Basic planer stand with infeed / outfeed support...

[dbhost]

Okay, I know it's not much, but I was able to slap together a planer table using 3/4" melamine, 3/4" pine, planed down to 2-5/16" PT, and finally 3/4" birch ply, all slapped on top of a HF HD tool stand....

The infeed / outfeed supports appear level with the deck of the planer, and believe it or not, before I started moving stuff around, the planer was dust free...





Okay, I know, nowhere near what MOST of you guys can do, but considering the time I have to work on the shop, and build the WW skills, I am happy with it...

This project involved...

#1. Biscuit joinery.
#2. Router work.
#3. Working with Melamine (A first for me).
#4. accurately ripping 4x8 ply on a BTS-21, which I managed due to the many tips I get from you great folks...

I must admit I somehow screwed up. I think the bolt holes side / side on the AP1301 may not be even. I simply measured out where I wanted the planer, used a center punch to mark where I wanted the holes, drilled, and bolted... The planer is off by exactly 1/2" to the side. The inside that you can't see is almost butted up against the plywood. There is supposed to be 3/4" on each side, not 1.5" on one side and nothing on the other... Oops...

I haven't run any stock through the planer yet, but if it works like the infeed / outfeed tables did on their own, there should be no snipe to bother with...

[Bill in Buena Park]

dbhost,
Nice work - looks similar to what I put on my AP1301.

Question - does the planer alignment (1/2in you mentioned) impede the outfeed path at all? If so, I'd be careful to correct, so stock doesn't get stuck on the sides of the outfeed tray.

(edit) P.S. - you may still get snipe... the primary cause seems to be the lack of cutter head locks on this model, and the cutter head rocks a bit when pieces enter and exit, which appears to lower the cutters just enough to cause snipe.

[pacwind3]

dbhost,
Nice work - looks similar to what I put on my AP1301.

Question - does the planer alignment (1/2in you mentioned) impede the outfeed path at all? If so, I'd be careful to correct, so stock doesn't get stuck on the sides of the outfeed tray.

(edit) P.S. - you may still get snipe... the primary cause seems to be the lack of cutter head locks on this model, and the cutter head rocks a bit when pieces enter and exit, which appears to lower the cutters just enough to cause snipe.

Yes, I've found on this model the snipe is due to the cutterhead rocking, more so then the lack of support to the piece. One of the keys to help the snipe issue is to take very light passes on the last few passes. I just nudge the height adjustment a bit and sneak up on the final pass. Seems to keep the snipe to a minimum. Chasing the piece with a sacrificial board helps too.

[dbhost]

Yes, I've found on this model the snipe is due to the cutterhead rocking, more so then the lack of support to the piece. One of the keys to help the snipe issue is to take very light passes on the last few passes. I just nudge the height adjustment a bit and sneak up on the final pass. Seems to keep the snipe to a minimum. Chasing the piece with a sacrificial board helps too.

That may be a valid point. I haven't had any problems with the infeed / outfeed supports on the workbench prior to this, but I have gotten into the habit of taking the last 1/8" in 1/32" incriments. I haven't seen any snipe on this planer since it was a month old.... If the infeed / outfeed support is unneeded, that would free up shop space for sure!

On the alignment, no issue there. I simply adjusted the infeed / outfeed supports over. I had to clearance the supports underneath the support tables to clear the carriage bolts holding the top down to the stand though... Some drill and chisel work there.

[dbhost]

I look at pic #2, and it is OH SO obvious that the bolt spacing is not even in relation to the full outer dimensions. The outfeed ramp sticks out further than the infeed side.

I think I need to take it apart again, spin the planer around, and remount the support tables...

I am also considering taking the belt sander to those corners to avoid hip damage, and possible coat the ply and pine in some satin poly to protect it...

[SARGE..g-47]

Nice work DB. Once you get the kinks ironed out you will find that longer beds make life much easier if you do long stock. The main reason I purchased a 20" planer to get the long beds. I would round off the corners as you mentioned. I do it on about everything in my shop. The first time you snag yourself in a hurry... you start doing it to every sharp corner in the shop.

[crokett]

I like it DB. It works and that is all that matters. You don't need to apologize about it not being pretty.

