Using a Planer/Thicknesser from a chair

[transatlantic]

I was wondering if a few of you could do me a favour and try to use your planers (something like a Axminster Hobby Series AH106PT Planer Thicknesser) from a seating position (as if you were in a wheelchair). The restriction being that once you set your initial position, you can't move from that position, and must perform the entire operation from that one spot.

There is obviously a height issue, but assume the planer would be at a comfortable height (perhaps raise your chair?)

I'd like to know :

A) Was it actually possible?
B) Was it practical?
C) What do you think would be the maximum length you'd go to? (assuming rollers in place)
D) What would be your safety concerns?
E) Could a feather edge be used to provide downward pressure on the outfeed, enabling you to only have to concentrate on the infeed?
F) Where would you locate yourself? middle? left of cutter? right of cutter?

Looking forwards to your replies!

(I'm bracing myself for a lot of negative feedback! so please be honest!)

 

[custard]

I just had a little go at this, not from a chair but by planting my feet and not moving.

I found myself wanting to take up a position right by the cutter block. With a normal guard that could be difficult as the guard will often stick out where you want to be,

There are some guards though that have drop down segments, something like this might be particularly relevant to a wheelchair user.

I found I'd struggle to handle a board longer than about 1.0-1.2m. Maybe it's just because it all felt a bit unusual (I'd normally start behind the cutter and finish ahead of the cutter)

One other thing, I like to get my body right over the board, standing back was certainly more strenuous on the arms. My usual practise is to wax all the tables with something like Silber Gleit every morning, if I was working from a wheelchair I'd be tempted to do that at least three or four times a day so that the workpieces moved as slickly as possible over the table, minimising the arm strain.

It didn't feel particularly safe, I found if I couldn't move position then the compromise stance right by the cutter block forced my hands closer than comfortable to the planer knives, and on the infeed side my left arm was hovering right above the cutter block, and on the outfeed side it was my right arm that was getting a bit too close.

I guess operating a thicknesser from a wheelchair would be a lot easier, not much different in fact from doing it standing up. Is there not an option to roughly hand plane one face and then do all the planing/thicknessing via a lunch box style thicknesser? If you used a sled the amount of hand planing could be minimised down to almost nothing.

Just a thought.

 

[transatlantic]

Thank you custard.

I'm already able to operate my bench top thicknesser (Triton) quite comfortably, even with 2.4m lengths. I have toyed around with the idea of using a sled, but it won't help with making things square, will it? ... and I really would quite like the ability of being able to quickly joint something.

I have been practising the actions against a table top (which I know isn't the same) and found it somewhat managable. But I suspect it will feel very different when I have that blade going!

What were your thoughs on the feather edges on the outfeed? I know I would need a particuly good solid fence for this, and I know it would only work if the board was somewhat uniform in the first place, but I won't be doing any crazy slabs. Just rought sawn stuff.

 

[mbartlett99]

How about using a small power feeder?

 

[Mr T]

I've just tried surfacing from a sitting position. The only chair available in the workshop was an IKEA stool 630mm high. Like Custard I found it best to be adjacent to the cutter block. I didn't find the guard got in the way as my knees went below it. I didn't find difficulty with out feed, I think feather boards may be more trouble than they are worth. Being lower meant that I had less traction on the workpiece so a slippery table and grippy gloves would be important for safety. I tried a 2 mtre piece and whilst it was a little unwealdy getting onto the infeed I did not feel it was unsafe, I had a stand on the outfeed but not on the infeed, having one there would have helped.

In took a couple of pics feeding a shorter piece through, there is a pillar by the planer so it was tricky getting the right angle.

Chris

 

[custard]

What were your thoughs on the feather edges on the outfeed?

Personally I don't like them for machine planing. Even if the workpiece is fairly uniform to begin with (and that's a big "if"), feather boards don't have a lot of operating range. The gap between too much and too little pressure is often only a mill or two, so as the workpiece is being planed away it's getting thinner, which would mean stopping and repositioning the feather boards every couple of passes.

I tried again this morning planing from a fixed position, I'm changing my mind and now favouring being just on the infeed side but close to the cutter block.

I hear what you say about edge planing, but I almost never edge joint a machine planed board (I'm picky about glue lines) so I'd always at least finish with a bench plane. Yes I'll generally do the initial edge squaring on a machine, but for hobbyist scale output it's not that big a deal to do all your edge planing by hand. Especially if you knock together a lateral shooting board something like this,

Or shoot on your bench like this,

There was a longish thread recently about edge planing, the normal wide range of opinions, but if you evaluate them all you're sure to find something that works for you.

