planing limitations for "thin" wood

The biggest part of using thin woods in a planer is to select them for grain
parallel to the faces, and not to plane them thinner than a couple of annual
rings. If you do, even with backing, you're asking for trouble.

In any case, if the legs are to be covered, cover 'em, then plane the whole
thing.


"Mike in Idaho" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> FWW had an article on cutting your own veneers last issue (or the one
> before) and it showed planing after cutting to size by sticking them
> to some melamine with double sided carpet tape. Sounds like it would
> work pretty well. If you used MDF or something instead the tape would
> pull parts of the MDF up each time and eventually you'd end up with a
> non-flat surface, so thus the melamine I would think. Haven't tried
> it, but should work.
>
> Mike
>
>
> "C Carruth" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > I am working on the base for a workbench, and being the stingy guy I am,
I
> > purchased a couple of douglas fur 4x4x8 for the legs. The rest of the
> > workbench is red oak dimension lumber and plywood.
> >
> > The douglas fur, while practical, does not look right next to the red
oak
> > stringers. I want to face the pieces with red oak veneer, cut from
> > dimensioned planks. I want to be able to round over the edges when done.
So
> > I am thinking that the thinest I should make the facings are 1/4".
> >
> > Question: Has anyone used a sled in a benchtop planer for really thin
pieces
> > of wood? I have seen articles describing this, but wonder if the veneers
> > would simply slide around on the sled. Do I need to use some carpet tape
to
> > make sure they do not? Anyone done this before? Please respond ASAP as I
> > would like to do this tomorrow....thanks..

FWW had an article on cutting your own veneers last issue (or the one
before) and it showed planing after cutting to size by sticking them
to some melamine with double sided carpet tape. Sounds like it would
work pretty well. If you used MDF or something instead the tape would
pull parts of the MDF up each time and eventually you'd end up with a
non-flat surface, so thus the melamine I would think. Haven't tried
it, but should work.

Mike


"C Carruth" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I am working on the base for a workbench, and being the stingy guy I am, I
> purchased a couple of douglas fur 4x4x8 for the legs. The rest of the
> workbench is red oak dimension lumber and plywood.
>
> The douglas fur, while practical, does not look right next to the red oak
> stringers. I want to face the pieces with red oak veneer, cut from
> dimensioned planks. I want to be able to round over the edges when done. So
> I am thinking that the thinest I should make the facings are 1/4".
>
> Question: Has anyone used a sled in a benchtop planer for really thin pieces
> of wood? I have seen articles describing this, but wonder if the veneers
> would simply slide around on the sled. Do I need to use some carpet tape to
> make sure they do not? Anyone done this before? Please respond ASAP as I
> would like to do this tomorrow....thanks..

Hello there,

1/4" is not veneer, your planer will have no problems planing that thin
without a sled.

What planer do you have? Most will go down to ~1/8" before you need a sled.

Thanks,

David.

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In article
<[email protected]>,
"David F. Eisan" <[email protected]> wrote:

> 1/4" is not veneer, your planer will have no problems planing that thin
> without a sled.
>
> What planer do you have? Most will go down to ~1/8" before you need a sled.

Yeah my old Delta portable - long since made obsolete with cutterhead
lock/no-snipe models - goes down to about 1/8".

Would just securing a melamine-type aux. bed (effectively raising the
bed in relation to the cutter head) inside the planer serve the same
purpose as running a sled through? Would the less than 1/8" wood move
through well enough or does it need to be fixed to a sled for support?

--
Owen Lowe and his Fly-by-Night Copper Company
Offering a shim for the Porter-Cable 557 type 2 fence design.
<http://www.flybynightcoppercompany.com>
<http://www.easystreet.com/~onlnlowe/index.html>

Mike & All,
A couple of suggestions . . .

I use something called 'Whiteboard' or 'Tileboard' for my 'drawing'
templates. It's about 1/8 in thick with a white 'Melamine-like' surface.
Pretty cheap stuff because the surface is some kind of a painted material.
For my 'router' templates I use 1/4 in Hardboard; I think of it as 'thin
MDF'.

In either case, because I want to use the stuff repeatedly, I will either
apply several coats of 'Seal Coat' dewaxed shellac and/or water based Poly
to the back. This gives a smooth, hard, surface that will take tape 'ad
infinitem'.

Simple, effective, cheap, and relatively quick.

Regards & Good Luck,
Ron Magen
Backyard Boatshop

"Mike in Idaho" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> FWW had an article on cutting your own veneers last issue (or the one
> before) and it showed planing after cutting to size by sticking them
> to some melamine with double sided carpet tape. Sounds like it would
> work pretty well. If you used MDF or something instead the tape would
> pull parts of the MDF up each time and eventually you'd end up with a
> non-flat surface, so thus the melamine I would think. Haven't tried
> it, but should work.
>
> Mike