Leon wrote:

"Duane Bozarth" wrote in message
...
charlie b wrote:

Plus the one I've had w/ the automated "planer as jointer" machines--how
do you control and drive a non-flat piece of material past the cutter
head w/o distorting it to get the initial flat reference surface?
That's the reason for the jointer initially and why working a piece
through the planer first (unless it's so thick as to be essentially
rigid) doesn't work.

These combination machines have a jointer to straighten and flatten the
stock. Then after flattening the stock you run it through the planer. Have
you seen the Rikon? The Rikon has short beds but has a 10" jointer capacity
and then you run the flat on one side wood below the bed area to plane to
thickness.

That's what I was talking about--although perhaps I didn't write it as
clearly as I could have

To drive the material across the planer/jointer as OP suggests seems to
me to be describing an automagic drive that would have sufficient
support to prevent kickback and drive a wide work piece against a
rotating cutterhead w/o compressing the workpiece. Seems a mean trick
if he can arrange it.

It takes a significant amount of force to do that. I suppose one could
rearrange it to use something like a router in a plane and not move the
workpiece or make the cuts w/ such a cutter that works a lot less
material at a time, but that doesn't sound like what OP has in mind...