I just acquired a pretty good load of white oak and it is fairly old an
pretty dirty. Not mud caked. particularly gritty or anything, but long time
storage dirty. My question is should I somehow clean the wood off prior to
planing so as to save some wear and tear on my planer blades or is it OK to
run it through as is. Thanks in advance.........

Carl Koop asks:

I just acquired a pretty good load of white oak and it is fairly old an
pretty dirty. Not mud caked. particularly gritty or anything, but long time
storage dirty. My question is should I somehow clean the wood off prior to
planing so as to save some wear and tear on my planer blades or is it OK to
run it through as is.

At the very least, brush it good, then run a shop vacuum over it carefully.

And have an extra set of planer blades on hand. You are about to get more
experience in changing them.

Charlie Self
"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today." Will Rogers

Hi, Carl,

You don't really seem to be convinced that you have a grit - or whatever -
problem. If that's so, and it's just storage dirt, then just go for it. If
you think that there is serious grit/mud/concrete contamination, then
belt-sand it first.

Cheers,

Frank



"Carl Koop" wrote in message
link.net...
I just acquired a pretty good load of white oak and it is fairly old
an
pretty dirty. Not mud caked. particularly gritty or anything, but long
time
storage dirty. My question is should I somehow clean the wood off prior
to
planing so as to save some wear and tear on my planer blades or is it OK
to
run it through as is. Thanks in advance.........




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Carl Koop wrote:

I just acquired a pretty good load of white oak and it is fairly old an
pretty dirty. Not mud caked. particularly gritty or anything, but long time
storage dirty. My question is should I somehow clean the wood off prior to
planing so as to save some wear and tear on my planer blades or is it OK to
run it through as is. Thanks in advance.........


A neighbor gave me his old deck (20 or so redwood tubasixs and a few pt
fir). The boards are in varying condition but all were dirty and had
lotsa rough spots. I have been hitting them with a vacuum followed by a
light pass with a belt sander and finally the vacuum again. Oh and
check for metal first. Finally cut off the really rotten stuff. This
keeps the sand and crud out of the jointer and the planer.

Another friend had the nerve to call this treasure "fire wood". Humph.
Philistine.
mahalo,
jo4hn

On 09 May 2004 00:01:06 GMT, otforme (Charlie Self)
wrote:

Carl Koop asks:

I just acquired a pretty good load of white oak and it is fairly old an
pretty dirty. Not mud caked. particularly gritty or anything, but long time
storage dirty. My question is should I somehow clean the wood off prior to
planing so as to save some wear and tear on my planer blades or is it OK to
run it through as is.

At the very least, brush it good, then run a shop vacuum over it carefully.

And have an extra set of planer blades on hand. You are about to get more
experience in changing them.

Charlie Self
"Don't let yesterday use up too much of today." Will Rogers



and for the really dirty spots, have a scraper on hand.

That's why they make them replaceable

--
Mike G.

Heirloom Woods
www.heirloom-woods.net
"Carl Koop" wrote in message
link.net...
I just acquired a pretty good load of white oak and it is fairly old
an
pretty dirty. Not mud caked. particularly gritty or anything, but long
time
storage dirty. My question is should I somehow clean the wood off prior
to
planing so as to save some wear and tear on my planer blades or is it OK
to
run it through as is. Thanks in advance.........

"Charlie Self" wrote in message

And have an extra set of planer blades on hand. You are about to get more
experience in changing them.


I'd run a lot of boards through on a light pass (after brushing and
vacuuming them) before I put the new blades in.
Ed

http://pages.cthome.net/edhome

On Sat, 08 May 2004 23:47:59 GMT, "Carl Koop" wrote:

I just acquired a pretty good load of white oak and it is fairly old an
pretty dirty. Not mud caked. particularly gritty or anything, but long time
storage dirty. My question is should I somehow clean the wood off prior to
planing so as to save some wear and tear on my planer blades or is it OK to
run it through as is. Thanks in advance.........

================
Without reading any of the replies you have gotten I would just run
oit thru the planner...

Reasons
Cleaning is not one of my favorite things...and I never cleaned
lumber anyway...
Planner blades are not that expensive...(and I am cheap)
Total time spent cleaning would be equal to or greater then just
planning
And changing the blades is not a difficult process...

I may (depending on how "dirty" I though the lumber to be) swap
in an old set of blades and do a fast clean up of the surface using
them...

Bob Griffiths

As a new owner of a planer I say clean it however you can and get that metal
out too. Your blades will thank you for it.
Have fun!
Joe


--
A hobbyist / carpenter with an emphasis on small projects.


"Carl Koop" wrote in message
link.net...
I just acquired a pretty good load of white oak and it is fairly old
an
pretty dirty. Not mud caked. particularly gritty or anything, but long
time
storage dirty. My question is should I somehow clean the wood off prior
to
planing so as to save some wear and tear on my planer blades or is it OK
to
run it through as is. Thanks in advance.........

Thanks for all the answers and suggestions! I have no concerns regarding
metal in the wood and the dirt is not real heavy, so I think a quick
brushing and vacuuming is all that is called for. Once I have run them
through I will see if a blade change is required.

By the way the lumber came from a local custom millwork shop that was
basically cleaning out old lumber. I picked up 25 4/4x5x120 white oak
boards for $50.00, 10 4/4x6x120 hard maple boards for $50 and 3 8/4x8x120
Honduran mahogany boards for $40.

-- Carl


"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
...

"Charlie Self" wrote in message

And have an extra set of planer blades on hand. You are about to get
more
experience in changing them.


I'd run a lot of boards through on a light pass (after brushing and
vacuuming them) before I put the new blades in.
Ed

http://pages.cthome.net/edhome