Cleaning up reclaimed redwood siding

|It’s not true .It will be planed fine used or not. Why wouldn’t it plane up good?Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

Besides using a jointer a drum sander works well.

-- Never board, always knotty, lots of growth rings

The wood, itself, will plane just fine. The problem with wood like this is not the wood but the dirt, grit and sand that gets embedded in the surface of the wood. Worst case is that it will dull a set of planer knives but, if it is as clean as you say, then you should not have any problem.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

I’d really go over those boards carefully looking for nails and such. That’
s how to really dull a planer! If you know anyone with a metal detector, invite him over.

I helped a guy years ago do this. We attacked the boards with a wire wheel in a drill first, to get the grit and paint sags out of the way. The old wood was full-size, so you should have no problem getting a “nominal” 1” thickness. And it’s usually old-growth. No knots, no sapwood. Great stuff.

Thanks all for the comments and advice. I ended up using a pressure washer – worked extremely well.