I have a source that is giving me S2S lumber that is 13/16 of a very high quality. I do not have a joiner or a planer yet and I am wondering what would be the next purchase for this shop. I would like to resaw the wood and be able to clean it up for small piecework and generally get the wood to typical sizes.
I only have single phase in the shop and most of my big tools are on mobile bases.
Thoughts on what to get, or how do you do it?
Thanks in Advance!
-t
Replies
T,
Sounds to me like the next logical step would be to get a jointer and a planer. I'm assuming you already have a table saw. With those three tools you can precicely dimension and square up your stock.
You can do it by hand, too, but it takes a lot of practice.
A thickness sander will help you smooth and thickness a board, but it won't do much to bring it four square.
Take a look at this video by Gary Rogkowski here on FWW
https://www.finewoodworking.com/subscription/skillsandtechniques/skillsandtechniquesarticle.aspx?id=5293
Frank
My suggestion would be to look at surface planers first, with a joiner being a close second. Careful resawing of the 13/16" stock might yeild 3/8" boards, but that may be optimistic, depending on the kerf of your bandsaw and how close you can keep to the scribed line.
Why do you want to sand your garage? oops:)
A luther I know has a homemade thickness sander slick as heck and I want to build one.
I'm going to measure his up next time I get into the big city. That said get a jointer.
Look for a 6 incher check out craiglist and see what is around for a few bucks. What are you wanting to build?
I have a performax 16/32, a 15" planer and a 10" jointer. Most planers will thickness down to 1/4", without a problem. If you need to go smaller, you can add a feed-board to the bed of the planer. Thickness sanders are great, but they take forever are not as effective at milling most stock... but they excel with figured woods and shop made veneers.
How thick do you want to go?
T-
Thanks for the response, is your performax 16/32 single phase 110? I see a lot of people have them and wonder how they compare to the Jet product. also would you or someone else have an oppinion of the differences between the 16/32 and the 10/20 beyond functional size? I find that most of the boards that i work with the be 8 inches or less.
I am looking at methods of working with wood for small pieces and different types of furniture. but all of the info has helped me.
Right now I think I am leaning towards getting the joiner and planer and holding off on the drum sander until I have gotten the others in place.
Thanks to everyone for their contributions, I get a lot of good info here although often I get more questions to ask as a result of the answers you all provide.
-t
The performax is made by jet and it runs on 110V. As for size, I'd go for the biggest you can justify (check craigslist). The table length and mass of the 16/32 allows you to handle much longer stock but that may not benefit your work if you do only small boxes. Plus, you have to have very good DC with these machines so you may need to consiter that cost, too.
Since you mentioned that you already buy S2S, and you only gave us a few tool choices, I suggest a planer followed by a 8" jointer.
I also have the 16/32 and it is a great machine for flattening just about anything. You can also send multiple pieces through to get them all to the same thickness as well as handle panels, etc, up to 32" wide should the need ever arise.
Bear in mind it's not a thicknesser and REQUIRES dust collection. If and when you decide on a drum sander I wouldn't skimp on the size, only to the extent of what you can afford.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob ,
What is a thicknesser? I have a commercial sander, would that be considered a thicknesser.
Tom.
Tom,
OK, perhaps that wasn't the right terminology.
What I was trying to say is that the Performax drum sander shouldn't be thought of as a machine to dimension rough stock, i.e. removing large amounts (1/8" and thicker) of material in one pass.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Thanks.
I think that a thicknesser generally is an European term for what we call a thickness planer or just planer
Shouldn't we be calling them "thinnerers"? Or, am I just being thick? ;-)
Ralph,
Geez, leave it to you to come up the most logical comment in the entire thread. I never thought about this, but you're entirely right. "Thicknessers" really do make things thinner.
ZoltonIf you see a possum running around in here, kill it. It's not a pet. - Jackie Moon
Obviously, I love to play with the frailties of language.This may also explain why musicians cringe at the thought of a bandsaw. ;-)
Ralph,
Speaking of musicians, my son is one - kind of a cross between a bluegrasser and a folk singer. He had some of his friends over one night, and one of the women remarked that she could "play" the saw...
Well, a few minutes later and she had one of my old Disston ripsaws in her hands - actually between her knees, as she bent it into an "S" shape. She used her fiddle bow to play the most gorgeous Old Kentucky Home I've ever heard. The saw creates a quavering, almost whining sound that is in fact very pleasing to the ears. Very evocative of older, slower times. Beautiful. It was a nice night for all of us, and that really put a cap on it...
ZoltonIf you see a possum running around in here, kill it. It's not a pet. - Jackie Moon
Out of curiosity, if your stock is of high quality why worry about sizing to typical thickness? There is certainly no rule that states your work must exist in 1/8" or 1/4" increments.
Don
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