Plane boards over 8'?

[Rick Schubert]

Hello everyone,

I'm setting up my Delta #22-580 13" planer in a permanent spot on a bench. This which would limit my running boards through that would be over 8 feet.

Do you think this would be a problem down the road or could I go even shorter to give me more room for other tools? The bench is only 30" deep and space is tight, so I can't move the planer in such a way for the board to extend over another tools platform.

Thanks, Rick

[Ian Abraham]

Guess it depends on what you are going to be making

Last big job I did with planer was a stack of T&G wall panelling, all 9 ft long. Boxing myself into an 8 ft corner would have made life difficult.

Can you put the thing on wheels so it can be used against the wall 95% of the time and wheeled out if you need to to plane real boards?

Cheers

Ian

[Bill Arnold]

Rick,

Here's my solution:

bbarnold.com/images/shoppix/shop-planer-cart.jpg

Other shop photos at:

bbarnold.com/shoptour.html

Regards,

[Tom Jones III]

I rarely find myself wanting to joint/plane boards more than 8'. Building the furniture that I typically build, I need 3' +/- for the legs, 4' or less for any aprons or table top. If I take the 8' or 12' rough lumber and try and joint 2 sides and plane the other side of the entire board that I am wasting much more wood than if I make a rough cross cut to size then joint and plane the individual pieces.

Of course if you are going to spend much of your time making large pieces, 4 poster beds, paneling, etc. then you might have good reasons for working with larger pieces.

[CPeter James]

I use all rough lumber that I get from my own trees so planing is a big part of my operation. That said, 90% is done at about 50". I cut my logs 8'6" and the extra allows for clean up on the ends. As was stated by others, the waste from truing up is much, much less on the small pieces. I take by boards ( up to 20" wide and 8' long) and break them down into the best pieces and then plane and joint( actually one side on the 8" jointer and then the thickness on the planer and then one edge on the jointer and then rip to width).

To answer your question, unless you are going to do some paneling, the short length won't be a problem.

CPeter

[Jeff Sudmeier]

For how often you would want to plane something over 8 feet, you could unbolt the planer and then do it. I would set it up for 8 feet and if you really have to, you can always move it once a year...

[Jim Becker]

I can imagine only a few times that planing stock that long would be required; largely for skim planing rough stock to "get to know" a board better, before deciding how to mill it and maybe something long for a special project.

[Tim Sproul]

If you only make furniture, that may work.

Possible problems....from my own experiences.

Moldings. Do you make your own for trim or for furniture? If so....it is often best to mill the molding from a single length and then chop to fit the piece. Unless you have a dedicated, single pass molding cutter, it is really hard to repeat set ups on multiple cut moldings and get each profile to align just right.

Rods/Poles. I've made my own drapery rods/poles from 10 foot long and now need some at 14 foot.......to purchase 2 inch or 2 1/4 inch diameter wooden drapery rods is unbelievable $$$ for such a simple thing.

Skip planing....as Jim mentioned already. I like to skip plane most rough lumber before deciding on parts for a project. This is a must for show parts and is often good practice for secondary wood so you can be sure to have tight, straight grain on the secondary parts that are critical for strength. Most sticks I bring home from the yard are 10 to 16 foot long.

Mobility is always a good thing in a smaller shop.

[Tyler Howell]

Hijack!

Great Web Site Bill thanks for sharing.

[Bill Arnold]

Hijack!

Great Web Site Bill thanks for sharing.

Thank you, Tyler.

[Larry Norton]

Hey, Bill! I love your truck! The shop is great, too. The planer stand is exactly what I want to build.

[Bill Arnold]

Hey, Bill! I love your truck! The shop is great, too. The planer stand is exactly what I want to build.

Larry,
Thanks. Nothing beats an F150! Mine has a little age on it -- 1997, but only 63,000 miles on it. LOML wants me to get a new one, but this one's like an old pal now!

I attached part of the drawing for my planer cabinet. This will give you the dimensions I used. I show an apron on the bottom but I actually used two fixed and two swivel (locking) casters on it. The sander cabinet is based on the same drawing but with one side lower to accommodate the spindle sander.

Regards,