Planing Techniques

General Discussion
1

Hi Guys

I was just curious as to how other people rough out their boards with the planer, I was told/ shown to start from the rail and move to the nose on an angle . I’ve seen a lot of footage of guys starting from the middle and working out and keeping the planer dead straight. Is this a better way to go e.g. does it produce a better shaped board, ive done 3-4 boards so far and was thinking of giving this technique a go, tips would also be helpful…

Im also rather confused with rail banding, do i make a real deep cut or do I only take off a little ??? 

2

     Howzit zac, It's up to the shaper as to how they do things with a planer. There is another thread going right now about planing techniques and you should check it out. Aloha,Kokua

3

Don't pay much attention to the youtube vids of inexperienced shapers. There's some really bad ones out there.

Look at the ''FAQ'' thread at top of this page, make sure you read Barnfield's rail band thread (it actually covers his whole planer process), and/or get Jim Phillips' DVD.

This thread might be useful also http://www2.swaylocks.com/node/1024374?page=1

4

Jim Phillips’ advice on a lot of small cuts vs a few big oops is priceless!

5

[quote="$1"] Jim Phillips' advice on a lot of small cuts vs a few big oops is priceless! [/quote]

As someone once said, ''It's much easier to take foam off, than to put it back on.''   

Who was that?

6

FWIW to cut a flat surface, the instruction booklet that came with Skil 100 planers shows cuts starting at the edges and working in from there... 'step by step'....  literally, as you cut a step with each pass.  Just place the front shoe on the next step before each cut with the planer held at an angle.