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Planing Wood Slabs

Started by Norm, August 18, 2009, 03:37:04 PM

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Norm

I have some natural edge walnut slabs that I've been asked to make into display tables for an apparel store. These are 6-8' long and vary from 20-26"s wide. I sawed them out on my mizer years ago and they vary in thickness from 5/4 to 12/4. Could you guys give me some ideas of how to go about finishing them. My planer is only 20" wide so it's out of the picture.  Also I need to figure out a base for them. Something sturdy but not too complicated.

I suggested we buy a new wide belt sander but surprisingly enough that was quickly dismissed by the CFO. :D

LeeB

What a killjoy. Did you try sweet talking her?

Set up a sled and rails and  use your router with the biggest flat bottom bit you can safely run.
'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

Norm

I did Lee but would believe that after all these years my skill at that has diminished considerably. :D

Ianab

I use my mill as a planer sled for table tops.

Just have a plywood box that holds the router and and clamps to the mill frame.

Surface finsish isn't perfect, but it is flat and smooth to the stage where you can start sanding.

No reason you cant build a whole jig out of MDF. For several tables it's going to worth it.



https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,11464.0.html

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

ARKANSAWYER


  I called Grizzly and asked if any one had a wide belt sander in use that I could go look at.  They gave me the name and number of a customer just 50 miles away.  I called and for $40.00 he sanded a 5 x 22 x 11' plank for me.  He was glad to get the paying job and some since.   I really do need one of them little darlings.
ARKANSAWYER

metalspinner

Here's a rig I came up with...





It's the same principle as Ianab's sawmill.  There is still lots of sanding to do to remove the router tracks, but at least you removed all the drying and sawing irregularities.
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

LeeB

Quote from: metalspinner on August 18, 2009, 07:45:03 PM
Here's a rig I came up with...





It's the same principle as Ianab's sawmill.  There is still lots of sanding to do to remove the router tracks, but at least you removed all the drying and sawing irregularities.

Pretty much what I was talking about.
'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

tyb525

Hand held power planer? I've never used one so I don't know how well they work...
LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

Hilltop366

Quote from: tyb525 on August 18, 2009, 08:39:45 PM
Hand held power planer? I've never used one so I don't know how well they work...
maybe a cross between metalspinner rig or rig it to your sawmill (using a planer instead of the router) it would also make a better job if the planer blades were tapered at the ends a bit so you would get a smoother transfer from the sides of the cut.

Hmmm....  got me thinking, I do have a extra bench top jointer planer....  hmmmm.

Radar67

Well first you start with a scrub plane and work across the grain, follow that with a jack plane, then use a tying/jointer plane to get it dead level. A short 8 inch smooth plane will finish it out.

Haven't you read Chapter 7 of Roy Underhill's book Working Wood with Wedge and Edge?  ;)
"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

StorminN

Norm, how many do you have to do?

I'm with Arky, find a cabinet shop or someone nearby that has a wide belt sander or planer.

We have two 36" sanders here and have done similar work for local guys... too bad you're not close.

-Norm.
Happiness... is a sharp saw.

Ianab

Actually the ideal is probably to use a router for the heavy removal of wood. No big slab like that will be sawn and dried totally flat. Then a good handplane (and operator) would get the surface smooth with a few light passes.

I just use the sanders as I'm a power tool junkie.  ;D

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Norm

Thanks for all the great ideas guys. I wish we lived closer to big city and could find someone to run it through their wide belt. On the thicker ones I've thought about putting them back on the mill and doing a light pass to take out the irregularities and then sanding by hand.

I have 5 of them to do so it sounds like work no matter what.  :D

WDH

After flattening all those slabs by hand with a router, you will come to know every detail of the process and that will make you an expert.  It is something that I probably will have to do one day, so I am interested in your experience!
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

breederman

I have done some pine slabs with the belt sander an 40 grit paper. I figured they did not have to be perfect, it is rustic furniture. ;) In fact I have a pine slab coffee table sitting in my shop now waiting for someone to finish sanding. ;D
Together we got this !

Fla._Deadheader


When I was building wooden decks on boats, I took a 9" side grinder and made a plywood disc to fit it. Glue on 36 grit paper, and git er dunn. Won't take long to tell where the high spots are and when you get to "NEAR level".  Might even get a metal sanding disc for an upright disc sander, and use the glue made for them, so you can peel off the paper easier ???

  Change out the paper to progressively higher grit and THEN finish with the belt sander, preferrably a 4" X 24" Sander.
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

Lud

Use a steel straight edge and pencil the high spots.  Cross ways, longways  and 45's.  you quickly see the highs.  I do use a a hand held planer with some success.  It's a learned, touch thing.  Then progressive discs,  of course.  I like the Porter Cable variable speed. 8)
Simplicity mill, Ford 1957 Golden Jubilee 841 Powermaster, 40x60 bankbarn, left-handed

Brad_bb

I was recently learning how stock was made straight, flat and square before powered tools were available - with the scrub plane, jointer plane etc.  It's really facinating, and works to get the stock as good as a machine will do.  It is more work, but like anything, once you do the first slab and get some experience, it will take less work for the subsequent pieces.  I guess it's the difference between someone who isn't afraid to pull out the axes and hew a log when a mill is not availalbe.  I was doing some conventional framing today, and the 2X10's were not the same width or even, so I pulled out a hand plane and fixed them.  I'm sure that's a rariety in my state.
Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
If I say it\\\\\\\'s going to take so long, multiply that by at least 3!

Hilltop366

Quote from: Brad_bb on August 19, 2009, 10:06:52 PM
  I was doing some conventional framing today, and the 2X10's were not the same width or even, so I pulled out a hand plane and fixed them.  I'm sure that's a rariety in my state.



It's nice to use "One of the original cordless tools" some times just for the quietness and to make some shavings instead of sawdust.

Don_Papenburg

Norm if you haven't got those slabs done yet , I just thought you might want to attach them side byside to some 2xs and call the hardwood floor guy out to sand a few rough spots out of your new rustic floor.
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

Norm

I ended up putting them on the mizer and carefully shaving them down with it. I used a sharp blade and it did a darn good job.

shinnlinger

I saw somewhere, maybe here, where someone took a 13"benchtop planer and took the bottom off it and hung it from his mill.  My thought is it would be way quicker than a router.....
Shinnlinger
Woodshop teacher, pasture raised chicken farmer
34 horse kubota L-2850, Turner Band Mill, '84 F-600,
living in self-built/milled timberframe home

tyb525

The cutterhead must've been the lowest point, in order to shift sideways to plane wider than 13"?
LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

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