justforfun Posted April 22, 2017 Report Share Posted April 22, 2017 New to the forum. New to wood working but in construction so not new to tools, just some of them. I like building stuff from reclaimed wood for fun and my wife got me a hand electric planer for Christmas. It has worked for what I like to do which is take off the surface so its simi finished but try to leave a little saw marks and such if possible. I recently came across several hundred feet of reclaimed 2x4 and 3x4 oak boards Id like to do something with. Cant afford the big table planers yet but afraid of burning up my small electric one on the oak even though it has worked for the little I did ok so far. Never used a hand planer and wonder whats involved learning curve wise? Would this be a good route for me to go go my purpose? just going to clean a few at a time. Thinking and old stanely on eBay but not sure what to look for and what would be the best cheapest thing for sharpening. TY for any advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barron Posted April 22, 2017 Report Share Posted April 22, 2017 The learning curve isn't bad, and if you are willing to sweat a little it will work for your purposes. A low angle jack from Wood River could work, though a Lie Nielsen or Lee Valley would be better. Remember the "cheap guy pays the most"applies to sharpening. Dual sided Norton water stones are a good route and a Lee Valley honing guide will keep your blades sharp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted April 22, 2017 Report Share Posted April 22, 2017 A hand plane iron dulls quickly on dirty wood. I can plane for hours on clean wood before it needs sharpening, but only few minutes cutting through old paint and dirt. I absolutely don't run anything but clean wood through a planer though. What you want to do is not done both easily and cheaply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llama Posted April 23, 2017 Report Share Posted April 23, 2017 No. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justforfun Posted April 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2017 TY for the replies. Some of its not oak but most is. Some you cant tell what it is till its cleaned a little cause it "hairy". Hope thats the right description. This is very rough wood but mostly hard woods. I was wanting to make things like coffee tables and benches that look like the belong in a wood cabin. I like beefy stuff. I have plans to try a end grain coffee table In the winter when I have more time. Im estimating it to run 120-150 lbs. Will know more on that when I got more to weigh. Been cutting scrap pc to leanth for that one and tossing them to the side for later. Not sure if this is the right site for me or not. I like rustic but with a finish on it. Many things I se on here have a very finished look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted April 23, 2017 Report Share Posted April 23, 2017 1 hour ago, Llama said: No. No what? Don't get into woodworking as it will destroy your marriage and deplete your 401k or anything similiar? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted April 23, 2017 Report Share Posted April 23, 2017 @justforfun, planing rough boards by hand is a bit of work, but will certainly get results. For what you are doing, I would compare the cost & sharpening effort of a hand plane against the cutter replacement cost & time for your hand-held power planer..I bet you decide the powered route is the way to go. As Tom said, dirty wood is killer on the blades. I would consider using a drill-mounted wire wheel brush to clean the surface prior to smoothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bleedinblue Posted April 23, 2017 Report Share Posted April 23, 2017 It seems to me like you could help your efficiency a bit if you use your electric hand planer to plow off the dirty top layer, then a decent hand plane to clean it up from there. The electric hand planer doesn't have many places in woodworking, but this could be one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justforfun Posted April 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2017 9 hours ago, bleedinblue said: It seems to me like you could help your efficiency a bit if you use your electric hand planer to plow off the dirty top layer, then a decent hand plane to clean it up from there. The electric hand planer doesn't have many places in woodworking, but this could be one. Just taking off the top layer with the electric so far and sometimes just one side so I can see how good the board is and I can already tell the planer is not as sharp as when I started. Still have along way to go and thought something I could resharpen would be the cheapest way to go which is why was looking at the hand planers. I have yet to look at what replacement blades cost on what I have or if they can be sharpened. I didn't expect to come across this much wood and am now scrambling for my best option. Looked at the stack last night and Im estimating 600-800 ft but Im still occasionally getting more. If I do go the hand route I was just going to clean them one project at a time so I didn't wear myself out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted April 24, 2017 Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 I keep two 3-1/4" power planers. One is for rough work, and the other is for clean wood only. The rough work one gets the knives beat to hell before I change them. Replacements can be found pretty cheap on ebay. I use the same wooden strip method that I have described here on these forums for changing jointer knives, and it goes pretty quickly. I also have a 6-3/4" Makita power planer, but that one doesn't get used for rough work. I wouldn't advise spending the money for one of those just because it will plane something wider. It's too nice of a machine to put on dirty wood. Don't buy a Craftsman power planer for rough work. I had one of those for decades, but it would easily eat the toothed drive belt if worked the least bit too hard. All the ones I have now are Makitas, and I like them fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justforfun Posted April 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 TY for the tip. I have a porter cable but Like makita tools in general. Posible good news. My dads been a carpenter his whole life but not a woodworker and Ive never seen him use a hand plane so I didn't think to ask him but at lunch today I said what I was looking for and he thinks he has some hand planers from when my moms dad and later her brother died. Would be sweet if they were even decent so I could hand them down to my son. Going to take some time getting through his garage to find them though. Got a lot of stuff in there. He did give me his older stanley block planer that was made in the USA. Spent a little time cleaning it up. Its missing the front knob if anyone knows a place I can get one. I didn't see one on eBay. He said the ones from my moms family are little bigger though with the handles but not sure what type. Not sure if its what I want but been reading on scrub planes. Might be to aggressive though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted April 24, 2017 Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 Here is a picture of my scrub plane. I bought it new. Weathering is from sweat. Wear is from use. It will clean old painted boards down through the paint, but leaves a very rough furrowed surface. It throws thick shavings three feet in the air. "Planers" are motorized. If used by manpower alone, it's a "plane". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justforfun Posted April 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2017 Well ty for all the replies so far. I will be holding off on purchases till I see what my dad has hidden away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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