...well, practice makes for a slight improvement in my case!
I bought a Metabo 260 planer thicknesser a few weeks ago and decided to spend yesterday afternoon learning how to use it. I practiced on some solid oak kitchen doors that we saved from our old kitchen, which were made by a local joinery company in the late '80s (20mm thick but heavily routed on the front face)
I used the bandsaw to cut the stiles and rails out then ran them through the PT after watching a great instructional video by Matt Estlea, I still have 10 digits so thanks Matt
Sniped a few pieces starting out but got progressively better so this was operator error rather than anything to do with the machine itself. Very impressed with it overall, they must be set up pretty accurately at the factory as all I did was assemble it and managed to produce some really nice pieces despite being a complete beginner.
I now have 9 linear metres of 40mm x 13mm strips in various lengths ranging from 300mm to 900mm and need to think about what I could try to make before doing anything with the remaining oak doors. I initially thought about gluing up a 40mm thick cutting board but this would mean the top and bottom faces would be 13mm edge grain, maybe a box would show off the face grain better or even some coasters might be a better option for a first timer.
Previous woodworking experience has been mainly first fix stud walls, second fix skirtings/architraves, hanging doors, assembling pre-built wardrobes etc.
I bought a Metabo 260 planer thicknesser a few weeks ago and decided to spend yesterday afternoon learning how to use it. I practiced on some solid oak kitchen doors that we saved from our old kitchen, which were made by a local joinery company in the late '80s (20mm thick but heavily routed on the front face)
I used the bandsaw to cut the stiles and rails out then ran them through the PT after watching a great instructional video by Matt Estlea, I still have 10 digits so thanks Matt
Sniped a few pieces starting out but got progressively better so this was operator error rather than anything to do with the machine itself. Very impressed with it overall, they must be set up pretty accurately at the factory as all I did was assemble it and managed to produce some really nice pieces despite being a complete beginner.
I now have 9 linear metres of 40mm x 13mm strips in various lengths ranging from 300mm to 900mm and need to think about what I could try to make before doing anything with the remaining oak doors. I initially thought about gluing up a 40mm thick cutting board but this would mean the top and bottom faces would be 13mm edge grain, maybe a box would show off the face grain better or even some coasters might be a better option for a first timer.
Previous woodworking experience has been mainly first fix stud walls, second fix skirtings/architraves, hanging doors, assembling pre-built wardrobes etc.
