# Table saw planing for laminated desktop(?)



## mdoleman (Jan 13, 2016)

This will be a bit of a rambling and perhaps confusing question, I suspect…

I plan to make a "butcher-block" style, laminated top for a desk, for which I've acquired a big chunk of 6/4 sapelle wood. It's S3S board, of *reasonably* uniform thickness-the variance is small enough that I believe whatever differences there might be, between lamination strips, would sand out once assembled.

One of the ends of the board, however, does have a very slight twist to it. I mean, I might not even call it a "twist," quite honestly. It's extremely minor. My initial thinking on it is that I want the thickness of the top to be something like 1-1/4", or so, and I was figuring on achieving that by making each strip about 3" wide and simply sawing the faces on my table saw, with the blade height at about 3-1/2" or so. For the bit that has the mild twist to it, I figured I'd make a simple little jig, of sorts-just a flat piece of whatever, to go up against the fence, and some sort of thin little shim to support the work-piece, which would be held in place with… whatever… I guess some temporary glue or a short nail from the other side.

All this to continue avoiding the purchase of a planer, of course… Or is it finally time to go get one? I'd really rather not, as I don't think I'd use it but half a dozen times per year, if that, and I've always seemed to get by through work-arounds such as that just described. I've "planed" pieces in this manner before, and it's always worked-out just fine. But I've never done it in quite this quantity, and not for an application where it's pretty critical that the edges and thicknesses be so precise.

Is this a terrible idea? Am I going to ruin a nice lot of perfectly good African hardwood?


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

Knock the twist out w/ a jack plane, take 5 minutes.


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## mdoleman (Jan 13, 2016)

> Knock the twist out w/ a jack plane, take 5 minutes.
> 
> - bondogaposis


This, of course, is the best idea of them all, if only I had a nice set of hand planes and knew how to use them…

I'm more or less a machine wood-worker, which I know must rankle the sensibilities of many folks. But it's where I'm at. At some point, yes, I would like to have some basic planes, but I still would require the skill to use them properly. And, for this particular application, I would have to get all the pieces planed-down to uniform thickness, which I am guessing would take more than 5 minutes.


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## EugdOT (Nov 17, 2016)

You can get a older plane off ebay for under $60 and sharpen it with some sandpaper on a mdf or glass surface with minimal cost. There are plenty of videos on YouTube for the process, and like most skills only way to learn is to give it a shot. Everything I ever did either diy project or something woodworking is ask questions which is what you doing, then see someone do it to get familiar with the process and try it until I get better and better. If we all said I don't have the skills we would never try to build anything, everybody needs a starting point. Worse thing you ask more questions. Best of luck.


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

And, for this particular application, I would have to get all the pieces planed-down to uniform thickness, which I am guessing would take more than 5 minutes.

My thought was that you would just knock the high spot off so you wouldn't have to shim it when you ran it through the table saw. I did not mean that you should four square the board with a hand plane.


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## mdoleman (Jan 13, 2016)

> And, for this particular application, I would have to get all the pieces planed-down to uniform thickness, which I am guessing would take more than 5 minutes.
> 
> My thought was that you would just knock the high spot off so you wouldn t have to shim it when you ran it through the table saw. I did not mean that you should four square the board with a hand plane.
> 
> - bondogaposis


AH! Lightbulb! Thank you for that, and goodness yes, that DOES make a lot of sense! This sounds like the direction I may head: spend some money on a good hand plane, and then apply my table-saw method. Thank you for that!


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## sawdustdad (Dec 23, 2015)

At 6/4 you might as well use that for the top? Why all the resawing? It would be easier to take 1/4 inch off the thickness of the board. If stability is a concern, rip it into 6 to 8 inch boards and glue them up. Chamfer the bottom edge around the perimeter to give it a thinner look.


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

A good set of hand planes or a benchtop planer, take your pick. They will cost about the same.

Oh and then there's the matter of a new jointer…

It never ends. Trust me.


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