I'm surprised you ran it through in that direction. Isn't the stop block supposed to go on the back side and go in last to ensure the blade doesn't push the board back out? What if you have a long bowed board? How would you send it through?
Straight up no frills video!! thank you, this vid was direct and to the point!!! I just purchased a WEN planer and made my first cut on a warped board and lets just say i wasted a lot of material!!
I have an ancient glue gun that goes from cold to burn your bench down in about 15 seconds. If you run out of glue sticks you can shove the tube from a Bic pen down the hole and use that. goes through pens fast...
It's called a jointer, not a joiner. because it is used to make joints. It is interesting in your description you say jointer. In the video you say joiner.
The blades rotate in a way that will put pressure on the workpiece in a direction towards the front of the planer, not the rear, correct? Dont you want your stop block in the back???
No, he has it positioned correctly. Imagine if you took two slippery boards, stacked them on top of each other, and tried to send them through the planer. What would happen? The top board would slide forward over the bottom board, much like the planer normally works with a single board sliding over the table. So, if the glue were to fail, you need a stopper on the bottom board to keep the top board from sliding over the front. I think your confusion comes from forgetting that there are two rollers, before and after the blades, that pull on the top of the board, propelling it forward past the blades and through the planer. Obviously the rollers exert more force than the blades, otherwise the board would not travel forward through the planer (the blades are exerting backward force, the rollers exert forward force)
I made a jointer jig for my table saw. Do not buy the toggle clamps that need adjusting every other time....BESSEY makes self adjusting toggle clamps and those are soooooooo much nicer.
Hi Mike, Regarding your video being worthwhile ansd useful, let me quickly share my recent experience. Just purchased my fiirst-ever planer, and was completely dissapointed with not being able to get minimally flat faces on glued up strips of hardwoods (trying my first cutting board and it´s end grain to increase the difficulty!). Being quite upset with myself, (the machine is totally new and I don´t suspect of any problem), I stopped, reviewed eveything and noticed the piece is slightly warped. I underestimated a slight warp in original stock, which got worse after first glue-up. Being new with a planer, I imagined several passes on the same side would give me one flat reference side, but no success. Took a while of frustration and thinking to understand how the planer´s work as compared to a jointer (which I don´t have) and that´s when I found your video. This sled/approach solves the problem beautifully. Yes, takes a bit more time, but saves workpieces and stock and, important to mention, that front edge and deep countersinked screws make the whole setup solid, delivering accurate results. For me, who was starting to feel discouraged, like I can´t get anything right, your video is very informative, straightforward/clear, pleasant to watch and encouraging. The comments below confirm al this! Thanks very much and keep up the great work!
I though about doing this, but with thin layer of expanding foam mix under board. Sled could be reused using drawknife to remove foam. Might be quicker than glue gun? Not tried it yet of course, but soon.
Having just flattened my first boards, I believe I'll just start getting material in the rough from my local supplier. Good idea about countersinking the screws. Thanks. (I loved the bit of humor about waiting for the glue gun to heat up.)
I made a sled from mdf and followed your guidance but did not get the same results. The planed board was relatively flat, no rocking, but had significant dips 2 to 6 inches long , 1/16 to 3/32 deep , no matter how many times I sent it through the planer. Used an accurate 4 foot straightedge to check for longitudinal flatness. I mounted it cup side up. Started with a 5/4 board and kept planing to 5/8 inches. Kept adding wedges although the board seemed very stable. What am I missing? Thanks for any help. Definitely enjoy your videos.
Have a tried a similar length of board that you know is pure flat as a reference and then send it through the thicknesser to ensure that the thicknesser itself is not at fault. If you get the same results then it is the thicknesser that is causing the problem and you may want to adjust it. Now if it is the case that the wood is coming out perfect you may want to look at your sled to see if it is really flat and if it is you want to then check if when you apply the board if it is still flat. Use winding sticks to check what the board looks like on the sled.
I have the same planer with the dust collection attachment. I use a Ridgid shop vac with a dust deputy and there's still chips flying everywhere. What's your secret?
Shamrock Woodworks that's very odd. Mine gets most all of it, but there are a few here and there that needed to be cleaned up afterwards. Any chance the dust deputy is taking away suction from your vac?
i do the same thing, but i send my sled through the opposite way. the piece you use for the front is supposed to be a stop block for the wood i though. I also made 4 shims with anti slip matt glue to the bottom and it works awesome. no glue
Good tip with the grippy shims! The rollers want to pull the board through so you have to have a stop block on the front to prevent the rollers from sliding the board off the sled.
Mad Raven Woodworks - yea but don't the blades spin the opposite way? That's way more powerful the the rollers. I think the back is where you need it...the blades will keep it against that back stop over the rollers pulling it off forward......right?!?!
Jason Enz a lot of people think that, but i believe the rollers give more force going forward that the blade gives going backwards. I've never tried it the other way, but this way has worked for me.
