tdale51@yahoo.com Posted August 28, 2011 Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 Hello All, I'll soon be starting a 3 in 1 baby crib for my daughter's first child. Needless to say I'm very excited. I'm also a little apprehensive, I want to build it out of birdseye maple. I've never worked with it before and I'm scared to death of ruining $4-500 worth of lumber by tearing it out in the thickness planer/jointer. I have a Ryobi 13inch benchtop planer and a Rigid 6 1/8 inch jointer. The planer has new blades and the jointer has seen less than 100BF of lumber, mostly Douglas fir and walnut. I've read about planing it thicker than you need and finishing it off with a drum sander. I don't have a drum sander and I don't know anybody that does. Any other suggestions for working with BEM? I surely would appreciate it. Thanks to all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmac Posted August 28, 2011 Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 Another option would be to plane it thicker than you need and finish it off with a hand plane with a high angle of attack. -- Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdale51@yahoo.com Posted August 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 Thanks for the quick answer. I guess I should have mentioned that I'm a beginner and don't have a whole lot of tools. Any suggestions for the handplane? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulMarcel Posted August 28, 2011 Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 Since you are doing a crib, I assume there are slats on the sides and since you haven't mentioned turning, you'll have rectangular slats. Is that correct? Or are you doing a crib with solid sides? If you are doing one with predominantly flat solid sides, I'd look at buying Bird's Eye Maple veneer. It will be far and away more figured than hardwood you'll easily find and the cost is considerably less. You don't need a vacuum press to veneer: Melamine (MCP) and clamps can get you by, depending on the size. Look at the selection at VeneerSupplies.com. That link is to the natural BEM; if you go up a level you'll see a selection of dyed BEM as well. The sheets in the photos are the ones you are buying. Other advantage: you'll apply the veneer on other wood that will be cheaper and planer-friendly. At the end, hand sanding the BEM is all it will take. That site also sells a book on veneering that is pretty good; you'd just want to know how to apply the BEM sheets, which involves flattening it with softener, a good veneer glue, and pressing it with uniform pressure (like Melamine and clamps as a press). I don't have that book, but have looked at it. I prefer this book by Mike Burton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmac Posted August 28, 2011 Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 Any suggestions for the handplane? Wish I felt qualified to answer that, but I don't. But there are some real experts here who will hopefully chime in. -- Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Screamer777 Posted August 28, 2011 Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 Another option you should consider is a drum sander. If you can get hold of/know of some one that has a drum sander, you're problem will be solved. I had no experience with birds eye maple, but what I read about it is that it WILL tear out if using a planer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckkisser Posted August 28, 2011 Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 just open the yellow pages (i guessing you'r in the us since you making it out of maple) and look for cabinet workers/ counter top workers/ wood workers/ mill or lumber processers and ask if they have a drum sander im guessing that one of them will have a large sander. and alot of them will be more then willing to help out since it might help them drum(joke intended just not that funny) up busness. wood working is a tuff busness to make sucessfull in the u.s. so alot of wood workers are falling on hard times specialy right now. im lucky enought that just down the street from my school (teach woodshop) is a cabinet maker. you said that you are a beginner so am i and the best thing that i have learned is take you time to make shure everything is right and ask for help the folks on this forum are realy good about helping out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdale51@yahoo.com Posted August 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 Paul, Yes the crib will have slats and you are correct in the assumption that they'll not be turned. Thanks for the useful veneer info though. I'm sure it'll come in quite handy in the future. Duckkisser(interesting name btw), Good idea, there is a small time furniture business just down the road I think I'll stop by and see if they can help me out. Should I plane it to just over final thickness before having them sand it or just take them the rough cut lumber? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckkisser Posted August 28, 2011 Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 i havent had to much trouble planing birds eye in pine. it hasent ripped out but i do plane it at very thin cuts less then i would with regular wood. make shure your blades are very sharp and figure out how thin you want it first. but there is no reason they cant sand the ruff cut off but i would not have them sand it to 3/4 thickness from a 1 inch. the drum sander is just not desighned for it. the drum sander is mostly for finishes. think of it like this the sander takes off .005 and the planer takes off 1.0. and remember alot of furniture/cabinets workers make kinda off the shelf cabinets and they dont work with figured wood much. that not to say all dont but in my limited experience most dont know that much outside there normal types of wood. get your research in order you might have to know what you want to do when you get there since these guys might not know how well it will hold up while passing it thrugh a jointer, planer ect.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darnell Hagen Posted September 7, 2011 Report Share Posted September 7, 2011 You'll be fine with your machinery, just maintain sharp blades, take small bites, and skew your stock in relation to the cutterhead. Sometimes dampening the wood surface helps, I'll just lick the edge of short boards, it doesn't take much moisture. If you get cold winters where you are placing boards outside to freeze before machining works well, too. Handplane irons at low angles are easy to push but are prone to tearout in difficult wood. High angles are hard to push, but leave a clean surface in difficult wood. You want a high angle, 50° or 55° (as opposed to 45°) smoothing plane. I recommend Lie Nielsen. Another option is a cabinet scraper, I like Lee Valleys. Of course, sandpaper works too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckkisser Posted September 7, 2011 Report Share Posted September 7, 2011 I'll just lick the edge of short boards, it doesn't take much moisture. dude you lick your boards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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