DerbyDad03 wrote:
I went to a crafts festival and saw some end grain cutting boards. One of
them was made from Douglas fir, which I just happen to have lying around.
Extra boards left over for the bed I built for my daughter.

https://i.imgur.com/GTDm9VG.jpg

So I said to myself, "Christmas gifts!" I went on YouTube, looked at the
process and decided it's time to buy a planer.

Then I stumbled across this Wood Whisperer thread:

https://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/art...gh-the-planer/

Now I'm shaking in my boots. However, I also read about techniques like
adding runners to make it safer.

If I decide to move forward, it seems like I will be learning to use a
power planer on a somewhat advanced/dangerous project. Obviously I would
practice on some flat boards to get a feel for the machine before I fed
something that could hurt me badly into it, but I'd like some encouragement/tips (or warnings/"Don't do it!") from you guys before I proceed.

Thanks!

I'm a novice. I've been building garage shelving the hard way by
meticulously edge gluing 1"x6"x8' pine boards to practice technique. I'm
preparing to edge glue some 2"x12"x4' douglas fir for heavy-duty rolling
shelves (previous shelves hung on wall brackets). I bought some cheap
dimensional douglas fir that was already sufficiently dry but cupped, unlike
the pine boards which were flat enough. But I lack a planer and am not
particularly interested in buying one. (The point of the shelving is to help
reduce clutter and to get everything off the floor. Adding bulky tools isn't
helping things.) I tried hand planing with a jack-plane but there are too
many knots, and I've decided I don't want to deal with 24' of those (nor pay
for wood that can be easily handtooled, which would be the smart thing).

I do have a router and have already built a sled using an 8' MDF trim board
(cut in half), two angle irons (already had on hand), a 2'x4' particle board
backer, some scrap wood, and a 1 1/2" cleaning router bit. Hopefully I'll
get a chance to start leveling the boards this weekend.

Regarding kickback, I would just say to hope for the best and *expect* the
worst. I'm extremely cautious by nature, but grew up working summers on my
dad's construction crew where it was normal to shoot nail guns at people
when they're on 20'-high scaffolding for laughs. I always go slow but
appreciate that people can be too risk averse. (Or maybe the lesson was just
that people who are too risk adverse get shot at with nail guns when they're
on 20'-high scaffolding.)

I've also read advice that free-handing a cleaning router bit can be
dangerous too, especially for a bit size 2" or wider. I don't (and
shouldn't) expect the sled to do much to minimize that risk.

I think the most important thing is to expect the unexpected, and don't get
lazy about it. You already have good reason to expect the board to shatter
or become a projectile, so prepare accordingly. Advice seems mixed, so you
have plausible deniability about knowing how stupid it was.