End grain on planer

[Todd Zucker]

I have seen a number of posts saying not to run end grain, like a butcher block cutting board, through the planer. Yesterday, on This Old House, they did just that, with no apparent problems. They did say to take very light passes. Is there a rule of thumb on when it is okay?

[Dan Friedrichs]

I think the risk is that you can "blow out" the end of a piece (and make lots of flying shrapnel in the process - potentially damaging the planer), since it doesn't take much force to "pry" the grain of the wood apart in that plane. Shallower cuts reduce the force and risk of that. You can also glue a sacrificial strip of wood, oriented long-grain, "behind" the end grain piece to provide support.

I plane end grain often without any problems, but I do take light passes and always glue on a sacrificial support piece.

[Andrew Hughes]

I use my planer with a Bryd head on end grain cutting boards.But I hate my planer and if it exploded into a thousand lilltle pieces that's okay with me.
Its hasn't died yet and I'm on my second set of inserts.
I thought for sure some mesquite planks would kill it.
I chamfer the trailing edge to prevent blow out on cutting boards.

[Matt Day]

The guys above nailed it.

[Jerome Sidley]

2nd the chamfer edge

[Lee Schierer]

I have seen a number of posts saying not to run end grain, like a butcher block cutting board, through the planer. Yesterday, on This Old House, they did just that, with no apparent problems. They did say to take very light passes. Is there a rule of thumb on when it is okay?

They also took very light cuts and had sacrificial blocks on the leading and trailing ends to eliminate tear out. The wood was also pine not hard wood.

[Stan Calow]

I always considered this to be one of those things that only works on television.

[Matt Day]

I always considered this to be one of those things that only works on television.

It works in my shop.

[Mark Gibney]

I haven't put end-grain through a planer but I imagine it working with a shelical head and very light passes, as some guys above have said it does - reason is I have used a 2" spiral router bit on the end-grain of a very thick slab with no issues, and seems to me it's more or less the same cutting action.

[Andy Giddings]

I've put end grain through a planer - you will need some sacrificial material glued on to the ends so that they tearout rather than the board. Make very light passes (ie less than 1/16 - especially for very hard woods) to avoid overload. Works fine on Padauk, Maple, Purpleheart and Wenge - some of which are extremely hard

[Jim Riseborough]

I remember in HS we used to joint end grain. We would run it in about a inch, then rotate, that way you dont have a free edge coming out the jointer. Perhaps that would work on a planer, run it in, back it out, and then rotate.

[Mason Truelove]

I agree with you

I think the risk is that you can "blow out" the end of a piece (and make lots of flying shrapnel in the process - potentially damaging the planer), since it doesn't take much force to "pry" the grain of the wood apart in that plane. Shallower cuts reduce the force and risk of that. You can also glue a sacrificial strip of wood, oriented long-grain, "behind" the end grain piece to provide support.

I plane end grain often without any problems, but I do take light passes and always glue on a sacrificial support piece.

[glenn bradley]

I use my planer with a Bryd head on end grain cutting boards.But I hate my planer and if it exploded into a thousand lilltle pieces that's okay with me.
Its hasn't died yet and I'm on my second set of inserts.
I thought for sure some mesquite planks would kill it.
I chamfer the trailing edge to prevent blow out on cutting boards.

I just got to ask… what planer worth putting a byrd head into could you hate so much?

[Art Mann]

All the owner's manuals for planers I have used say not to plane end grain. I have seen it reported many times that planing end grain is more likely to cause kickbacks. I don't know if that is true but I don't want to temp fate. I have a CNC router and a drum sander, either of which will flatten the faces. If I didn't have those tools, I would construct a router sled and use a wide bit to machine the surfaces flat. If I made a lot of cutting boards, it would be worthwhile to make a dedicated one just for the purpose.

[Edwin Santos]

Were they using a spiral cutterhead planer on TOH? I think a spiral head helps because of the shearing action. However, I would still consider some of the suggestions given by others.

I once heard a trick where you mist the surface with water and wipe it down leaving it damp and then plane. I did this with a lunchbox planer to try and reduce tearout, not an endgrain situation, and it worked!