Thread: Timber Thicknesser hire in Perth is it possible

The Perth Wood School in Belmont has a thicknesser, I think they charge a fee for working with second hand wood because of the risk of old nails damaging the machine.


Home » Perth Wood School

81 Abernethy Rd Belmont WA 6104 (08) 9277 5558

Originally Posted by beer is good

The Perth Wood School in Belmont has a thicknesser, I think they charge a fee for working with second hand wood because of the risk of old nails damaging the machine.

Nope they won't do it - this is what they say on their website and I have asked Dave about it as well.

We have a very strict policy of no recycled timber through our planers and thicknessers.

- in fact I don't know of any place that will.

Alright 5m long but whats the other two sizes and how many?

Originally Posted by BobL

- in fact I don't know of any place that will.

I have spent a lazy afternoon phoning round various places and none are eager to dress recycled hardwoods. I must have rung 2 or 3 mens sheds, a couple of different woodwork places and anyone else that was suggested.

Along with the nail issue is the fact that jarrah is so dense that it wears blades out a lot faster than softwoods which increases the cost and so on.

I have about 10 lengths of jarrah all about 2m - 3m * 70mm * 50mm and so far the most viable solution to dress them down to size is either a circular saw or a rip saw with a shitload of elbow grease.

Buy a second hand one, use it, and then sell it again? Should be able to do that without too much loss?

I like using recycled timber, but there is a real risk. The grit on the timber (sand, dirt, etc) is almost as damaging as nails, screws, etc.

My solution is to have two sets of thicknesser blades. The old sacrificial recovery blades are used to clean up recycled timber. When I am certain that there is nothing to worry about, then a final run with the good or finish blades.

For really grotty timber I use two initial cleanup techniques, often sequentially:

• very light wash with the Karcher (really light & Careful as water pressure will make timber go hairy or disintegrate!) and/or
• belt sand with 40 grit paper.

When I am sure there are no nails I thickness it.

Fair Winds

Graeme

I am in Armadale ... if you send me a pm I might be able to help.

All I have is 2nd-hand hardwood

Cheers,
Paul

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

.

For really grotty timber I use two initial cleanup techniques, often sequentially:

• very light wash with the Karcher (really light & Careful as water pressure will make timber go hairy or disintegrate!) and/or
• belt sand with 40 grit paper.

When I am sure there are no nails I thickness it.

Graeme

I do the same. Blast it with the Karcher, run it over with my el-cheapo electric plane (blades are cheap, Internet China!!!) then hit it with 40 grit belt sander. I then use my stud finder which has a metal option. Then once its clean, over the jointer and then the thicky (it has a helical head and I havnt replaced a tooth yet).

I've done a LOT of recycled timber like this (I love the character and challenge of using it) and my gear is still in top nick. You are right, it's the dirt that's the killer. Nails are easy to find.

In Canberra I think we can take it to a place called Thors Hammer who dresses wood. I intend to go out soon to have a squizzy at his operation.

On another point, why wouldn't someone just let the new member use it on the proviso of paying for new knives? Cheap for them and the owner gets a new set of knives.

Heck, I'd do it. 2 new packs of teeth for the helical is only $40. Add it to the next carbatec order!

Mmmmmm

Originally Posted by Evanism

On another point, why wouldn't someone just let the new member use it on the proviso of paying for new knives? Cheap for them and the owner gets a new set of knives. Heck, I'd do it. 2 new packs of teeth for the helical is only $40. Add it to the next carbatec order!
Mmmmmm

It's not just paint or nails. I loaned my old thicknesser to "somebody I used to know" who put a pile of 4 x 2's through it. Unfortunately the timber had some blue mastic type coating on them which gummed up the thicknesser and it took me a long time to clean it up.

I like the idea of cleaning it up with a el cheapo electric plane to start with.

If some of the wood is spongy/softened with age, I think a scrub plane works faster and easier than a power plane.
(certainly less dust)
Paul

Originally Posted by pmcgee

If some of the wood is spongy/softened with age, I think a scrub plane works faster and easier than a power plane.
(certainly less dust)
Paul

Jeeez, Paul. Thanks for warning us that jarrah and karri go spongy and are softened with age. Here salvaged messmate, Tas blue gum, spotted gum, etc have usually gone supertough with a mere 100 years of maturation - often I think a metal work milling machine would be more appropriate than a wood working plane!

Never thought of using a scrub plane; will try it - sounds good advice.

I stand by my original advise to use a separate set of sacrificial blades for planing salvaged material.


Fair Winds

Graeme

PS: Please do not take paragraph 1 too seriously.

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Jeeez, Paul. Thanks for warning us that jarrah and karri go spongy and are softened with age. Here salvaged messmate, Tas blue gum, spotted gum, etc have usually gone supertough with a mere 100 years of maturation - often I think a metal work milling machine would be more appropriate than a wood working plane!

Never thought of using a scrub plane; will try it - sounds good advice.
I stand by my original advise to use a separate set of sacrificial blades for planing salvaged material.
Fair Winds
Graeme
PS: Please do not take paragraph 1 too seriously.

I don't take anything too seriously
Although it's usually because I don't understand ... anything ...

I think the advantage a scrub can have is of going straight across the grain, ... which machines don't tend to.
Of course having written that I realise that that is exactly how I used an electric planer on some telegraph pole

Another thing I was thinking of ... I have some ??? bits of beams here that came from a roadside collection, but from the treatment you'd think it was from a bridge or an industrial unit. Dark brown paint on one side, dark green on the other ... one of those sides (the paint!) was like liquid basalt with crushed up granite for flavour. It needed paint stripper then rough scraping and finally scrubbing with enough projection that the blade was digging through the wood and carrying the outer layer away with it. I wouldn't let that near the thicknesser before cleaning up, but I think it also would have killed electric planer blades very very quickly - whereas with an old scrub you can resharpen the blade and attack it again.

Cheers,
Paul