I was just checking out Josh Halls site (posted here, down a few posts)…I notice almost every shaper holds the planer at “odd” angles, sideways, etc…For some reason, I’ve never tried this, I always hold it semi-parallel with the rails…Just personal preference? Does it cut different? And on the same topic, do you guys continuely adjust the depth as you making a single pass or just adjust it between passes? I know, I should know this stuff, but it just never occured to me. I think I’m moving backwards 
ive only shaped a few boards but i find when doing the deck of a board with alot of rocker there are spots(ie the nose of the blank) where the rocker causes only the planers nose and tail to touch the blank lifting the height of the barrel ,but if you run the planer sidewards you are reducing the length of the planer so it sits better in the boards rocker keeping the planer barrel in the foam better.Hope this makes sense and isnt confusing ,i think its all about practice ,im not too hot with the planer but every board i do i seem to get a little bit better.
Yup, it makes sense, and I understand that, but even watching videos (or seeing pics) of guys shaping logs with very minimal rocker, it seems they’re always tweaking the angle…No big deal, just curious as to why. I’m always afraid that it it’ll gouge the foam, and ESPECIALLY the stringer if I go over it like that…
I was shown that if you keep the shoe over the yet to be mowed area it helps to keep everything even and makes following the lines easier. Needs to be held sideways at an angle to work.
The planer is on an angle so that the baseplate rides on the previous pass.
The shoe then rides on the surface of the foam being cut. The previous pass “guides”
the next one.
The only time I run the planer straight is on rail bands or trueing outlines.
And yes, the depth adjustment can be constant. But there are times when you’re taking
full cuts end to end, or half-passes end to end, or even little micro clean-up cuts on
the whole surface.
Don’t be afraid of gouging by angling the planer. Keep pressure on the baseplate and
don’t let the planer “roll”. You’re actually going to gouge more by running it straight.
The planer is the best tool you have. It cuts lines that water likes. The more you do
with it, the better off your boards will be.
Mike
Hey Scott,
It potentially keeps the planer from tearing up the stringer too. You can use this technique with the block plane.
Think of cutting something with a knife. if you cut on a slight angle it’s a lot more sharp then just trying to cut straight dead on.
Planer on the angle, less tear out, planer fits in the nose rocker. But use to full shoe and straight to get accurate bottom contours and straight smooth rails. If you just move a little slower with the planer you can get around all this.
More important than cutting on an angle is getting the shoe presure with your hand thing down pat, also taking exact cuts when you mow the furrows out.
Nothing worse than taking more out of the nose or tail on one side because you had too much hand presure on the leftside of the heal…making a big ol vee grove in the nose towards the stringer.
-Jay
Hi Tenover -
You might also notice guys turning the planer around and carving the opposite direction. The angle towards the stringer remains the same, just reversed. Note that they wear a mask, goggles and/or have a dust chute vacuum hose. Without a dust chute vacuum, you can expect to get all kinds of foam debris flying your way when you have the dust chute pointing towards you.
Quote:
Hi Tenover -
You might also notice guys turning the planer around and carving the opposite direction. The angle towards the stringer remains the same, just reversed. Note that they wear a mask, goggles and/or have a dust chute vacuum hose. Without a dust chute vacuum, you can expect to get all kinds of foam debris flying your way when you have the dust chute pointing towards you.
Like this?[/img]
Sorry the pictures came out so LARGE! JohnMellor is correct about the safety aspect. I added the plumbing elbow to my planer originally to attach it to a vacuum system. I found out that I don’t like the vacuum system hooked up to my planer. It just doesn’t feel right to me. Sooooo, I just angled the plumbing elbow at a slight downward angle and it helps blow away the dust created by the previous pass allowing me to see where I am going for the next. It works for me.
everyone here has given excellent explanations of why the planer gets held at certain angles. another rule of thumb also is at a 45 degree angle to your pass as to keep your planer flat with your board. i also work with the planer totally perpindicular to the stringer when i’m foiling out the tips or adjusting rocker. its called cross-cutting. some people do it others don’t as it can be tricky to blend evenly in to the deck or bottom. but its a must if your drop rocker in certain blanks becuase you’ll get a bump in the deck in the middle before you even touch the thing. just keep doing what feels right and what works for you!
I need to amend my previous post, I shaped a couple this afternoon and
noticed some other instances of running the planer straight. (other than
rail bands and trueing outlines)
When planing in concaves the angle is reduced to almost nothing.
When working on deck roll I run straight some of the time.
When blending major foiling work.
Generally speaking, when I’m taking big cuts to reduce thickness I’m always
on the angle, but the more detail or clean-up stuff the straighter it gets.
As the depth of cut decreases, so does the angle.
Make friends with your planer! Have fun!
Mike
For you guys in central Fla., Mike Daniel is one of my early wizards apprentices and has taken up where I left off. He built 2 of Clark foams favorite blanks with many shapers, the 6’7"D and the 7’1"D, they were the very first to incorporate the flip nose that had to be shaped in before these plugs
Just wondering what you think of your Bosch planer as I was thinking of getting one myself.
…sometimes if you have diferents side panels (bottom) with regard to the stringer
is better to do full parallel passes (to reduce thickness) tail to nose, instead of angled ones…
You’re correct, reverb. Cutting a convex bottom involves the same planer
techniques as doing deck roll. I should have thought of that.
Mike
Sometimes I have to adjust mine by skewing it and angling it. it is a the twin bladed bosch (the 1594), and the depth adjusted needs to be tooled with extensively to Clark it. So it lacks the depth adjustment of a clark but oh well. I have to spin it around lots to drop the depth.
Unfortunately I’m lazy to look around for various nuts to clark it . . . the Bosch 3365 have full depth turning with one turn, just like the Clark. I think if you can pop the cap off and remove the clicker inside it’ll spin as smooth as butter (on mine I removed the clicker and it spins freely but I have to a get a nut to fix it, thx Herb). At first I’m kicking myself for getting the 1594, instead of the 3365, so the 1594 is a good choice, as it has more power and mows foam good.
I like the Bosch. The blades are a breeze to change out and almost realign themselves. It is very easy to take apart to clean, add a 20 cord, remove the safety device(please be careful if you do this!) also the little kickstand is easy to remove. The only thing I would like different would be a different position of the trigger handle. More like the Skill100. To get back to the product I also like it for the price so I will lve with the handle.