Replies

1. 
   ponytl | Feb 25, 2007 04:14am | #1

   I'd bet  you have a local shop that would plan them for you cheaper than you could (if you could) rent a larger machine...  a good shp would be able to 4s  it for you and you'd ready to go

     I'd ask around

   p

1. 
   Schelling | Feb 25, 2007 02:34pm | #3

   I second this advice.

   We have a planer that can plane 12 inch boards but if it is more than 10 boards we take it to a local shop. Once you start figuring for your time, it just is not worth it.

   When we buy rough hardwood, we get it planed at the mill. They plane it perfectly in one pass as fast as they can load it into the machine. 500 bd ft in less than ten minutes loaded onto the pickup. The charge-$25.

2. 
   oldsub86 | Feb 25, 2007 04:45am | #2

   Look for an older used planer in the local papers. I bought a 12 inch Parks planer a couple of years ago for $300. It is about 300# and has the ability to take an 1/8 of an inch off at a time. I use it for rough stuff and still have a portable planer for the lighter stuff.

   Randy

3. 
   Piffin | Feb 25, 2007 03:23pm | #4

   If this is beautiful pine why waste in on a subfloor that will never be seen? Save it for nice projects and by #4 pine 7/8 S3S for the subfloor at about .70/bf

   also, if that mill is the oldest in the state - they have a planer on site that can size it faster than you can load it.

   finally, My benchtop planer will only take a max 1/16" at one pass, less on hardwoods or wide wood, so if you are trying too much in one poass, that could be your problem. Or you need to sharpen the blades or make sure you don't have voltage drop from too long of a too small cord.

   That's all I can think of for now.

    

    

   Welcome to the
   Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
    where ...
   Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   homebaseboston | Feb 25, 2007 08:25pm | #7

   Thanks all. 

   Fair point, Pif but I guess in actual fact it's probably #3 with some #2.  I just love the look (and smell and feel) of rough sawn wood!  So it's all gorgeous to me.  I do think that for my next load I'll see if they can run it through before I pick up.   That's a great idea.  I literally stumbled across this place, and just couldn't wait to load the stock into the truck!

   I gotta say the idea of loading all those BF of lumber back into my truck to take to a local shop makes a lot of sense from a time/money standpoint but also makes my back hurt just thinking about it.  I like the idea of having another planer around for rough stock, and will look into that.

   I do think that I tried to take too much (the makita says 1/32 for 10" stock) on my first run and may have compromised the feeders/rollers in the process b/c it did bind up.  The blades are fairly new.  Even at that, though, if I can only take that small amount it means that I'm passing each piece through 4 bloody times (x 32 boards... yikes).

   Thanks again for the suggestions guys.

   Brian_____________________________HomeBase______________  LLC

    

1. 
   Piffin | Feb 25, 2007 08:28pm | #9

   I planned the wood for my bedroom floor and had to pass 9-11 times to get the whole load even 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   homebaseboston | Feb 25, 2007 08:33pm | #10

   Hah!  You know I was just thinking I sounded like a whiner (my back hurts... 4 passes... ) and here you have to go and tell me THAT! :-)_____________________________HomeBase______________  LLC

    

2. 
   BillHartmann | Feb 25, 2007 09:31pm | #12

   While I agree with the others about jobing it out.You can help a bench top planner a lot by cleaning the bed and rollers of any sap.Then waxing the bed or using Top Coat or similar product..
   .
   A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.

4. 
   frenchy | Feb 25, 2007 05:31pm | #5

   homebaseboston,

        Check your blades!

     I can plane 12 inches wide with my benchtops but the blades need to be in great shape.. Don't run it on an extension cord. Voltage drop will overheat the motor.

     Take thin passes when removing a lot of material.

    And here's the real key.  Sawmills seldom saw perfectly flat boards. they often have taper in thickness

    lite passes will show you where the taper is so you can avoid getting the planks wedged in the planner.

1. 
   FDC | Feb 25, 2007 08:24pm | #6

   I dont know if youv tried this method, but with rough sawn , especially sawn with a circular blade and not a band saw the difference in thickness can be alot from begining to the end,so you have to start with the thickest part of the board and countine running it thru each time lowering the blades till you have same thicknes. Then the planer will pull the board on its own and will take a decent amount off on each pass. I have planed alot of yellow pine with a dewalt. Your planer should work

   FDC

    

2. 
   homebaseboston | Feb 25, 2007 08:28pm | #8

   this reminds me, Frenchy.  When you guys are running a lot of BF of longer stock (10'+) to you build any kind of feeder system to support the wood on either end?  If so, what has worked for you?

