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maplecheese
Oct 31, 2006
Disturbingly delicious.

wormil posted:

Well MDF wouldn't be my first choice for strength but if you're set on it then I guess you are already aware of the awesome amount of dust that will happen when it's cut.

I'm aware of the dust, but no, I'm not set on using it, especially if it's that touchy with screws. I need something at least 32" wide, though, given the design I'm using, and I need to keep costs down. What would you recommend?

Edit: Actually, here. Let me do something vaguely intelligent and actually tell you about the design.

This is the slightly larger of the two cat trees, since the smaller one is pretty much the same thing, just not quite as big and only required to accommodate 1/4 the amount of cat.

The main supports (big squares in the animated gif below) are 4"x4" fenceposts. The secondary supports, under the diagonal edge of the "green" shelf, are just little 2"x2" pieces of wood. The things underneath the diagonal corners of the green shelf will just be little blocks of wood screwed into the fenceposts to act as a sort of lip for the green shelf to rest on. The straight edges of the green shelf are supported by four 8" shelf brackets, one going each direction on each edge. The red and blue shelves are supported by an 8" shelf bracket at one end and the top end of a fencepost section PLUS an 8" shelf bracket at the other end. The top orange shelf is supported by the top of a fencepost section and two 10" shelf brackets. I was going to drill up through the base into each fencepost section and attach them with big ol' screws, and do the same thing for the shelves that rest on top of fencepost sections.






So - workable, or crap?

maplecheese fucked around with this message at 06:41 on Jun 15, 2008

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wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!
Okay, if I understand what's going on then I think you're fine. The screws will be screwing into solid wood so they will hold. The problem with MDF + screws is this: MDF is basically dust and glue so side to side forces pull on the screw and the MDF just turns to dust around the screw and it falls out. But if your screw threads are going into solid wood then it's not a problem. If you're going to carpet it then I would just choose whichever sheet stock is cheaper - MDF or OSB. I built my cat tree from particle board which is basically sawdust and glue, it's what you find as shelving on those cheap metal industrial style shelves. I only used it because I had it laying around. The advantage MDF will give you is that it is heavy and your tree will be more stable, my tree tended to tip once my cat became full grown (but he was a big-rear end cat).

maplecheese
Oct 31, 2006
Disturbingly delicious.

wormil posted:

Okay, if I understand what's going on then I think you're fine. The screws will be screwing into solid wood so they will hold. The problem with MDF + screws is this: MDF is basically dust and glue so side to side forces pull on the screw and the MDF just turns to dust around the screw and it falls out. But if your screw threads are going into solid wood then it's not a problem.

Yeah, the only place where screw threads will actually be in the MDF will be to attach the shelf brackets, and there shouldn't be much force on those except for little sideways pushes when the cats are jumping onto or off of the shelves. There would be three screws going into the MDF per bracket, two right after the bend and one at the tip. Do you think that'd work, or should I get some kind of appropriate glue?

wormil posted:

If you're going to carpet it then I would just choose whichever sheet stock is cheaper - MDF or OSB. I built my cat tree from particle board which is basically sawdust and glue, it's what you find as shelving on those cheap metal industrial style shelves. I only used it because I had it laying around. The advantage MDF will give you is that it is heavy and your tree will be more stable, my tree tended to tip once my cat became full grown (but he was a big-rear end cat).

Oh good, because I bought MDF today. Edit: Would have bought it even if I'd read the advice beforehand, too - definitely wanted the extra weight for stability, here.

While I was waiting to get my two free cuts so I could actually fit it in the back of my car, I had to listen to this old man bitching at the poor lumber guy because somebody had cut his piece of wood 1/16" TOO WIDE. The old man wanted the employee to use his giant saw (located directly under a sign that said "NO PRECISION CUTTING") to take off the extra 1/16", but NO MORE THAN THAT.

maplecheese fucked around with this message at 05:27 on Jun 18, 2008

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

maplecheese posted:

Yeah, the only place where screw threads will actually be in the MDF will be to attach the shelf brackets...

Just predrill the holes and put a drop of glue down the hole and it should hold. Make sure to use a coarse threaded screw, fine threads will pull right out. They actually make special screws for MDF but I've never seen them in a store.

maplecheese
Oct 31, 2006
Disturbingly delicious.

wormil posted:

Just predrill the holes and put a drop of glue down the hole and it should hold. Make sure to use a coarse threaded screw, fine threads will pull right out. They actually make special screws for MDF but I've never seen them in a store.

Perfect! I'll do that, thanks.

Now I just have to wait until it quits raining for a day or two so I can get this stuff cut. Unfortunately, if the weather forecasts are right, that won't be for at least a week.

blackjack
May 22, 2004

The World's Mightiest Puppet!
I'm considering making a box for a favorite board-game since the carton is falling apart after years of being taken to friends' houses. I did read through the thread, but my questions are still very basic.



1) What would be a light, but strong wood that I could use for this? Preferably something available at Home Depot that will take a stain well.

2) Is this feasible for someone with no access to joiners or jig-saws or any of that sort of thing? I have access to saws, hammers and the very basics from the garage and that's about it.

3) Would a removable lid or a hinged one be better?

The ideal result would be something like this, lining and all.

Fron Bolster
Apr 22, 2006
Options?

wormil posted:

They actually make special screws for MDF but I've never seen them in a store.

