# Planing short boards



## jayscott (Dec 18, 2011)

I recently was given some flooring samples, all 9 or 10" long with tongue and groove edging. Nice wood - oak, teak, and Santa Maria but the back has the 1/8" deep grooves typical of flooring. I want to run them through a planer to remove the grooves but the boards are too short to be safe.

I was thinking of putting two boards side by side, with the ends staggered, and add more boards to build up a longer board that should go through the planer with no problem. I'd also put glue in the tongue and groove to hold the assembly together.

Is this a good idea or am I going in the wrong, and possibly unsafe direction?

Thanks for your help,
Jim


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## MedicKen (Dec 2, 2008)

I would tack a couple of longer pieces to the sides of the boards and then run them through the planer. Something like a 1×1 about 12-14" long should be enough to stabilize it and will also keep the snipe, if any, on the sticks and not the work piece


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## SnowyRiver (Nov 14, 2008)

You could build a sled to hold the pieces.


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## jayscott (Dec 18, 2011)

MedicKen, I have thought about gluing longer boards to the sides of the short boards but I have around 75 flooring boards so that would be a lot of gluing. Your suggestion of gluing a long board to each side of the "assembly" would make sense.

Wayne, I've searched for ideas for a sled and get differing opinions on how the boards are attached to the sled. Some don't seem to attach the shorts to the sled but double sided tape is most often mentioned. This link is commonly referred to but few have stated that it is a good idea or that it is safe.

If I glue up the individual boards and tape (thin tape) them to a sheet of plywood, I hope it will work.

Appreciate the advice,
Jim


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## Dal300 (Aug 4, 2011)

My method, for better or worse, has been to fit a number of pieces of T&G together and either use double sided tape to stick them to a piece of luaun or pin nail them to the luaun from the backside in a couple of strategic places on the ends where you can later cut the pieces with nail off and not lose much.

Again, this is only my method. Your Mileage may vary. Objects in mirror are closer than they appear. Professional driver on closed course. Objects under T-shirt are larger than they appear!


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## dhazelton (Feb 11, 2012)

I would think that once you are into the feed rollers you would probably be okay with a sled and the pieces staggered and keyed to each other. Your end pieces can be screwed to the sled if you countersink and set the screws below your final depth.

But do you need them all planed at once to a specific thickness for a project? You could always resaw them on an as-needed basis if you have a band saw, then smooth out on a belt sander. Just another idea….


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## DW_PGH (Mar 19, 2010)

Hand plane? Running off the tongue and down to the groove would be cake work with a hand plane. It's as if you've already got a built-in mark for to stop - as soon as the tongue and groove are gone, you stop planing.


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## SnowyRiver (Nov 14, 2008)

Just take a couple of 2X2s 24 inches long and glue them to a piece of hardboard or MDF about 24 inches long. Glue them apart the width of your flooring boards. Run this sled through the planer until it gets to the thinckness that you want your flooring boards. Glue a stop block at the back between the 2X2s the same thickness as the planed 2X2s (which will be the final thickness of the boards you are are going to plane.) Put the flooring boards between the 2X2s and run it through the planer. If you want you could use a piece of double back tape between the boards to hold the flooring, but I dont think it will be necessary.


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

I would just rip them on the saw.


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

I think the tablesaw would be easier. You could cut off the tongue in one pass. However carpet taping them together and staggering them to make a longer unit to run through the planer would also be a safe alternative.


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## jayscott (Dec 18, 2011)

dhazelton, I'm going to use the pieces for various scroll saw projects so all I need is to get the grooves off the back of the pieces.

Wayne, I would guess taping short boards onto the sled would be necessary. As I understand it, the front end of short could lift and jam in the planer with resulting loud noises and possibly expensive repairs. Have you run shorts through your planer on the sled you describe without somehow attaching them to the sled?

I'm going to pick up a planer this weekend and will try gluing the shorts boards together with staggered joints and will either tape them to a sled or glue runners along each side for extra strength.

Thanks to everyone who commented.
Jim


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## SnowyRiver (Nov 14, 2008)

Jim,

Yes, I have done this all the time. My planer is a Dewalt 735 and I have never had an problems. The pressure roller should hold the piece down. Like I had said earlier you could use the tape if you want to be on the safe side, but I have never had any problems.


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## crashn (Aug 26, 2011)

make some 3/4×3/4×48" runners, glue 3 or 4 boards between them (leave about 2 or 3 inches of runner free on the start and end for snipe) and then run through planer. I do this with small boards and it works great.


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## BrandonW (Apr 27, 2010)

I second the vote for hand planes. Normally I have no qualms running wood through a thickness planer, but these shorter pieces just seem like a lot work to prep them, when you can just plane them down with a jack plane in a few seconds.


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## canadianchips (Mar 12, 2010)

"Jointer" or table saw.


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

I have done this a lot and just butt them end to end and send them through. I've never had any problems doing this and don't see a problem. Am I overlooking something dangerous? Don't know that it's important but I use the 3 blade Ridgid planer.


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## jayscott (Dec 18, 2011)

gfadvm,  I have never used a planer but reading the web site and the manuals, it seems that short boards can flip up before the outfeed roller and cause damage to the board and/or planer. Not sure myself how it can happen but better safe than sorry. A couple of people have stated they also send shorts through one butted against the other.

I'm looking at the Dewalt 734 planer, also with 3 blades.

Hope this helps, at least a bit.
Jim


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## fredf (Mar 29, 2008)

a couple pieces of wood either side with screws clamping the piece to be planed in the middle. just be darn sure to keep the screws below the level you are planning too or you will get those expensive noises!!! I position the screws just before and just after the stock to be planned, make sure they are LOW and TIGHT.


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

Jim, I think the problem occurs with boards that are significantly shorter than the distance between the feed rollers. I have run an awful lot of oak, walnut, and jatoba flooring in the 8-12" range but I wouldn't recommend doing anything YOU are not comfortable with. You could always just stick them to a longer piece with double faced tape (use small lengths of tape or you'll have trouble getting them off).


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## Bobmedic (Sep 24, 2010)

Jointer would work great. Table saw too if you have a good push stick like a Grripper.


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

I misread your post. I thought you wanted to eliminate the T&G on the edges, but now I realize you want to plane the surface to remove the 1/8" deep grooves. It might be safer to run them through a jointer before going to the planer and taking very shallow cuts. I think you can do it without a sled.


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## vonhagen (Dec 5, 2011)

snowy river got it right


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

Jim, I thought about you taday when I planed 12 5 1/2" x 1 3/8" pieces of walnut. I just ran them through taking shallow cuts and NO PROBLEMS.


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## vonhagen (Dec 5, 2011)

andy, if the board is shorter than the length between the bed rollers and pressure bar then nothing is holding down the board and it can kickback or just explode. its like droping blocks of wood onto a spinning jointer head.


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

Blaine, I agree. I will measure how far apart my rollers are and plane accordingly.


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## jayscott (Dec 18, 2011)

Thanks to everyone for your comments and suggestions. It's great to be able to draw on the wisdom of more experienced woodworkers.

I'm going to glue boards into larger "planks" to run them through the planer. Then I'll rip the planks to remove the remains of the tongue and groove.

Jim


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