How to get a piece of timber 2.5mm and spot on?

[dvddvd]

Hi all
I'm working on a project and need some Maple pieces of timber 70mm x 500mm x 2.5mm.
I have some machinery in my home workshop and I wondered how you lot would do it from a piece of 75mm x 50mm timber?

I have a

200mm blade table saw
Record Sabre 450 bandsaw
Sheppach 260 planer thicknesser
Charnwood drum sander 10/20

Thanks

 

[TRITON]

Bandsaw off the strips, with enough on them to drum sand off.

You could dress the main section after each cut. If you wanted. No real point in using the thicknesser I'd have thought. More chance of chip out or burn marks. End up doing five times the work

 

[Yojevol]

That raises a few questions in my mind:-

1. What are you going to use them for when finished
2. How many do you need out of the 50mm
3. What is the state of your bandsaw blade
4. How many tpi on bandsaw blade
5. Have you got a rip blade for the table saw

I would start by planing a face side and edge. Then thickness to get your 70mm followed by thicknessing to get the remaining face clean.
Now for cutting the first laminas. I would prefer to use the table saw with a rip blade if possible; quicker and more accurate. Cut a 3mm lamina off each face. Then, as Triton suggests, clean up both sawn faces on the planer. Repeat until you have your required number.
Now use the drum sander to clean up the sawn faces and bring down to your 2.5mm.
If I were using the laminas for cladding, I would try to leave the final thicknessing until after glueing on.
Brian

 

[johnnyb]

Cut 2.5mm off the left of the blade by moving the fence about 6mm each strip. See my post on bevel slat shutters. Not safe to pass between the fence and blade. How you do the final skim is the most tricksy bit. I think I'd struggle at that thickness tbh.

 

[ChaiLatte]

Your list of equipment does not include any measuring devices.

The "spot on-ness" of your solution is not only dependent on the tools you use to cut the timber, it also depends on how you wish to assess the result.

 

[Dalboy]

I cut slightly over the thickness after planing one face then sand them down to what is required using a drill press and drum sander as in the photo it worked for me. It just meant tapping the back fence until I was down to the thickness required. Maybe a little heath robinson but works.
I then repeat planing one surface the cut and sand

 

[niall Y]

I cut slightly over the thickness after planing one face then sand them down to what is required using a drill press and drum sander as in the photo it worked for me. It just meant tapping the back fence until I was down to the thickness required. Maybe a little heath robinson but works.
I then repeat planing one surface the cut and sand

I like it - Very similar to Stewmac's " luthiers friend sanding station" , but, no doubt, a fraction of the price.

 

[Jacob]

2.5mm is too thin for most thicknessers, which most likely would chew it up anyway.
The answer is to add a low friction bed in the form of a 10mm sheet of PTFE.
Same size as the bed plus 20mm or so where you attach a lip to latch it on. No other fixing needed.
The extra thickness means you can take the thickness down lower and the low friction makes for a trouble free cut.
Sharp blades also help!

 

[dvddvd]

Hi thanks for the replies.
I will give them all a go, the blade on the bandsaw is new, I specifically asked for a blade for veneers when I ordered a new blade.
My table saw won't cut to 70mm so I'll try planing 2 sides then cut some strips on the bandsaw, allowing some sanding room.

I let you know how I get on!

 

[Fireburst]

Plane and thickness your maple and then cut off a 3 - 3.5mm sheet. Put your maple through the thicknesser again before cutting your next sheet, and then rinse and repeat until you have all the sheets you require. It's then a matter of putting your sheets through the drum sander to get the required thickness and finish.

It is time-consuming, and you must have your band saw set up at a perfect 90 and parallel with a good blade. Take your time, and it should be straightforward with maple.

 

[Chubber]

Whoa! Ensure your thicknesser will cut and feed a strip that thin without something making a loud, expensive noise, AND clear the chippings.

If it all looks a bit too tight and cramped in there, make a narrow smooth flat board with a noggin at one end to act as a false bed for the thicknesser.

I imagine that the modern fashion for rubber feed rollers on more 'economical' machines must compress at least 1mm in use.

But perhaps I am being a bit over cautious?

 

[Fireburst]

Whoa! Ensure your thicknesser will cut and feed a strip that thin without something making a loud, expensive noise, AND clear the chippings.

If it all looks a bit too tight and cramped in there, make a narrow smooth flat board with a noggin at one end to act as a false bed for the thicknesser.

I imagine that the modern fashion for rubber feed rollers on more 'economical' machines must compress at least 1mm in use.

But perhaps I am being a bit over cautious?

He won't be putting 2.5mm sheets through the thicknesser. He will just use the thicknesser to give him a good side for when he puts it through his drum sander.

 

[Chubber]

Oh! Insert embarrassed emoji...

Sorry, another million wasted electrons.

 

[Jake]

I did a wooden ceiling a while ago which has a 90 degree curve in it. Most of the ceiling is reclaimed strip flooring, but to get around the bend it needed a veneered section over bendy ply. This involved making lots of 2-3mm strips from the same timber (so tolerance was a bit higher than dead on 2.5). Bandsawed them to about 5mm and then ran them through the thicknesser with a similar 'bed pad' set up to what Jacob suggested. Mine is waxed mdf though. Works perfectly, lost maybe 2 or 3 strips with a bit of a bang and splintering, no harm done, probably a bit of defect or reversal in the grain or something. The other 50 or so went fine. This was to a fully thicknessed end result both sides. The only sanding was after it was glued up to the ceiling.

At least in my mind, the rubber infeed roller on the HMS260 might have helped.