Thread: Handheld power planer HELP!!!

Thats how it goes Sam, use the lowest setting on the plane and once you're close to what you want put it away and get out your belt sander or random orbital and smooth off. Or go back to a nice sharp hand plane.

Just a fact of life.

What they both said. It removes a lot of wood quick and for that it is worth having. Even with the track marks you have still saved a lot of hard graft and sweat. It is not however a finishing tool. If the lips are deep set the machine to a very fine cut and reduce them. Check it is taking a fine cut on some scrap wood before hogging too much off the board. Finish with a sander or just sandpaper and a sanding block.
Regards
John

Take care if you get the Ozito random orbital sander, I did and it keeps trying to send sanding discs into orbit, Perhaps Im using it for the wrong purpose, its a space launch platform.

just a question to the experts ,if the chopping board was 300x250 what size plane would you use ,and could you use a scraper to do the surface.

sorry for jumping onto your thread mate. Lloyd.

I would just use a No4 - 5 but you could use a block plane or a scraper if the cuts aren't too deep.

For the end grain chopping boards I made last Christmas I persisted with the belt sander rather than a plane. It took probably twice as long to finish each board but I achieved a good result

Cheers

Bryan.

cheers everyone for your help... can someone just clarify exactly what i need to do to get my boards flat without having little lips all over it..

Originally Posted by sammii - boii

cheers everyone for your help... can someone just clarify exactly what i need to do to get my boards flat without having little lips all over it..

A few hints. But firstly' I'm assuming you're laying the boards for the blocks alongside each other, and not making and "end grain" block.

(a) ensure your material is of similar dimension.

(b) lay up and dry assemble your block/s before gluing, ensuring everything "fits" before gluing. Don't be tempted to overcome a poor fit with excessive clamp pressure.

(c) do it on the flattest surface possible: workbench, floor or kitchen table, protected with cut up s'market bags or newspaper.

(d) glue systematically, evenly and sparingly. You can use an old/cheap paintbrush to spread your glue evenly, otherwise your finger. Too much glue will "lubricate" the opposing surfaces, encouraging slippage, which makes even surfaces almost impossible.

(e) use good quality cramps. Best is sash cramps on the bottom at least, but cramps on top help evenness. Too much cramping pressure will either distort your glueup or create slippage. Additional top cramps eliminated bowing.

(f) weight on top to help reduce bowing and slippage, and help keep things flat.

(g) for multi-piece glueups, a flat baseboard (protected with plastic) slightly smaller than the overall dimension of the finished block for the individual pieces to lay on (i.e. on top of the sash cramps) will help.

No 5 plane followed by a No 6 or 7 gives flattest results, failing that a belt sander gets you pretty close, you need to learn about windage sticks to help get things flat and even on both sides no matter what method you use.

Good clamps also help, Bessy K-bodies ( or current equivalent model) can save you up to an hours sanding each board.

Using biscuits is also a waste of time for long grain to long grain glue ups, a proper glue up of long grain will see the timber fail more than the glue line.

Ok thanks for all your help....

what im exactly doing is buying a metre worth of jarrah cutting it into 3 equal peices and then biscuiting them together.... there must be some easy way of getting them flat in the end?? or not


Sorry for being a pain

There is no easy short-cut, it is combination of actions that reduce but never completely remove the need to get them flat. Its a technique that takes time to master. You cannot paint a Mona Lisa the first time you pick up a paint brush.

Timber straight and square is a good starting point, properly jointed helps, using something like dowels as suggested in the other thread helps keep alignment, (biscuits move too much), good clamps, good glue and you will have reduced the time needed to get it flat.
As for actually getting it flat, throw away the power planer, get handplanes and/or a belt sander. These require a bit of care during usage but are great at material removal helping you get close to where a smoothing plane or ROS can get you smooth finish.

Thankyou so very much Cruzi!!!

So you would give me your word that a belt sand is the way to go?? because if it is i'll go and buy one rite now

Thank you again

I would recomend a belt sander, but like everything else, you cannot pick one up and get perfect results, remember having the tool does not automatically give you the skill needed.

Look up windage sticks and panel leveling, you will make mistakes, it will seem to take forever, with persistance you will get it right.