 

[custard]

Chris's and mine posts crossed. Actually Chris is demonstrating the exact position I ended up in this morning. I hated being bent over the cutter block and became a lot more conscious about clothing and cuffs hanging loose, I was planing 50-60mm thick boards so there was a fair old gap between the guard and the cutter block.

 

[custard]

Incidentally, when it comes to edge shooting at your bench, if you have a lift out tool tray like this,

Then you can hold the workpiece from the rear, like this

which means in turn that you'd be planing at the front of your bench. So very convenient for a wheelchair user. This is how I edge joint saw cut veneers, it's an extremely accurate and reliable technique.

Anyhow, lunch break over so back to the bench!

 

[Mark A]

I can't imagine hand planing being any easier to do from a seated position than using a planer.

What about a router thicknessing jig, or a sled for the planer thicknesser?

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

[graduate_owner]

I would just like to say - good on you for keeping at your hobby and overcoming the challenges.

K

 

[transatlantic]

Thank you very much for taking the time to try this Custard and Peter, it's very much appreciated and has given me some ideas.

I like your idea Custard of doing the final passes with a hand plane, at least that way if I'm a little wobbly on the planer I can correct it ... hopefully.

I'm also wondering if in my scenario, the American style spring guard might be safer?

 

[custard]

I'm also wondering if in my scenario, the American style spring guard might be safer?

Hmmm? It's been years since I used a machine with one of those kidney shaped guards fitted.

I suspect it won't be any good in your case, from memory there's a moment when the workpiece has just cleared the cutter block, but the guard hasn't yet sprung back, so the knives are fully exposed. If the operator is around the outfeed side then it's possibly acceptable, but if you're on the infeed side then you'd be leaning right over the exposed knives.

 

[ColeyS1]

How about using a small power feeder?

I did this with an old planer when I had huge lengths of green oak to plane up. The roller was just on the outfeed and it worked beautifully. I'm not sure if it'd be any good on small thin bendy timber though- probably similar to just pushing it through the thicknesser.


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[AJB Temple]

I have been intrigued by this thread. I would have thought a solution would be a seat or bench that enables you to move along as the wood passes over the cutter block. Like the bench seat on a rowing machine but running side to side rather than fore and aft.

 

[transatlantic]

I have been intrigued by this thread. I would have thought a solution would be a seat or bench that enables you to move along as the wood passes over the cutter block. Like the bench seat on a rowing machine but running side to side rather than fore and aft.

That sounds like an interesting idea. Unfortunately for me, I am a paraplegic, so no sensation below chest.

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[Mr T]

Just wondered if it would be worth contacting Help for Hero's about this. They may have people in a similar situation to you and I know they are hot on H&S so they may have some suggestions.

Chris

 

[custard]

I had a third go at this, but this time following Chris's lead I used a stool. By bringing the fence right forward it all felt a lot more manageable...and a lot safer!

This is how a piece of rough sawn Oak turned out,

Nothing wrong with that.

I know I've said I always finish a board edge with a bench plane before edge jointing, but if I'm honest there's probably some hand craftsmanship snootiness there. 99% of industrial scale furniture makers will edge joint straight from the machine, and millions of consumers are perfectly happy with the results. So the more rationale conclusion might be that, provided your planer is correctly set up with really sharp knives, you can operate the machine from a seated position and still edge joint straight from the planer.

 

[custard]

Something else worth thinking about. Some planer guards effectively act like feather boards.

The guard on my planer operates at the end of a long arm, which delivers a kind of "spring loaded" pressure in two axis.

For edge planing you can see the inward pressure here,

I'm sure that's the intention of the manufacturer, if you look at the above two photos you can see the curved shape bearer piece right at the end of the guard, and how it presses against the workpiece, holding it against the fence.

It's the same in a downward direction too for face planing. Here you can just see the "aerofoil profile" on the guard. If you set the guard height so it just clears the workpiece, then the guard rides up above the workpiece and presses down, exerting pressure on either side of the planer block.

This built in feather board effect is a bit more useful for edge planing, because no matter how many passes you take it's always correctly set, where as for face planing you'd have to adjust the guard down after about three passes in order to compensate for the reduced thickness of the workpiece and maintain downwards pressure.

 

[Droogs]

Thinking about the ergonomics of this, I was wondering if there are any Planers that rather than having a flat front face, have a recessed main body with a small overhang for the table, that would allow a chair user to better position themselves. Or perhaps fitting something like the JET JJP-8BT to a suitably designed bench

 

[dickm]

(Thought I'd posted this last night, but seems to have vanished)
SWMBO worked on a project to aid employment of disabled graduate engineers, and one of her contacts was, I think, an organisation called something like Chaley Heritage (also the name of the place it was situated) who specialised in working out adaptations for this sort of situation. It was thirty years ago, so details are hazy, but we might be able to find out some more if it could be useful.