[dbhost]

Well, the jointery (biscuits, screws, etc...) as well as the router work and layout is basically all about skill building. I figure my shop setup will help me build to nicer jobs, and who cares if I goof on a shop stand right?

And the best part is, I am blowing off tons of stress job related. (If no one else has noticed, right now things are PAINFULLY slow for me at work... Kind of scary...).

The wife and I are both feeling like road apples tonight, so I am not going to even look at it, and with the storm possibly coming my way, my next woodworking sort of thing to do is cut new ply for my windows and start screwing it in place. The old panels I had somehow ended up in projects... Ooops...

As far as finishing touches, or making it pretty goes. I really only want to coat the material due to the extreme humidity we have here. I want to protect the wood from the degenerative effects of 70+ % humidity... Of course I probably ought to pull the melamine out, and seal all the ends somehow.... Also, finished wood, at least wood with a nice poly, or paint finish, is very easy to clean shop mistakes off of, such as the errant fling of 5w30 Royal Purple from the 4x4. Remember, my shop does multiple duty. I am a big car guy as well... As a matter of fact... I remember one of my high school wood shop projects was a built in "beverage center" for a fully customized 1975 Dodge Van, including a 12V fridge, and chilled water / sink. It was a HS project for an alum who got his B.S. degree, and came back home with a good job, wanted to give the HS kids something to do while he had his van done up big time on the cheap... We used nothing but Walnut throughout that thing. They wouldn't let us call it a bar... But you get the idea. It was typical of the era, with the bed in back, the big divier, tuck & roll vinyl panels, Ceiling lights, bar, and circular "couch".

I sure wish my hands and my head could recall those skills from way back when! But then again, the learning curve is kind of fun...

[lrogers]

Ah, finally remembered to pull this up at home so I could see the pictures. For some reason, some, but not all, pictures get blocked at work.

That certainly appears to be highly functional. What more could you ask of shop "furniture"?

[dbhost]

Well, I was back at it tonight. I took the support tables off, as well as took the planer off, and flipped it around. I then reinstalled everything where I initially meant it to go. The planer is lined up, the infeed lines up perfectly, the outfeed which I found to be true the other way around, is about .5mm too high. Not enough to notice until you run stock through, then you REALLY notice... I am going to buzz that down with a friends belt sander this weekend (I don't own a hand held belt sander yet). I am also planning on taking that belt sander, and buzzing off the corners into nice round profiles to avoid thigh gouging...

I have 2 other additions coming this weekend. Cutting a piece of 1/2" ply for a shelf that will sit on top of the stretchers, and a piece of 3/4" ply to install locking casters on. I think

I should wait on the locking casters though, and spend the money on a Woodcraft Universal Mobile Base kit.

Once that is said and done, I have things like the biscuit joiner that I will store under here.

I also need to snap some shots of the mount for the Ridgid EB4424 sander. Same setup, but I used already finished birch ply that I got from an old bookshelf that is years gone now...

[pcombs]

I have this model and it does have some snipe problems. My simple approach to the problem was to chase it with a sacrificial board before and after since it does snip both front and back.

The planer does a great smoothing tho !

Good work by the way

[dbhost]

At least when I had the planer on the workbench, the infeed / outfeed tables do help reduce snipe. It eliminated it on the lead in, but not the back side on longer boards. Yeah, chasing your workpiece with a sacrificial piece eliminates it. I have been working with reclaimed lumber, stud grade 2x4s, and other el cheapo lumber, so calculating in the cutoff for snipe works too...

I have a friend with the Dewalt planer, and it snipes worse than mine by a wide margin. I must admit though, the DeWalt is a LOT quieter...

[JimD]

Nice setup. I agree about woodworking being a stress reducer - that is one of my reasons to do it too.

I just bought a new sander - I had several but wanted a small hand-held with good dust collection - and I bought a Milwaukee 6021 based upon a good review in Wood magazine. I have been pleasantly surprised. When you get ready you might want to consider. Tyler tool has them for less than $60.

Jim

[dbhost]

I actually have a Random Orbit sander (Skil) that works way better than the dollars spent on it would make you think... And my Ryobi Quarter sheet works WAY better than my old Makita did...

I am actually wanting a hand held belt sander... And haven't come across any I really like in a reasonable price range. (Under $100.00). The Ryobi, Skil, and B&D sanders in that price range are far less than impressive.