Hurray - My idea wasn't stupid after all

[transatlantic]

A while back I created this post where I had the idea of using a belt sander attached to an XYZ table for flattening panels.

Well, scrolling through youtube and I came across a massive machine that does just that! ...granted it's a little different, but the general idea is the same

 

[RobinBHM]

Thats a pad sander, Wadkin used to make a few models.

They were popular industrial machines for sanding before the introduction of the wide belt sander

 

[sunnybob]

Use a router sled with a bowl bit. smooth as a babies sit upon.

 

[transatlantic]

Use a router sled with a bowl bit. smooth as a babies sit upon.

#

yes yes. This always gets mentioned, but its so damn slow!

I was looking for alternatives to a planer/thicknesser due to lack of space, to which there are many :

- Hand planes
- planer with sled
- router with sled
- router table jointer
- bench top jointer (nothing available that is any good)

but none are very appealing as a permanent solution for milling material.

So I've just accepted that I need to make space for a floor standing planer/thicknesser

 

[sunnybob]

Slow compared to a belt sander? But how many times are you going to change belt grit? If the piece is badly warped youre going to need 3 or 4 belt changes to get even close to a router finish.
And if its speed you want then a thicknesser is the answer.

 

[bugbear]

The pad sander (AKA stroke sander) doesn't flatten - the pad is free in the vertical plane.

So it just smooths, which is what it's for.

BugBear

 

[Lons]

Unless you're just smoothing the surface taking off high spots it's not worth the effort imo and anyway if doing that it's just as easy to use a propriety sanding frame freehand or make one. I used the one for my old Elu sander successfully for years.

Router is the way to go for stock removal or build a thickness drum sander.

cheers
Bob

 

[Ttrees]

I think the planer thicknesser is to solution here...
I don't know how heavy the bed is to lift up though ...
Or a powered hand plane or a big router on a sled ...
I don't think the router idea would be as slow going as you seem to think, but the powered hand plane would be faster.
Have you seen Hendjim's CNC setup ?
You might as well have a look at his channel too.
Tom

 

[undergroundhunter]

Personally I use a No5 with a cambered iron to thickness stock, I can pretty much guarantee that its quicker than all but a powered jointer. It just takes a little practice to get quick at it, after all it was done that way for a few hundred years before powered machines came along.

Matt

 

[bugbear]

Personally I use a No5 with a cambered iron to thickness stock, I can pretty much guarantee that its quicker than all but a powered jointer. It just takes a little practice to get quick at it, after all it was done that way for a few hundred years before powered machines came along.

Matt

A wooden jack (or scrub, or scrubby jack) is much faster than a Bailey #5. There's a learning curve though.

BugBear

 

[AJB Temple]

If you have room for a sled and sander set up, you have room for a P/T. Quite honestly, if I am thicknessing a stack of boards, messing about with a sander or router would be the last thing I would do. Straight through the PT. Comes out ready to work, shaving all nicely in the cyclone, in no time, perfectly to size.

 

[transatlantic]

If you have room for a sled and sander set up, you have room for a P/T. Quite honestly, if I am thicknessing a stack of boards, messing about with a sander or router would be the last thing I would do. Straight through the PT. Comes out ready to work, shaving all nicely in the cyclone, in no time, perfectly to size.

Exactly. As mentioned, I came to the same conclusion, just a bit naive

 

[MarkDennehy]

Personally I use a No5 with a cambered iron to thickness stock, I can pretty much guarantee that its quicker than all but a powered jointer. It just takes a little practice to get quick at it, after all it was done that way for a few hundred years before powered machines came along.

Matt

A wooden jack (or scrub, or scrubby jack) is much faster than a Bailey #5. There's a learning curve though.

BugBear

Or a €12 special after some work with a file and a vicious camber. Meet Sid:

Thing is, do that long enough (where "long enough" generally means "three minutes with kiln-dried ash") and you start having distinctly amorous feelings towards powered thicknessers
(If they made a lunchbox thicknesser with an induction motor, I'd have bought two already out by reflex)

 

[ED65]

A wooden jack (or scrub, or scrubby jack) is much faster than a Bailey #5.

If the radius on the iron were the same is there that much difference?

There's a learning curve though.

I think given the non-exacting requirements of roughing work it isn't anything that couldn't be picked up in a only a few minutes TBH.

 

[ED65]

Meet Sid:

Meet his cousin, Benny:

My iron's radius isn't quite as small as yours but it works quite well for minor hogging off. I think I'd need to make the curve more aggressive if I had lots of wood to remove.

Thing is, do that long enough (where "long enough" generally means "three minutes with kiln-dried ash") and you start having distinctly amorous feelings towards powered thicknessers

Can I just check, were you working diagonally or across the board?

 

[sunnybob]

I thought we were talking about asingle pieces. If we are talking bulk, then a thicknesser every time.

I understand people who are good with a plane, and admire a craftsman, but from my view point as a very newbie amateur, the words "just need a bit of practice" instantly means I could not afford the boards with which to practice on.

 

[MarkDennehy]

Meet Sid:

Meet his cousin, Benny:

Hell of a lot prettier than mine

My iron's radius isn't quite as small as yours but it works quite well for minor hogging off. I think I'd need to make the curve more aggressive if I had lots of wood to remove.

To be fair, mine's set up for pine; it works reasonably well for hardwoods if I take a shallower cut but I need to ease off that camber a bit to take anything thicker than a 1.5mm shaving, I don't have the muscle to take off anything more with it.

Can I just check, were you working diagonally or across the board?

Both. The way I normally thickness is to mark a line from the reference face to the desired thickness, then use my jack to take a camber down from the opposite face to that line (on all four sides) and I scribble a pencil line on the camber to mark it out along the full length of the camber (that makes it easier to see if I'm taking the thickness down more in one area than another) . Then I go directly across the grain with the scrub for the bulk of the thickness and diagonally across the grain with the scrub when I'm getting closer, and for the last mm or so I go down the grain once with the scrub just to cut through the scallops and then I switch to the jack to get down to the line itself.

It works - and it's not difficult to understand, this isn't stochastic calculus after all - but by the time I'm done the temperature and the humidity in the shed have climbed quite a bit and if I had any puff left I'd be teaching bystanders new words


edit: Also, that's for when there's a lot to come off, like taking inch boards down to three quarters; if it's only a mm or two, I just run down the grain with the jack and be done with it, naturally

 

[undergroundhunter]

I thought we were talking about asingle pieces. If we are talking bulk, then a thicknesser every time.

I understand people who are good with a plane, and admire a craftsman, but from my view point as a very newbie amateur, the words "just need a bit of practice" instantly means I could not afford the boards with which to practice on.

It really doest take much practice, you can use any wood even a pallet. Gauge a line all the way round then plane to the line. Once you have done it a couple of times you will realise how close to the line you can go before changing planes therefore saving time and energy.

A wooden jack (or scrub, or scrubby jack) is much faster than a Bailey #5. There's a learning curve though.

BugBear

Incidentally I do now use a wooden jack, using a metal plane takes its toll after a while.

 

[MarkDennehy]

Incidentally I do now use a wooden jack, using a metal plane takes its toll after a while.

Is there really that much of a drop in resistance? I mean, my metal planes are grand once you rub a candle over the sole.

 

[JohnPW]

Wooden planes are lighter and less tiring to use.