QA

Question: How Does A Planer Work

How does a wood planer work?

A planer is used to make a board that’s been jointed flat equal thickness from end-to-end. A flattened board is placed on the planer table (bed) and pushed in. The machine’s feed roller grabs the board and pulls it through and past a rotating cutter headset above the bed, which removes wood.

How does surface planer work?

How does a planer cut?

Like the jointer, the planer cuts the wood surface with knives mounted in a cutterhead. But unlike the jointer, the planer cutterhead is mounted above the table and cuts the upper surface parallel to the surface rest on the table. After changing or sharpening the knives in your planer, make a test cut.

What can a planer do?

A planer is used to shave wood from the surface of boards. Imagine scraping a knife across the top of a block of butter. That’s pretty much the action with a planer – though you might need a bit more muscle power! They’re used to make a rough surface flat and smooth, or to reduce its thickness.

How much can a planer take off?

Examine the width of the lumber. Most planers remove a maximum of 3 mm per pass. If a narrow piece of lumber is being planed, the maximum amount may be removed. A piece that it at the maximum width of the planer may cause the motor to overheat and the cutter to stall.

Does a planer make wood smooth?

Smooth rough-cut wood stock with a planer. The planer is a tool for woodworkers who require large quantities of planed stock and who elect to buy it rough cut. It, too, cuts with a cutterhead, but the planer smooths the face of much wider stock.

Do I need a planer for woodworking?

Most woodworkers know that you need both a planer and a jointer to get the most out of rough lumber (at least for power tool users). If you run the other rough face on the jointer, you can certainly make it flat but you won’t make it parallel to the first face.

Will a planer flatten a board?

In order to flatten a warped, twisted, or cupped board, a common approach is to first use a jointer to create one perfectly flat face. Then you run the board through a thickness planer with the flat face downward, and the planer makes the top face parallel to the bottom.

How short of a piece of wood can you run through the planer?

Most planer manufacturers advise against planing pieces shorter than 12″.

Does a planer sand wood?

Answer from Lee Grindinger: “A planer will remove stock much, much more quickly than a drum sander. A sander is built to sand. For surfacing you’d be using a very coarse grit and this means several grit changes to get to the smoothness you’re looking for in a drum sander.

Is a planer a sander?

Whereas sanders are used to alter the finish of wood, a wood planer is used to even out wood to an exact thickness. Planers produce boards of even thickness.

Is buying a planer worth it?

If you really want to get into woodworking, a thickness planer is worth the cost. Once you have it, you’ll never regret the expenditure, because you’ll be in control of your stock thickness like never before. A fellow member might be willing to thickness-plane some stock for you for little or nothing.

What is a planer used for in fishing?

At its very basic, a planer board is a device that allows fisherman to cover more area at one time, have more control over their lines and reach places they would not otherwise be able to reach.

Which type of stock should never be run through the planer?

What should you avoid when using a jointer or planer? Do not cut stock that has loose knots, splits, defects or foreign objects (e.g., metal stone) in it. Do not leave the machine running unattended. Shut off the power and make sure that the cutting head has stopped revolving before leaving the area.

Which item S should not be worn when operating the planer?

Safety glasses and hearing protection are required. Never wear gloves when operating planer. Don’t raise or lower table while stock is in planer. Always run dust collection with planer. Keep hands 4” away from planer infeed area.

Can you use a planer to remove old finish?

You could plane off an old finish, but it’s not worth the risk. Planer cutterheads can generate sufficient friction to soften such finishes as polyurethane, gumming up their knives. Instead, use a belt sander set to about half its maximum speed and an 80- or 100-grit belt to remove the old film finish, as shown above.

Should you sand wood after planing?

All it takes is a light sanding to open up the pores of the wood. Anything higher than an 80 grit will begin to reseal the wood and the stain will not penetrate. Mill glaze is the effect that happens when the knives of the planer get hot during the planing process.

How do you make a wood surface even?

6 Ideas to Plane Wood without a Planer Use a table saw. Use a router. Use a jack plane. Use a wide-belt or drum sander. Get out the sandpaper. Take it to a cabinet maker.

What is planer snipe?

Snipe is simply when a board is cut deeper on the beginning or end when going through a planer. This is typically caused by the board lifting up into the cutter head while it’s only being held down by one of the pressure rollers.

How do you keep wood against fence on table saw?

Use featherboards to hold wood against the fence for a straight cut. When it’s tough to keep a board aligned with the fence, pull out a featherboard for smooth, straight cuts. Featherboards have a series of wooden “fingers” that hold wood tightly against the saw fence.