Question on planing rough lumber

[TB Roye]

I have a stack of lumber from the Lumber Liquidators woodworkers pack of a couple of years ago. I have run some of it through the Jointer and have a flat face a 90 deg edge. Some of the wood it is thicker on one side than the other and on some on end is thicker. I guess you would run the thicker end through first, but how do you handle the board that is thicker on one edge than the other? On some boards it is about 1/4" - 3/8" difference. Don't want to put the board through the wall of my shop. Simple answer would be run it through and take a little off at a time. Just want to make sure of what i am doing.

Tom

[crokett]

Take it off a little at a time. If you want to see what is coming off, scribble with chalk on it and you will see the high spots come off first. Set the height of the planer to remove stock from the thick sides.

[ChrisD]

Tom, I don't think you're missing anything. Creating two parallel faces on a board is exactly what the planer is designed to do.

The only risk that I can think of is if the angle at the thicker edge is so obtuse that the downward force of the rollers can cause the board to rock as it passes through. But you've already taken care of that by jointing it square.

[TB Roye]

Thanks guys. Ran some pieces through the planer no problems ended up with some flat boards. One of them is questionable, may have to be cut shorter. Had a twist and thicker at one end and also tapered from side to side, might make some thing out of it.

Tom

[bthere]

If you have a piece that is really even or wedge shaped, you might consider getting it close to parallel by resawing it on a bandsaw, assuming you have access to one.

[Russianwolf]

I guess you would run the thicker end through firstTom

depends on grain direction. it doesn't matter if you plane the thick part first or last as long as you are planing with the grain. Go against the grain and you'll get tearout.


I have occasions when I slide a board 80% of the way through without even hitting the feed rollers.

[Tom Miller]

On some boards it is about 1/4" - 3/8" difference.

Good catch, BTW! Depending on the board, I think it would be easy to miss 1/4" variation; like a hump in the middle of the board. At the very least, that can get your attention while planing. DAMHIKT.

Regards,
Tom

[LCHIEN]

Tom, I have run a bunch of those ~2x2 skids through my jointer.
And yes, may of them are wedge shaped.
I do like you, I face joint one side (usually the best side) then set an adjoining side to 90 degrees.
At that point i usually rip the remaining two sides as close as I can and depending upon usage I will use it like that or thickness plane the just ripped edges. In fact, I often just go for square using the rip on the TS same for the two sides so its square.

Those dang nail holes are usally rusted with the black rust and discolor a big section of the wood a real bummer.

And watch out I found a couple of nails (not the hard way fortunately).

[TB Roye]

Loring.

I have a metal detector. I tried something last night while playing with the wood. I drilled the nail holes out and then cut some plugs from the end of the same piece and glued them in and then planed them down. Makes a usable piece of wood. You can turn that part so it doesn't show and have longer pieces. Most of the pieces I have are going to need the ends trimmed off because of splitting so cut the plugs before you trim the end. LOML wants a coffee type table for the reading area she is creating so it will give me a chance to use some of the this wood. I found that once it is planed and cleaned up it is some pretty nice looking wood. I also have some 2 to 6 inch wide planks from the same bunch of wood which I am going to glue up for a table top.

Tom

[Tom Miller]

I drilled the nail holes out and then cut some plugs from the end of the same piece and glued them in and then planed them down.

Well, there's some clear thinkin'! Thanks for the tip.

Regards,
Tom