I recently bought some figured maple boards approx 9/4 X 8 X 120″ to resaw and mill into window and door trim for the interior of my house. I was milling one board flat and as usual it had a pretty good twist to it. Planing away on the jointer, pass after pass, I got down to the usual 80% flat and 20% way out condition. I had already trimmed to rough length (80″) so I didn’t have to try to flatten a longer board. I figured I’d flatten one face and one edge, then resaw in half. I have a pretty good bandsaw and have confidence in it. But then it occured to me, my walls are not flat, nor straight. I’m not making furniture with this material, so how flat does it need to be. After all, I could go ahead and resaw it and with thinner material cheat a little, bending the wood into shape so the face will mill to clean up, then I could plane it in my thickness planer to finish thichness. Wouldn’t truly be flat (bow a little), but once it’s nailed to the wall, who would know so long as it’s parallel in thickness. What do you all think? How flat is flat enough for door and window trim???
Jeff
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To me the answer is(after 33yrs.) when my WIFE says it is! sigh..........
Can't answer "how flat", but will say this kind of situation is one reason I'm learning to use a hand plane. Focus the cutting action where it needs to be. Actually, I've gotten much better at doing that even on a jointer, marking the high corners and giving them a bit more pressure the first few passes.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FG...I feel your pain! I have been having the same thoughts and as such have acquired 3 planes in the last three weeks to round out my meager collection. Purchased were two Millers Falls (14" & 22")from Ebay and a Veritas Low Angle Jack plane from Lee Valley. I bought the 14" Millers Falls hand plane after I ordered the Veritas Jack Plane and paid a fraction ($32 vs $200) for the Falls. Since they are virtually the same size, I was going to return the Veritas plane and upgrade some of the components of the Falls. When the Veritas arrived, I got it out and was immediately stricken by a severe case of TOOL FEVER. The heft, fit, and finish of the Veritas was not to be denied. Without so much as a trip to the sharpening station, I installed the blade, tweaked the blade adjustment, chucked up some figured maple and started planing away. The translucent shavings and effortless cutting action made keeping this plane a 'no brainer'. What a tool. With great care I tenderly placed it in my tool chest with the rest of my hand planes and once again complimented myself on another fine tool acquisition.As I was jointing the face of the board I considered getting out a hand plane and hand planing a key area just as you suggested. But I decided the time to use that approach was before starting with the power jointer, not when I was almost finished. Next time I think I'll take that approach to put some 'flats' on the high corners to minimize the rock and split the difference before starting to joint the face flat. Seems like every board I try to flatten is twisted to some extent. Makes me wonder if it really is economical to buy raw material and flatten it myself. In fact a buddy of mine is always kidding me about turning 8/4 boards into 3/4 boards. Sometimes he's not far from the truth, but I'm not going to give him the satisfaction!Jeff
Congrats on the Veritas plane. It'll be a coon's age before I get one, LOL. I've never tried to mill something as large as the board you're struggling with. Smaller boards, though.....sometimes seems as if they continue to twist? That's when major surgery seems inevitable. Wondering where the tension might be located in a twisting board. Might a strategically located cross-cut relieve some of it? Have no idea....forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Thanks FG. I love the Veritas. But I made a huge mistake when I was buying my used handplanes. I didn't know about the early Craftsman planes. They can be had on Ebay for a song. I'm told the early planes were built by Sargent. Because they have the Craftsman name on them, no one is collecting them. As example, I saw an old, corrugated sole Craftsman Jack plane size plane, NOT SELL for $9.00. Unbelievable. If I had to do it over again...I'd buy these, tune em up, retro them with a good Hock blade and chipbreaker, and away I'd go. I could probably outfit my shop with a stable of these planes for what I paid for the Veritas. I'm not suggesting they'd be in the same league as the Veritas, no way. But they'd get the job done, and with a few premium components, get it done well.Lastly, I really like your wall system for material storage. I hope you don't mind, but I will be cloning it on my wall, replacing what I have now..steel angle brackets. Kudo's on the excellent design...Jeff
Like this one? I just tuned it up, will be using it until I get a tote for the Bed Rock 605 that's sitting in a cupboard. Works pretty darned good (especially considering the operator is a neophyte), but look forward to having easier adjustment on the BR.
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PS: Clone away! I can't take credit though -- got the design from one of the magazines years ago. The trick was making it attach to our weird, weird wall design. Tom (tms) suggested the 2x4 across the top, and that and the great cement-friendly fasteners made it happen.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
If it is thin enough to conform to your walls then there is no need to make it flat. I think it is easier to assemble the parts on a work bench and install it in one piece. You can glue and nail, or screw, the parts together, let the glue set while you're assembling a few more. Just be careful about nailing close to the miters or you'll pull it apart.
Depending on how thick you make your trim, it shouldn't matter to much. sometimes a twist will dissapear as you cut pieces off. A thin piece will bother you less than a thick one. As long as you can run it through your finish machine with out the twist creating a problem. Flat is better.
Pedro
Jeff,
Doesn't need to be that flat at all for interior trim. Most casing has a wide, shallow recess in the back so as to allow it to sit flatter against the wall and jamb and not necessarily anywhere in-between. You won't find a perfectly straight/flat wall to opening (or jamb) anywhere in your house. Worry about the face and edges being clean.
-Paul
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