Planer/thicknesser.

[Chippygeoff]

Hi Guys and gals.

I have crept over here from the scroll saw section and i need some advice. I have just started working with a scroll saw but one of the problems is getting timber thin enough and the long term answer is to buy a planer/thicknesser but I have not got much idea. I have a budget of around £500 and ideally I would like a bench top model. I have heard some bad things about Axy machines. I need to have various hardwoods planed from about 3/4 down to about a 1/4inch and I suppose the widest timber I would use would be about 8inches. Ideally I would like something where changing the blades would be quite a simple job. While on the subject of blades would it be cheaper to have them sharpened as opposed to buying a new set. I would be very grateful for any advice. many thanks.

Geoff

 

[George_N]

Hi Geoff,
planing 3/4" stock down to 1/4" sounds like a huge waste of potentially expensive material. It sounds to me like you also need some sort of re-saw capacity. A band saw that will re-saw 8" wide boards would probably eat up your budget but I reckon that as an alternative to planing away 2/3 of your timber, it would soon pay for itself. The little Axminster bench top planer/thicknessers have had a pretty good write-up on the forum. I've not got one myself, so this isn't an endorsement, just a comment.

 

[devonwoody]

Also planing off that much timber from a 3/4" board would most probably result in timber stress movement?

I would suspect unless you make an outlay of around 5 to 7 hundred pounds on machinery ( BS, extractor, p/t) you would be financially better off purchasing timber direct from specialist suppliers to your craft.

However perhaps other scrollers would say differently to me.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Yes, I'm afraid a P/T on its own is not going to benefit you very much, any P/T will quickly get clogged if you don't extract the chipping properly, so you need a DX.
I have a Kity 637 and such machines crop up regularly on eBay. I've never regretted buying it, although it did take a bit of fettling to get it right. A second-hand machine is within your budget. But you do also need a DX and a BS is a very wise addition.

Not so straightforward, is it?
S

 

[DaveyP]

+1 with the others..

Better and cheaper would be to search and find a supplier who can do the sizes you want, either directly from stock or by offering a resawing service.

Sure your going to have to pay extra.... but unless your buying by the cart load its going to be cheaper.

 

[Chippygeoff]

Many thanks every one for the very helpful advice. I forgot to mention though that I have a Jet band saw and can cut timber up to 10inches thick. At the moment the only way I can see me getting the thickness of timber I need for various projects is to slightly over cut the thickness I need on the band saw and then plane it with a smoothing plane and being disabled i would really struggle to do this. By the way, I am was a chippy/joiner for many years but had to pack it all in a few years ago.

With regard to extraction I have a numatic NV750 on order which will be perfect for my other needs and also a Jet air filter, I am converting a spare bedroom into a sort of workshop. I have my wood turning operation in another outside small workshop but it does not have the space for me to expand, hence the spare bedroom. In this I will have my bandsaw, the scroll saw, a compound mitre saw. A sharpening system for lathe and hand tools. a drill press, a belt/disc sander and hopefully a small planer thicknesser. All the machines I have have different sized extraction outlets which is a pain and the numatic has a hose of 51mm so at the moment I am making my own connections for each machine on the lathe in Ash.

I can see the logic of getting timber from a supplier already planed but I am running a sort of production line where I make round about 20 of the same item each time to keep up with the demand from craft centres and also to build up stock for the craft fairs I attend. I use about ten different hardwoods and get through a fair bit. I also live right out in the sticks and there is just nowhere to buy timber in various thicknesses. If I buy online I will have to pay postage and the wood will be expensive anyway and this will in turn make my little business less viable. At the moment I get some timber for nothing and when i do buy hardwoods from a company down the road I get a very good deal as a lot of it is quite rough and often has the bark still on it but when used for wood turning it does not really matter as a session on the bandsaw soon has it to the sizes I need. With a palner thicknesser I can rip timber to roughly the size i need and then run it over the planer on one face and one side and then with two or three passes through the thicknesser it will be the thickness I need.

 

[devonwoody]

Yes what you need then is a P/T. and remember the extraction as well will be needed.

 

[DaveyP]

Hi Chippygeoff

Ok.. now we have better info we can move the goal post a bit lol

As you can resaw your self, is it not possible* (maybe with a different blade from Ian ) to achieve a quality of cut that only requires a lightish sanding rather than planing to finish ?


* it is really

 

[Eric The Viking]

Speaking from limited personal experience, tuning and the right choice of blades will transform a bandsaw.

Mine is a small SIP, and it's very useful for the sort of tasks you have. I won't bore everyone with suggestions as to where to find help, suffice it to say there are some excellent tuning DVDs out there and at least one superb maker of bandsaw blades on the forum. A quick run of the search engine will reveal all . 8" would be achievable with the right blade, bansdsaw and setup. I'd have to measure mine but it's close to that.

Once you've got to that stage the finish is relatively easy.

 

[Chippygeoff]

Hi Guys. I totally agree about getting a good cut and a half decent finish from a bandsaw. I have a large Jet bandsaw and i use it a lot. I have found the axcaliber blades to be very good but even so the finish is better than other blades I have used but is still not that good. I have a Makita professional orbital sander (over £300) and a Hitachi palm sander and it is a tedious job sanding the band saw marks off. When the belt/disc sander arrives things will be considerably better for the smaller items.

 

[DaveyP]

and a half decent finish from a bandsaw

Half .. Half ..

I'll see your half and raise you 7/8

 

[devonwoody]

Could not imagine with all your tools and machinery you would have wanted to plane away half and inch of timber tho. (hammer)

 

[Chippygeoff]

Hi Guys. Just thought I would clarify something. You all seem to think I am going to plane away loads of timber to get it down to a 1/4 inch. I am not that stupid and timber being the price that it is I want the minimum of waste. What I said was that I want timber for scroll saw work from 3/4 to 1/4inch. I shall cut timber near enough to the thickness I need and then plane it which will mean a couple of passes and hey presto job done.

Geoff.

 

[kirkpoore1]

Geoff:

It seems like you have a pretty good handle on things. I have not found resawing to be worth my time, but I buy wood in bulk from small mills so my situation is different. Using your thicknesser to do the cleanup is the right way to go.

As far as resharpening bandsaw blades vs buying new, I would suggest getting a dremel tool and a small diamond bit and try to resharpen them yourself. For resawing you'll need a relatively coarse blade (few teeth per inch), so you can try using one of these bits:
http://www.mytoolstore.com/dremel/dmdbits.html
You'd want to try a 7122, 7134, or 7144. I've had good success resharpening blades a couple of times before the tooth set is too far gone. I think if you use a magnifying glass you'll see well enough to get the technique down. And hey, if it doesn't work, you were going to toss the blade anyway, right?

Good luck...

Kirk

 

[Harbo]

A new blade for my Startrite 352 costs about £11 from Ian.

Properly set up this is what it can do - the beech is 10" deep:

The wood is as it came off the saw.


Rod

 

[Chippygeoff]

Thanks again to everyone for help and advice. Rod. I am amazed at that 10inch beech straight from the band saw. I thought I had mine pretty well tuned up but obviously I will have to look at it again. I have never seen timber come from a band saw that good. If I can achieve that finish then just a light sand will make it perfect. Thanks again.

 

[dickm]

I have never seen timber come from a band saw that good.

ah, yes, but he is using a 352

 

[devonwoody]

Shouldn't think that could be beaten. Looks good.