On Saturday, March 30, 2019 at 2:38:35 PM UTC-4, dpb wrote:
On 3/30/2019 10:19 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Saturday, March 30, 2019 at 10:22:54 AM UTC-4, dpb wrote:
On 3/29/2019 7:05 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
I'm still trying to learn things about my planer....

I need to plane some poplar down by no more than 1/32". However, the boards
are already cut to length and have tenons on the ends. (Don't ask)

I really want to avoid any snipe on these boards so I'm thinking of using
the Sacrificial Board technique. Here's my idea:

Cut a groove in the sacrificial board, insert the tenons in the groove, and
run it all through the planer. With the setup shown below, I can easily run
4 boards through at one time. (I'm only showing 2 in this example) My only
concern is that the sacrificial board(s) will be planed cross grain.

https://i.imgur.com/s3bxz1G.jpg

From a safety perspective, is there any reason I shouldn't try this?

Yes, I know I could do the same thing with a sacrificial board running
with the grain, but I'm sure this question will start an interesting
discussion, as usual.

How are you proposing to keep the trailer in place?

90-degree cross grain is scary...but if you only take paper-thin passes
and with poplar you've got at least a _reasonable_ chance you won't have
an explosion. What _can_ happen is instead of a knife cutting cleanly,
the piece of material simply fractures and throws chunks back at you
(damhikt).

My answer is
1) thickness sander

Don't have one, not going to buy one.

Find a local shop w/ one that will run 'em for you...

A possibility, although the final thickness of different boards may vary. Determining how much needs to be removed on a board by board basis is not
known at this time. I'll explain why later.


2) jointer

Don't have one, not going to buy one.

Can't do without...

Sorry, I gotta call BS on that one. Newsgroups, forums, youtube, magazines,
etc. are filled with the line "If you don't have a jointer..." followed by
a workaround. There are thousands of woodworkers that have built lots
of stuff without a jointer. I've built beds, bookcases, base cabinets, a
cribbage board or three, benches, night stands, a kitchen island, an
entertainment center, etc, etc. all without a jointer.

When you don't have room, you do it some other way or on very occasions,
find someone to do it for you. You can certainly do without. Thousands of
us do.


3) hand plane

Have old hand-me-downs which I don't plan to refurb and/or learn to use.


Ditto squared...

Maybe someday, but not this day.



not necessarily in that order...

In that order ;-)

4) Use sanding disk in the TS -- a (very) slightly a-kilter fence for
lead in to the final thickness on trail side. A couple passes or three...

A possibility.


5) Resaw...

A possibility.


6) Just change your design...

A little late for that. About 5 years ago I cut all the rails and stiles for
a couple of dozen Shaker style kitchen cabinet doors. 100+ boards. Many
different lengths and widths. All of the boards have been grooved and most
of the tenons were cut. Changing my design would mean starting over, throwing
away a lot of wood and a lot of man-hours.

Now that I'm back at it, I've discovered that some of the boards are thicker
than others. A rookie mistake 5 years ago, but I didn't have a planer at the
time anyway. Now I do, and I think I can fix the problem as I dry fit each
door and determine how much, if any needs to be planed off.

That's why sending them out will be troublesome. This is going to be long
drawn out process, a door here and a door there, as time allows. Spring
is coming. Vacations, graduations, outdoor projects, etc.


I'll never recommend 90-deg cross grain in a planer again--it was that
scary (albeit it was a case where I "just wasn't thinking!" and did have
it set at a cut but at least for me, it ain't something I'm doing again.

I won't be doing it.


I still don't follow how you would intent to solve the first Q? I posed,
however...


I don't have to solve that issue, because I won't be planing cross grain. :-)
I'll find another way to thin the boards without snipe.

I tried a couple today and found that if I send them in at an angle, there
is virtually no snipe. That will work as long as it's the rails that are
thicker. We'll have to see about the longer stiles. At 2 1/2", maybe
re-sawing (essentially shaving) them on the table saw will work.