My local high school was kind enough to let me use their 18" planer on some
17" panels. The shop teacher warned me the blades were "nicked up a bit".
Well, the wood came out looking like it had falling out of a speeding car.
It took me a very long time to clean up with 80grit in a ROS; every time I
thought I was done and went to finer grit I saw the marks were still there.

Is there a better way to go about this? I never use my belt sander on
anything other than rough carpentry, but I was tempted.

Thanks.

Hand plane, cabinet scraper. Belt sander? I'd rather use my teeth!

--
Mike G.

Heirloom Woods
www.heirloom-woods.net
"Toller" wrote in message
...
My local high school was kind enough to let me use their 18" planer on
some
17" panels. The shop teacher warned me the blades were "nicked up a bit".
Well, the wood came out looking like it had falling out of a speeding car.
It took me a very long time to clean up with 80grit in a ROS; every time I
thought I was done and went to finer grit I saw the marks were still
there.

Is there a better way to go about this? I never use my belt sander on
anything other than rough carpentry, but I was tempted.

Thanks.

"Mike G" wrote in message
...
Hand plane, cabinet scraper. Belt sander? I'd rather use my teeth!

I guess I have to learn to use a hand plane some day. What size/kind would
be appropriate?

Folks at the wood hobby shop on my last base were happy to see me, the
Co-Pilot and a stack of wood. Meant they'd get the knives sharpened, set
and left better than before I planed my stock.

Scrapers or planes are best on ridging. If you also had case-hardening, you
should soak the surface before sanding to break the heat set.

"Toller" wrote in message
...
My local high school was kind enough to let me use their 18" planer on
some
17" panels. The shop teacher warned me the blades were "nicked up a bit".
Well, the wood came out looking like it had falling out of a speeding car.
It took me a very long time to clean up with 80grit in a ROS; every time I
thought I was done and went to finer grit I saw the marks were still
there.

Is there a better way to go about this? I never use my belt sander on
anything other than rough carpentry, but I was tempted.

"Mike G" wrote in message
...
Hand plane, cabinet scraper. Belt sander? I'd rather use my teeth!


I cannot agree more with Mike on this...

"Toller" wrote in :


"Mike G" wrote in message
...
Hand plane, cabinet scraper. Belt sander? I'd rather use my teeth!

I guess I have to learn to use a hand plane some day. What size/kind
would be appropriate?

Personal preference to a large degree. I'd grab my #4, but that's my
favorite tool. Any smoother or bench plane will get you through the current
problem as long as the panel is still acceptably flat after the beating it
took at the school and the cleanup sanding. If I was flattening it, I would
probably get out my #6, but IMO that's not a great starter plane.

Dave R.

In article , Toller
wrote:

I guess I have to learn to use a hand plane some day. What size/kind would
be appropriate?

I have a planer with a couple of nicks. I use a #4 plane to clean it up
in a pass or two if the wood's too wide to run through the planer again
on a different path.

--
Is it time to change my sig line yet?

Far from me to buck a trend, I concur with the consensus recommending the
#4. It's the one I most often reach for in just about any circumstances.

Using a plane isn't rocket science and really doesn't have a huge learning
curve. However, setting it up is a somewhat different story. Still not
rocket science but make you adjustments and test them on scrap before you
take on your panel.

For what you are talking about you will probably want the throat closed to
it's maximum and the blade set for taking the very finest of shavings off.
Don't get greedy and try to do it in one pass. Attack the surface with the
grain but with the plane at a slight angle to the direction of travel. This
will give you a cleaner slicing cut and help avoid chatter. Don't bear down
on the plane, let it do it's thing mostly by weight. You're not trying to
remove a lot of material here, just some raised lines.

When doing a panel you will probably find the hardest thing is getting the
blade parallel to the sole of the plane so don't test you adjustments on the
edge of a piece of stock do it on the face so you are taking full width
cuts.

Good luck
--
Mike G.

Heirloom Woods
www.heirloom-woods.net
"Toller" wrote in message
...

"Mike G" wrote in message
...
Hand plane, cabinet scraper. Belt sander? I'd rather use my teeth!

I guess I have to learn to use a hand plane some day. What size/kind
would
be appropriate?

I know this does not answer your question but have you thought about =
replacing the blades on the planer for the kids ? I know your not =
obligated in any way but it would insure you further use of the tool and =
it would benefit the kids a bunch.
Puff

"Toller" wrote in message =
...
My local high school was kind enough to let me use their 18" planer on =
some
17" panels. The shop teacher warned me the blades were "nicked up a =
bit".
Well, the wood came out looking like it had falling out of a speeding =
car.
It took me a very long time to clean up with 80grit in a ROS; every =
time I
thought I was done and went to finer grit I saw the marks were still =
there.
=20
Is there a better way to go about this? I never use my belt sander on
anything other than rough carpentry, but I was tempted.
=20
Thanks.
=20

Mike G wrote:

This will give you a cleaner slicing cut and help avoid chatter. Don't
bear down on the plane, let it do it's thing mostly by weight. You're not
trying to remove a lot of material here, just some raised lines.

And try to avoid raising more lines by getting the blade out of whack and
shiplapping the workpiece. (DAMHIKT...)

--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/

I have always been wary of using a belt sander on good wood but have
discovered recently that it does a very nice job. I've been sanding
some large and very long birch using a Makita 9403 belt sander (11 amp
motor behind a 4 x 24 inch belt) and the results were impressive. I
suspect, although I haven't tried, that my smaller belt sanders would
not yield such good results though.

I'm surprised that the shop teacher doesn't offset the blades a bit to
eliminate the effect of the nicked blades.
RB

Toller wrote:
My local high school was kind enough to let me use their 18" planer on some
17" panels. The shop teacher warned me the blades were "nicked up a bit".
Well, the wood came out looking like it had falling out of a speeding car.
It took me a very long time to clean up with 80grit in a ROS; every time I
thought I was done and went to finer grit I saw the marks were still there.

Is there a better way to go about this? I never use my belt sander on
anything other than rough carpentry, but I was tempted.

Thanks.