Dressing Thin Stock
This jig allows you to dress stock to thinner than 1/8 in. on a conventional thickness planer. Without it the thin workpiece will vibrate and often splinter on the ends. To make the jig, glue 45¡ beveled hardwood cleats to a length of lumber as wide as and slightly longer than the wood to be dressed. The cleats can be any thickness, since they will be planed down to the final thickness desired, at which time they serve as a rough thickness gauge for subsequent duplicate planing.
To use, bevel the ends of the workpiece so that it fits snugly under the cleats. Wax the back of the jig, slip the stock in the jig and run the jig through the planer, taking light cuts down to the desired thickness. Push the jig into the planer, then pull it through from the other side to prevent the feed rollers from pushing the workpiece out of its cleats.
John S. Pratt, Avondale Estates, Ga.
Fine Woodworking Magazine, April 1983 No. 39
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Comments
Not wanting to wait for glue to dry, I tried securing the hardwood cleats to a piece of plywood with a couple dowels. It worked for a couple passes but then the (helical) cutter ripped the back one off. If I do this again I’ll glue the back cleat as part of a permanent jig and then be able to mount the front one with dowels to whatever length is required.
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