Thicknessing small pieces of wood

[paulrbarnard]

If you are brave you can also make a push stick, a bit like a pizza slice with which you can push through bits that are too small, or feed through the piece in a diamond orientation which will make it a bit longer if you see my meaning. But they certainly wouldn’t be my first choice !

Could also be your last choice…

 

[Samkilby]

Yeah I guess so. Incredibly unlikely to be killed by a thicknesser, or even hit by a projectile coming out of one if you use common sense (doing anything a bit maverick stand off to the side for example, if anything gets stuck stop the machine before looking, take very small chomps with the depth, if you are manual feeding do so slowly and be conscious of knots or changes in the tone of the machine etc.)

I mean before powered feed thicknessers I assume the they would have been manually fed, and the planing operation above the table is, and is not particularly dissimilar..

I suppose my terminology might be slightly amiss when I said push stick, really I meant for this to be used to push pieces that hadn’t come into contact with the rollers (or at least not enough because the depth was set to high.

Anyway - my advice remains stick the piece to a board and you are unlikely to have any issues.

 

[cowtown_eric]

hand planes are perfect for small pieces, and much safer and less risky to achieve results

At our makerspace 10" is minimum length, with the axiom that it has to have good contact with at least one feed roller.

If a short piece got loose from a sled in the thickness planers, it wuld likely just turn to toothpicks in a hurry.

For the thickness sander, a short piece NOT held down by a roller could damage the aluminium cylinders which would likely make the machine scrap iron!

Eric in the colonies

 

[weigen369]

Minimum processing length: approx. 9 cm
Machining to the thinnest piece of wood: approx. 1 mm

 

[Rodpr]

What MichaelChou said, stick down 'rails' either side of a piece of MDF, with pieces stuck down between them

 

[RobinBHM]

Would you not be at all worried pushing screws through your P/T?

No, I would check with digital callipers before pushing through.

Ive used the “over length and put a few screws in” on many situations. Useful on a spindle moulder etc

 

[sams93]

No, I would check with digital callipers before pushing through.

Ive used the “over length and put a few screws in” on many situations. Useful on a spindle moulder etc

Obviously works well for you but i'd be petrified of sending anything with metal through my P/T

 

[Fergie 307]

Minimum processing length: approx. 9 cm
Machining to the thinnest piece of wood: approx. 1 mm

View attachment 160342View attachment 160343

What is the make of that rather funky machine please.

 

[sawtooth-9]

P

Minimum processing length: approx. 9 cm
Machining to the thinnest piece of wood: approx. 1 mm

View attachment 160342View attachment 160343

Please post details on the site or PM me
Specs, prices and how to buy ?

 

[throbscottle]

I've used a sled or baseboard to put small pieces through p/t or drum sander, also a mini self-contained router sled: make a base, add side rails screwed to the outer ends under the base. Pic below with luck..
D/s tape or hot glue the pieces to a flat surface and skim them with the router. I've made 2mm veneers with that. With a couple of different-height side rail sets it covers thicknessing a range of things. With pieces that size you could do several at once.

One surface I use the mini sled on is laminate-covered kitchen worktop, hot glue holds things find and pops off wood & surface no problems. If any bits do get left they come off easily with painters panel wipe (also called pre-paint and similar - excellent general cleaner & degreaser and remover of tape leftovers).

With a bowl cutter the surface is good, free of plough lines.

I did some small drawer fronts with a similar setup. Actually just laying the piece on the laminate and squidging hot glue at the corners on the grain end was secure enough and easy to remove with a twist. Came out flat with a very cheap cutter! (Though, I had to run it slow else it really roughed the wood up)

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Thicknessing small pieces of wood lets say 100mm square to 7mm thick. What is the best way to do this? We have a large spiral thicknesser/planer but at a guess it needs something 18 inches long to go through.

Can you use a handplane?

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Rewound]

Can you use a handplane?

Regards from Perth

Derek

I can indeed, and often do.

 

[sams93]

Proxxon do their reslly small thicknesser which can handle very small pieces, and thickness down to 1.0mm, obviously at the limitation that it cannot handle anything even moderate in size. PROXXON - DH 40

 

[Sachakins]

Try micro Lux

https://www.micromark.com/MicroLux-Drum-Thickness-Sander

 

[Sachakins]

This too
￡1,196.36 20%OFF | Precision Small Planer Model Woodworking Thicknesser 12 X8cm Super Cutting Ability Mute
https://a.aliexpress.com/_Evzr6A5