Replies

1. 
   _mj_ | Sep 28, 2021 08:37pm | #1

   Blades will take a hit but that's what I'd do if I could afford to give up thickness. Definitely use the dust collection.

2. 
   neil102 | Sep 29, 2021 05:40am | #2

   Yeah, I'm not a fan of running wood with a finish on it over my knives. Not saying it can't be done. If I had a helix head cutter, I'd probably give it a go.

   This is more laborious, but have you considered running a card scraper to remove the bulk of the finish before running thru your planner?

3. 
   Tanner_Thompson | Sep 29, 2021 09:50am | #3

   No this is not good this wood is one of the worst to use i would definitely suggest pine or ash to start off because it is softer and not as hard to get a good finish

4. 
   bilyo | Sep 29, 2021 10:03am | #4

   Since the wood is old, the existing finishes might be easier to remove with chemical stripper than the newer more modern finishes. Maybe you could try one of the more environmentally friendly strippers and see what happens.

   You can use your planer but, as said above, It will tend to dull and gum up you blades rather quickly. Of course, they can be cleaned and re-sharpened. So, there will be no long-term harm. Also, you will also waste a bit of your wood this way.

   My understanding is that most all finishes are not toxic once they have properly cured. They should not be a problem going to your DC.

5. 
   eddo234 | Sep 29, 2021 10:10am | #5

   The question was how best to strip reclaimed mostly mahogany, not whether they should go out and buy other wood species. BTW, depending on the finish, pine and ash can both be more difficult than mahogany to achieve a good finish. So, back to the question: I think the commercial stripping option is the most convenient, and healthy, option. If you use the planer you may lose too much thickness, especially if the mahogany was stained. Getting below uneven oxidation discoloring might mean having to go deeper than you’d like as well. Here’s a FWW article about stripping: https://finewoodworking.com/FWNPDFfree/011093084.pdf. Watch out for methylene chloride strippers indoors, it can give you a heart attack. A tip I learned decades ago, if you go the stripping route, is when comparing strippers with methylene chloride, buy the heaviest brand. MC, the active stripping chemical, weighs more than the other ingredients, so the heavier the more potent.

6. 
   elmaduro | Sep 29, 2021 10:52am | #6

   From John Tetrault's article in FWW #229:

   Plane first. To get
   rid of the old finish,
   Tetreault ran all of the
   boards through his
   planer first (above).
   That dulls the knives,
   so you might need to
   change them (right),
   but this method
   is still faster and
   cheaper than chemical
   strippers.

7. 
   john_c2 | Sep 29, 2021 02:03pm | #7

   Do some people not use a dust collector with their thickness planer?

8. 
   kudzupatch | Sep 29, 2021 07:23pm | #8

   I sharpen my own blades and I have never hesitated to remove finish with the planer. Really have not noticed that much (any) additional wear on them either.