# Alternatives for planing stock if you dont have a planer



## WWilder

I was looking for any assistance on how to possibly thin down some stock (nothing in particular at the moment) if you dont have a planer. I bought a hand plane but i certainly dont know how to utilize it properly. Just starting out in woodcrafting, i am heavy into researching all my queries as they hit me….so in true form, here i am again


----------



## scottb

I've resawn, and even jointed boards with the tablesaw and some sanding. You can also build a sled for the router to ride on and use that to plane boards down. Speaking of planeing…. there are always handplanes. Check out Matt Vanderlists podcast, he knows, and preaches a great deal about handplanes. http://mattswoodshop.libsyn.com/

Oh, and welcome to LJ!


----------



## WWilder

Thanks for the warm welcome. look forward to lots of advice from the pros here


----------



## gusthehonky

I have used the table saw method in the past for both shop and job projects fairly decent results. there are many factors which need to be considered which need to be taken into consideration for application, ultimatly effecting final result. these include but are not limited to crowns, bows, curves, thickness, amount of stock removal. A word of caution, aggressive cutting places great strain strain on saw, gradual removal over a series of multiple cuts is a must. Some type of user made jig is required, either on fence or some type of sacrificial "cage". I have used multiple older blades with locking washers between them and staggered teeth to allow for dust/chip clearance. Only practical for small/thin stock. This can be a dangerous method, search around the web for a more indepth/step by step instruction. Pay attention and use caution.

A band saw, if available is a much saner method. I've never tried thr router method, due to my dislike of routers.(they are a very valuable tool for tons of applications, in some hands they can produce amazing results. I've just never taken to them and prefer other tools if outcome will be the same, other wise I will use them, just not my fav. tool). I would quess the router method is VERY NOISY, but so are planers. Much info is abundant on both routers and hand planes everywhere on the web that is focused on wood tools.

Many lumber suppliers will preform this service for a fee on the stock they sell. They will have a larger selection than the the big boxes(the HD in my area only stocks pine and oak aside from job specific types). I have developed a very good relationship with my supplier by trying to make bulk purchases with one order rather than multiple single boards over a short time span. Accepting overage rather than asking for cuts and avoiding peak time periods, basically trying to stay out of their way or taking time with dumb questions, special requests, or just being a PINA. This has gained me unsupervised access to stock room and placed me in the "real price" bracket. Believe me every supply house for any trade has multiple pricing brackets, some doubling or more the "trade/real" number.


----------



## keithcruickshank

Welcome aboard. Some good advice above here and, if you have an interest in using hand planes to prepare wood stock, I will add one more video that might be useful:

http://woodtreks.com/how-to-use-a-hand-plane/21/


----------



## Loren

It's not difficult to hand-thickness a soft wood like cedar or
redwood with a hand plane. It's doable with hardwoods as
well but the work is very strenuous.


----------



## 8iowa

I also live in North Florida. Highland Woodworking (www.highlandwoodworking.com) in Atlanta has an instructor, Jim Dillon, who teaches classes in sharpening plane irons and in using hand planes. I've taken both classes and can highly recommend them. For me, Atlanta is a 5 hr drive and an overnight stay.

I find three planes very useful; A #4 smoothing plane, a #5 jack plane, and a 60 1/2 low angle block plane. With the #4 and 5 I can quickly prepare a surface for a pass through my planer, removing cup and twist without the need to have a large joiner for facing boards. The block plane is handy for hundreds of other uses.


----------



## woodyoda

Heres a way to plane down any wood, no matter how big. Like Scott said, using a router….....
I use a makita plunge router, here's what else you'll need
4 pipes about 2- 2 1/2" maybe 4' long, you'll need to make a base so thy stand up straight, these are your verticles.
2 pipes 1 1/2" for horizontal members….you can drill holes every inch or 2 up the verticles to adjust the height of the horizontals, run a bold and wing nut through them for easy movablilty.
these are set on both sides of your wood project, 2 more pipes are laid across the horizontals to ride your router on. If you use galvanized steel pipes, anything above 3/4" is not going to bow under your router.
If you just use you router you can only do about 2" at a time, if you put a hard circle of masonite attached to you router you can do a much larger width.
I use a plunge router to control the depth. the pipes I lay across the horizontals I just duct tape on so I can cut them loose and move the pipes over easily.
If you can picture this, you can route-flatten a burough as big as a table, without a plane, it's comes out even enough to be sanded easily also.
Use a level on everything…..I can route a 48" burough in an hour no problem. yoda


----------

