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Making s4s that's square

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Forum topic by mdoan posted 93 days ago 164 views 0 times favorited 5 replies Add to Favorites
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mdoan

29 posts in 604 days


93 days ago

Topic tags/keywords: planer s4s jointer

Good morning all,

I’m working on a bookcase that needs 4 legs. I have a glued up piece of stock 3×3x40” which i need to make s4s. After cleaning up the dried glue, I jointed one face. Done. Then jointed a side referenced off of the first face. Done.

Now, since the stock is 3”x3”... i decided to run the piece, jointed face down, through my planer. Result….

A slight bow in the middle of the planed face…. what gives?

This also made me think.. if the fold down planer beds aren’t level … then i might get a bow with long stock.

I proceeded to cut the stock into 20” pieces… we’ll see if this will work better.

Question is… would it make sense to make a long continuous “bed” for the planer? Would this ensure flatness?

-- Wood Chopper

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kolwdwrkr

473 posts in 126 days


93 days ago

How long were the pieces when ran through the jointer? If the bed of the jointer isn’t long and you run long stock then your pressure may influence your crown. I would have cut them down to 21 or so then ran them through the jointer.
The fold down supports on your planer should be flat to the bed of the planer. There are adjustment screws on those wings to ensure this in which you can adjust yourself. Also, they aren’t stable enough to “hold” the stock up off the planer when running through. The infeed and outfeed rollers put enough pressure on the material to hold it down to the bed. I’d have to assume the crown came from previous steps, not the planer. But, I wasn’t there. Good luck and best wishes

-- ~ Inspiring those who inspire me ~

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mdoan

29 posts in 604 days


93 days ago

The stock was originally 40” when i jointed the first face. After jointing, I placed that face on my worktable and it looked flat. After planing, placing the planed face down on the same worktable showed that the ends were higher than the middle.

Another oddball bit of info… the face that i planed… started out low at the ends and high in the middle. I don’t THINK this should affect the operation of a planer since that’s what it does right? Slice things down one plane at a time till there is one continuous plane parallel to a reference plane. Hmmm…

-- Wood Chopper

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Toolz

227 posts in 278 days


93 days ago

I adjusted the metal in/outfeed tables square to the planer bed then used MDF to extend the length of the in and outfeed. Here is a photo.
http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii252/Toolz45/Workshop%20Photos/DSCN0042.jpg
You might be able to make something similar. This works great for me.
Larry

-- Growing older but not up!

View BeechPilotBarry's profile

BeechPilotBarry

410 posts in 239 days


93 days ago

I think the heavy workpiece is flexing the planer head. That’s why the ends are thinner than the middle. When the stock is in the middle, both tables are supporting it. At each end, the stock may be using a table as a fulcrum to push up into the cutterhead, possibly flexing or compressing the feed rollers.

Maybe roller stands, or a long “sub-floor” in the planer would help.

-- - Real men read directions

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mdoan

29 posts in 604 days


93 days ago

Thanks to all who chimed in.

Kolwdwrkr gets the gold star for today. After cutting the 40” stock down into two 20” pieces… I noticed that one of the pieces had a face that was indeed not flat over the entire length. The last 4-5 inches was two hairs thinner which explains why i kept getting more and more bowl in the middle each time through the planer.

After i rejointed the face all is s4s and I have two perfectly matching stock for the legs. I hope this gives others a clear example of going back to basics and trusting logic over second guessing yourself (or equipment) into something more complicated than it needs to be.

-- Wood Chopper

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