Hand plane wood then use a thicknesser - does it work?

[Fromey]

I do it all the time

http://www.renaissancewoodworker.com/rw ... d-milling/

 

[WoodMangler]

The critical piece of kit is a decent long straight edge

I'd add a pair of winding sticks to that, to show up any twist.

 

[matthewwh]

Just a quick one to add if you're not used to using a lunchbox toaster.

It sounds obvious, but make sure you set it for the thickest part of the board and work down from there. When leveling boards it's really easy to feed them the thin end of a wedge and end up with the board stuck in the machine - disassembly of the machine is the only way out.

 

[Vann]

...to avoid confusion remember our American Cousins call a thicknesser a planer and a planer a jointer, weird!!!

Your Kiwi cousins call a planer a buzzer *, and a thicknesser just that. But then we're probably weird too (but never as weird has those Yanks (hammer) ).

* well, the tradesmen did at the plant where I did my apprenticeship 40 years ago, though I believe other terms have crept into usage too.

Cheers, Vann.

 

[Paddy Roxburgh]

Just a quick one to add if you're not used to using a lunchbox toaster.

It sounds obvious, but make sure you set it for the thickest part of the board and work down from there. When leveling boards it's really easy to feed them the thin end of a wedge and end up with the board stuck in the machine - disassembly of the machine is the only way out.

Matthew, I have only used 3 phase under over machines at work but am thinking of getting a "lunchbox" (or toaster" for my shed at home. When I get a piece stuck in my thicknesser at work I just lower the bed and take it out. I can see that the little hobby thicknessers work by the cutter not the bed moving,does this mean I can't just raise the cutter if I get a piece stuck? Disassembly sounds like a PITA. I have a little inca 8" planer at home but in light of what you've said I may ebay it and by a cheap under over for the shed.

Sorry if this questio should be in a different part of the forum as this is veering away from a hand tool discussion.

Paddy

 

[Fromey]

I can highly recommend the Makita 2012NB thicknesser.

 

[KevM]

Another vote for the Makita 2012NB sandwich toaster oven - I only use mine outside so I can't comment on its extraction abilities, but it feels significantly quieter in use (I still use hearing protection) than the Dewalt 733 which I borrowed briefly. It uses reversible disposable blades which is a downside for some, but they last for ages and only take a few minutes to change.

I bash the high spots off one side with a scrub plane, flip it and pass through the thicknesser. Further to Matthew's tip about feeding the higher end in first to avoid jamming I almost (!) always start quite high and creep up on the thickness I need - there's no point over taxing portable machinery.

 

[Job and Knock]

Just watched the video and to avoid confusion remember our American Cousins call a thicknesser a planer and a planer a jointer, weird!!!

If you read any texts from the 1950s you'll find that we used to call a thicknesser a "panel planer" and the term "jointer" was in common use, alongside "overhand planer". It's our language which has changed

 

[matthewwh]

Matthew, I have only used 3 phase under over machines at work but am thinking of getting a "lunchbox" (or toaster" for my shed at home. When I get a piece stuck in my thicknesser at work I just lower the bed and take it out. I can see that the little hobby thicknessers work by the cutter not the bed moving,does this mean I can't just raise the cutter if I get a piece stuck? Disassembly sounds like a PITA. I have a little inca 8" planer at home but in light of what you've said I may ebay it and by a cheap under over for the shed.

Sorry if this questio should be in a different part of the forum as this is veering away from a hand tool discussion.

Paddy

You might get away with raising it if you can catch it when the motor starts to complain, but in my experience once the thing has ground to a halt it's wedged in and the adjustment will no longer move. You can't pull it back once the anti kickback teeth are engaged so its out with the spanners and allen keys.

It's not a huge job to sight along the board and either jack plane the humps off or feed it in carefully by hand and nip the tops off that way.

 

[Chrispy]

I call my thicknesser the mangle that's what it does, especially if you get a sleeve caught.