - to the OP. Use a double iron plane upside down in a vise.

build a block with a 2.5mm strip inlaid across the back of the plane, and spray something iwth light tack on the bottom of the block. IT needs only to be slightly larger than the 200x50 strip. Round the top edges off so you can grab it easily (if you do this a lot, you could eventually add a handle).

Plane it over the upside down plane in the vise.

This would be very quick.

I do as I mentioned above - bare handed, but often with longer pieces so that you can push or pull one end and have the other holding the piece down in the cut where it crosses the plane iron (necessary for long flexible thin moulding pieces or making wooden guitar binding).

pencils - the comment still apples - just held going straight down the plane.

 

[David C]

The trouble with super glue or tape is ;
1 You cannot check the thickness of the whole length with callipers.
2 Thickness of tape affects the thickness of end of work.
My solution was to glue a small tab to the underside this locates with a slope in the notch in the end of the MDF support piece.

I have happily planed 1.5mm Ebony inlay like this.

 

[MikeG.]

where's mike G?......

Learning from those who know what they are talking about. This isn't a problem I've ever had to deal with.

My only insight is that thin stuff doesn't work well in compression (you don't push a broken-down vehicle with a rope, for a good reason). Therefore I would instinctively be looking to restrain the workpiece from the trailing edge rather than putting it up to some sort of planing stop. I can picture a simple jig with strips either side of the central bed. Those strips would be what the plane runs on when the workpiece gets to the correct thickness (you could even have outer strips which retain the lateral movement of the plane), and could be adjustable on the folding wedge principle to give the desired thickness. Anyway, that's just an idea, and I've no experience to impart.

 

[D_W]

for long pieces "holding one end and pulling on the straws of the wood" rather than pushing them is a fine idea. wood 200mm long is kind of small for that. I'm inclined to test my block theory sometime in the near future with little stuff like this, but it requires the block holding the stock to restrain it (by remaining in contact with a plane under it).

There's a common problem with thin stock like this and little-soled devices, and that's planing thin pieces of material hollow. at 50mm wide, this isn't going to be a problem, but folks thinking about doing this the first time with wider stock may be patting themselves on the back to find that the center of their material is very thin.

The simpler solution with narrow bits like we're talking about is to make the 200x50mm strip of wood something more like 5 pieces of it, thickness the entire thing, and then cut to length. If that's not possible - we'll see how well my block idea works. It'll take about 10 minutes to make. I mention the double iron because what I'm describing will turn into a huge mess if grain direction matters.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

A finished piece 200mm x 50mm x 3mm thick (8" x 2" x 1/8") isn't THAT thin and flexible. Just butting it against a stop a bit thinner than 3mm will be fine, if the cut is started with weight bearing on the toe-end of the plane, as you should be anyway at the start of a cut. Just make sure the bench-top is flat, or the piece will conform to any humps and bumps on the bench surface, making the task of achieving even thickness much harder.

For REALLY thin and flexible pieces - say 2mm and below, and longer than 8" , then the methods using a grip at the tail end, or sticking it down, may well be necessary. But for 3mm? Nah. Conventional planing against a stop will be fine.

Edit to add - use a fairly fine setting on the plane as you get close to dimension. Keeps the planing force down, and you don't want to overshoot the thickness, which is very easy to do on small pieces. A plane with a longish toe-end (say a no 5) would help to keep the piece flat and in contact with the bench and the planing stop before the blade engages. Take your time, too.