    _____________________________HomeBase______________  LLC

    

1. 
   frenchy | Feb 25, 2007 09:48pm | #13

   Homebaseboston.

    Yeh I do!

    I went to a local racking  supply house that specializes in used racking.. (trust me IF Minneapolis has a dozen then Boston must have 3 dozen)  I bought a couple of ten foot sections of roller.  (almost new cost me $90.00 or $45.00 each.   I set them on a pair of sawhorses and shimed them up to feed level with the infeed. Then I set the second one on another pair of sawhorses and shimmed them up again.  I could start one board thru and walk to the back end and pick another board off the rollers and stack it up.  I'd then walk back and put another board on the rollers and walk back and pull the original board off the rollers and stack it..

    Once all 2 or 3 thousand boards  (or whatever<G>) had been run thru I'd turn the planner around and run them back thru the opposite way (rather than hustle the stack around again)  If I had to make six passes I'd turn things around six times and all I had to do was pick a board up start it thru and walk to the opposite end.

    Very easy pace just steady gets it done.. With practice you never ever pick up a board. basically you learn to pick up one end at a time and kinda roll things into place..

    when I feed 18 footers thru I set the rollers back a little bit leave about a five foot gap between rollers and planner..

    I do use the 20 inch Grizzly planner now I've retired the little 12 1/2 inch delta bench top but it did it's fair share of work before I decided that it was a bit much to shove 20 foot long 12x6's thru .. if the timber had a bit of bow in it the planner would lift right off the bench I had it mounted on.. funny to watch.. ;-)

    What I can tell you is an absolute waste of time and money is those little rollers sold by Home Depot and other places.   Sturdy pair of sawhorses and a grocery roller.  (actually I use shipping rollers since they are heavier duty and a lot more sturdy)..

    Those rollers also are great for feeding tablesaws and other shop equipment..  However you'll need a differant stack of shims for each shop tool since the stupid designers can't get together and standardise a fixed height.

     Another note from someone who's been there, when you nail down the subflooring make sure you put the crown up.. What I mean is when you look at the growth rings on the end the arch top should be at the top  otherwise the borads cup and cause problems..

3. 
   arnemckinley | Feb 25, 2007 08:46pm | #11

   i'm in agreement that you could take the time to plane it down yourself on a small 12" planer, but why not take it to a saw mill and have them do it. it's by far the most cost effecive as well as labor effective method. the amount formentioned can be planed in less than 15 minutes, and will cost less than $40. unless i was in a location where this wasn't possible?????? we drive an hour and it's well worth it.

1. 
   frenchy | Feb 25, 2007 09:58pm | #14

   arnemckinley,

    three reasons not to do that.

       first I understand cheap.. Money I don't spend I can use for other things. plus I don't need to pay taxes or workmans comp or any other expense..

     In case you think this is a minor thing.. add the cost of planning to 50,000 bd.ft and you've paid for big shop equipment several times over!

      second  The wood at a sawmill is green..  dry it a bit and then plane it you'll wind up with a better product

    third if you set yourself up you'd be amazed at how little work it actually is..

    Use input and output rollers on a sturdy pair of sawhorses and figure out how to do the job without picking things up..

       Honestly I'll bet I've shoved well over 50,000 feet thru planners and I'll bet that I haven't actually picked up a dozen timbers or boards.. (It may be sixty or seventy thousand bd.ft. considering all the passes I needed to make with some timbers)...

1. 
   arnemckinley | Feb 25, 2007 10:25pm | #15

   frenchy,

    first of all i'm not saying to buy wood from a sawmill. although we get almost all of our hardwood from one in VT, and it's great. it's picked up planned and on the truck in less than a half an hour.  we may acclimate it for a short time, but their lumber is stored well, and there's never been  a moisture problem.

                  if you have  your own wood that you don't want plane you can bring that wood to a sawmill and they will plane it for you...fast and cheap. maybe you want to make five passes on a 1x10, but i've done it before and if it's any significant amount there's no arguement to convince me  planning by hand is the way to go.