raruss1 Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 A fundamentals question for ya I was wondering how all of you handle this situation? You have a set of boards to use for a project and some have some switching grain that tears out in a spot when running through planer. What is the solution you use? Do you try to use tricks on the planer to get it to thickness and not tear out? Weeting Board, Skewing boardDo you get it close to thickness and sand or handplane away the tearout?Throw away the board?Something else? It seems like I run into this problem a lot and hand planing or using ROS or Belt sanders is tedious. I have not tried wetting the board or skewing which I have heard works, does it? I could go with a Helical Head planer but those are expensive. I have been pondering a drum sander. It just seems like I am struggling with a read kindergarten problem and hoped to get some help. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimB1 Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 I would try sneaking up on the final planing depth by taking smaller thicknesses off to get near the final size using more passes through the planer then do final planing or sanding by hand when you get close. If the tear out is occurring at the end of the board like a snipe cut digging in, you could try adjusting your feed tables or using a sacrificial board right after the piece being planed. I haven't worked with a lot of highly figured wood like curly maple or boxwood so maybe some folks who have used heavily figured wood have some tricks they use... Sorry I couldn't be more help... -Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulMarcel Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Jim's idea of getting close then taking minimal passes works. With ribbon Sapelé, I wet the board with mineral spirits from a spray bottle before sending it through. Let it soak a bit; worked for me, but then mahoganys are easier to machine than, say, quilted maple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayWC Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 Depending on the orientation of the grain you can also run the board through on an angle versus straight if the planer is wide enough to help slice the grain at another angle. You can also stop planing at a point and finish thicknessing the boards in a drum sander. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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