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Thread: Running edges through a planer..

  1. #1

    Running edges through a planer..

    I just saw an article titled "Getting the most out of your planer" one of the tips was making a jig to hold boards at 90 degrees in order to plane edges. I have run small boards through on edge maybe a handful of times but it is not something I generally do. My usual routine is from rough cut; plane to thickness, run straightest side through jointer and then rip width on table saw after that I may joint pieces on the router table if necessary. How many of you run cut pieces through the planer on edge as part of your normal routine? Do you find that it is easier to get consistent dimensions by doing this as opposed to using just the table saw even with the possibility of chip out, chatter etc. ?

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    I almost always size material on edge in the planer as long as I'm doing multiple pieces; I put them together as wide as I can grip them in my hand, feed them into the planer jointed side down and keep them together with my hand so they're going through as a single piece, switch to the out feed when they're almost all the way through.
    I usually don't do it with single pieces.

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    There was a thread about this not long ago. Seems to be a common practice.

  4. #4
    Join Date
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    I do it pretty often but it doesn't produce a glue line ready cut.

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Day View Post
    ...it doesn't produce a glue line ready cut.
    Matt : Why not ?

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    I don't know exactly. I've got a 15" 4 post planer that produces a great surface after face planing but scallops on edge. It's not the rollers either.

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    I posted a question about this recently. Seems everyone does it. Afterwards I tried it and it worked well for me.

    Since I lowered my bed rollers snipe has not been an issue whether planing flat or on edge.

    Grizzly four post 15" planer here.

    More re than this I do not know.

    Bill
    Too much to do...Not enough time...life is too short!

  8. #8
    Matt, i think im in a similar situation. I have a delta thats not the greatest but it does a good job on face planing. The couple of times i have run edges through i definitely felt like my table saw makes a much better edge. And when im making panels i have found that jointing them on the router table gives me a good glue line. I am aware that my planer is of lesser quality than my table saw and router table setups so that may have something to do with it.

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    I joint on my jointer and thickness plane on the planer.

    If necessary, I will joint one side on the jointer and finish on the planer.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian W Evans View Post
    There was a thread about this not long ago. Seems to be a common practice.
    I guess i should have done a search. I will definitely give it a shot again ganging up the boards and see if i get a better result.

  11. #11
    Join Date
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    Yes edge thicknessing is standard practice. You won't find a commercial shop that doesn't and is still in business. That being said, I always fine saw edges before gluing. This was a topic for heated discussion some time back with the Neanderthals... Cheers

  12. #12
    Join Date
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    Matt, so if you were to trim off the ends the edges would be glue-ready ?

    Regarding snipe, my experience is like Bill's. Lowering my bed rollers helped.

  13. #13
    I plane almost every edge on boards smaller than 3" wide. Usually, I gang them up, running four or five at a time. It does wonders for consistency.

  14. #14
    I have never heard of or even thought of this. Why would it be better or faster to run a gang of boards through the planer then it is to set your table saw fence once and run all of you boards through? Also when I'm dimensioning wood I can't remember the last time the board was anywhere close to to being the right width so I would have to cut it with saw first anyway. Also after reading these posts from the other thread a lot of people keep mentioning this is the only way to get consistent pieces. Is there something wrong with my table saw that it has routinely produced the same width piece after I set my fence ten thousand times?
    Last edited by keith micinski; 07-09-2017 at 11:48 PM.

  15. #15
    It's used even in shops that have moulders. Small orders of s4s trim and such that can not have any sawn edges. To make sure the material feeds well and and does not have feed roller marks many allow about 3/32nds to be planed off each edge. Handy when moulders are busy with large orders, but admittedly marginal when moulder is idle.

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