Originally Posted by Peter Quinn
omg.
thats amazing.
from chef to woodworker.. why? both sound exciting though
Member
omg.
thats amazing.
from chef to woodworker.. why? both sound exciting though
Contributor
Once Bitten, Twice Shy! A woodworker can build for years without incident, and perform operations with little or no thought of consequences. But, when a bad kickback does occur, or a piece of wood shatters, life changes! One is forever wary of that same operation when performed again. I have all my fingers after 25 years, but with one mangled fingernail and a few scars!
Every woodworker has his own specific set of circumstances to cope with. Different machines perform differently. Different humans perform differently! By experience, I know my machinery very well and know when an operation is "iffy" or downright dangerous. Some new to woodworking as a hobby may not perceive any danger. We don't need a license to buy power tools!
I have had no bad planer experiences, yet I have driven wood into sheetrock walls from the tablesaw, and wondered if I was still alive after wood exploded on the shaper. Climb cutting on a router table will forever demand my complete attention!
Think "what happens next" and preserve all your body parts for yet another enjoyable day of woodworking.
Moderator
My Minimax 16" J/P combo machine has the same fingers, Rob. I have had times where I inserted a board for thicknessing but found the cutter height too high (i.e. it wouldn't cut anything) and I tried to yank the board back but I could not do it. I just end up pushing the board through.
Looking at these kickback fingers, I'm not sure the planer could shove a board back through them but then again, my journal is quite large at 16" wide and perhaps 4-5" in diameter. That is a large mass of metal being spun by a 4+ hp motor.
After reading this informative thread (GREAT BUMP!), I think I'd be okay running end-grain cutting boards through my planer...following Bill's steps religiously!
Member
wow thats a lot of planer. is bigger better, or is it to handle wider stock?My Minimax 16" J/P combo machine has the same fingers, Rob. I have had times where I inserted a board for thicknessing but found the cutter height too high (i.e. it wouldn't cut anything) and I tried to yank the board back but I could not do it. I just end up pushing the board through.
Looking at these kickback fingers, I'm not sure the planer could shove a board back through them but then again, my journal is quite large at 16" wide and perhaps 4-5" in diameter. That is a large mass of metal being spun by a 4+ hp motor.
After reading this informative thread (GREAT BUMP!), I think I'd be okay running end-grain cutting boards through my planer...following Bill's steps religiously!
Contributor
The fact is a planer was never designed to cut end grain, there's other machines much better suited for the job, a drum or wide belt for example. Sure, some folks get away with it, 1, 2, 10, 30 times, but that doesn't make it the proper tool or guarantee it won't happen eventually. The lunch box planers are a good deal lighter duty than larger planers and subsequently the innards are damaged much easier when things go bad. The large CI units have much heavier parts that stand up better when things go bang. Still doens't make it better, it just means they take more abuse.
For those who run end grain through your planers, do you also run end grain through your jointer?
Mike
Moderator
David Marks had an interesting analogy regarding this. Imagine a broom, working end up and cutting into it with a knife. You wouldn't be able to slice very much of the broom because the very thin knife would just go right through it hardly disturbing the straw. Now place the broom on a bench and slice into it. You'd chop it up pretty good going at it this direction (chopping perpendicular to the straw flow).
If you don't buy this, then certainly you'd agree that end-grain is much tougher than edge-grain. Take a hand plane and try cutting the two different grain directions and you'll find one much easier than the other....
Moderator
Bigger is ALWAYS better, Leo!!
I like it for handling wider stock and I wanted to purchase this piece of equipment in hopes that I'd never ever need to look at getting another jointer or planer for the rest of my life.
Moderator
Really? How can you be so certain? Hand planes cut end-grain. A planer is just a powered hand plane.
I bought several chunks of some gnarly claro walnut root ball. Honestly, even after taking a plane to it, I could not figure out which way the grain ran so I just picked the smoothest side to start face-planing and woudn't you know it, I was doing end-grain! It was difficult to shove through but my J/P handled it just fine and I got a good workout. My Tersa knives were pretty shot after doing all this but they are double-sided so a quick flip and I was back in biznitch!
Contributor
Not even the same zip code Chris... Let's see; with a planer the wood is trapped between the cutter head and rollers. If something goes bad one of two things have to give, the wood or the machine. On your hand plane you push a blade across the wood. If something goes awry the blade is harmlessly directed upwards away from the wood. To completely different situations and two completely different abilities to cause damage to injury.
And that's were we differ Chris. There's no way I would ever consider putting a root ball thru a jointer. There's just too much risk of rocks, metal, dirt etc embedded and hidden inside a root ball. Not to mention the chance that the wood is unstable and it could very easily disintegrate when it contacts the cutter head... especially with ones hands directly over it! Then again, maybe you're a far braver man than me.I bought several chunks of some gnarly claro walnut root ball. Honestly, even after taking a plane to it, I could not figure out which way the grain ran so I just picked the smoothest side to start face-planing and wouldn't you know it, I was doing end-grain! It was difficult to shove through but my J/P handled it just fine and I got a good workout. My Tersa knives were pretty shot after doing all this but they are double-sided so a quick flip and I was back in biznitch!
Moderator
My point is that they can both cut end grain.
Well that is a nice way to say you think I wasn't too smart doing this!Actually, I don't know how "rooty" this thing was but I admit that it did have some dirt pockets in it. I was slicing this stuff up on my bandsaw when a piece broke off and bent my Trimaster blade....
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