While it's not exactly MDF screws, Lowe's sells particle board screws. They have extra ridges between the threads for more bite. Y'know those little orange bags and mini packs of wood screws? There should be a small section right next to them, with pink labels. It'll mostly be more cabinet mounting, but there's a few dedicated particle board screws in there. They have that greenish gold tint to them, like grade 8 steel.

edit: They'll probably be too long to use for a cat tree. I think they start at 2 1/2".

Cmdr. Chompernuts
Jun 6, 2004

blackjack posted:

box stuff

I actually make a lot of jewelry boxes. what tools do you have access to? At the minimum I pray you have a table saw. Boxes are fun as hell projects, but because they're small every little mistake is amplified. As far as wood I always tell people to avoid home depot. You could make it out of pine but it will come out much nicer as a hardwood and home depot's hard wood is limited to crappy cut oak. If you could make it to a lumber yard I highly recommend soft maple for a first project, its very easy to work with. Another benefit to the lumber yard is they can mill the board for you so you don't have to worry about not having some of the tools. Next get GOOD HINGES, I used to by these little crappy ones at lowes, but then one day I got some good ones at Rockler and it made a world of difference.

Box construction is largely done by taking a large board and cutting it into 4 sides so the grain will align. If you have a table saw you could pull of mitered corners (like it the picture), but it couldn't hurt to do a butt joint for your first project. Once the sides are cut, you cut a straight groove down the inside of the sides so that a lid and bottom can be fitted. then you glue it together, wait a day, and cut it open.

This book is AWESOME, lot's of pictures and good explanations

http://www.amazon.com/Tauntons-Complete-Illustrated-Guide-Making/dp/1561585939/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213841407&sr=8-1

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

blackjack posted:

1) What would be a light, but strong wood that I could use for this? Preferably something available at Home Depot that will take a stain well.

Another commonly available wood that is easy to work, stain, attractive and strong is mahogany. I love working with mahogany, it's a great outdoor wood also. Walnut is a beautiful choice. Cherry is also nice but difficult to stain, not that it really needs stain.

http://www.hardwoodinfo.com/species_guide/display_species.asp

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!
It's actually been a while since I've built furniture or anything better than carpentry work. So this week I started building a footstool. Not a very complicated project but it will get me back in the shop. I decided to use scrapwood from other projects so the legs will be made from an extra mahogany leg blank from a table project and the rails are walnut left over from another table. I don't know if they will look good together or not, I guess we'll find out soon enough. I've included a few pictures of my shop and of the stool coming together.

My shop from the door, such as it is. This is basically a shed that is probably 30 years old and was built by two 14 year old boys. If you're wondering why it hasn't fallen down it's because there are approximately 8 tons of ringshank nails holding the bitch together. You can see the basic parts of the footstool setting on my tablesaw.


Another shot of my shop. I used to work up here everyday and kept the place clean and organized but the less time I spend up there, the dirtier it gets. These pictures are actually after I cleaned up.


A shot of my rudimentary router table. It works but by all the gods if you can afford to buy a nice table or have the patience to build a nice table, it's worth it. I get by because I don't use my router nearly as much as I should.


I hogged out the tenons on my tablesaw and will finish them on my router.

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!
My router table setup and getting a squirt of Dri-cote.


A helpful tip, cut your stop blocks at an angle so that sawdust doesn't build up between the block and the piece you are cutting. If you can tell, this stop block is cut at a 15 degree angle and you can see the little bit of sawdust in the corner but it will not affect my cut since the outer edge will touch the piece being cut.


A mortise in progress. Unfortunately I didn't have a carbide bit the right size so I had to use a steel bit requiring many shallow passes.


Frequently your mortises will meet so you will have to cut the tenons at a 45 degree angle so they will not interfere with one another. Another good tip is to cut your mortises about 1/8" deeper than you need them to allow a glue reservoir; otherwise the glue could push your tenon back out of the mortise.



Someone borrowed my camera. This is Sally, a new addition to our family. The cage is her temporary home, after a day or two she will move to the white cage, Ratropolis, in the background.


The backside of my router table, the little port is just to deflect dust away from my face while routing.

blackjack
May 22, 2004

The World's Mightiest Puppet!
Thanks for the suggestions. I picked up a copy of that book, which seems tremendously informative.

maplecheese
Oct 31, 2006
Disturbingly delicious.
Holy crap was that blade ever dull.

But the cuts are made and the pieces are sort of approximately the right size, so yay. Now I just have to do... all the rest of the work!

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

maplecheese posted:

Holy crap was that blade ever dull.

But the cuts are made and the pieces are sort of approximately the right size, so yay. Now I just have to do... all the rest of the work!

On the rental saw? It would probably have been worth buying a cheap carbide blade just for the project.

Pictures?

Mordialloc
Apr 15, 2003

Knight of the Iron Cross
Does anyone have any ideas as to how I could add some portability to a workbench?

The workbench is nothing special, just a pine top, 100 by 19mm (2 by 4) legs and supports, a slatted shelf across the bottom and a couple of drawers tacked on after.

The reason I want it mobile is so that I can add tools and jigs to various sides at once, while storing it in a corner when not being used.

At the moment I end up dragging it around though this is cumbersome and makes the feet uneven.

I had considered adding a couple of cheap platforms to the outside legs and using a pair of scissor jacks (one at each end to lift the bench so that it is then supported by castor wheels on the lower platforms.

Ive attached a basic design of what I have planned.

Is this a foolish idea or would it be something that would work?

Mordialloc
Apr 15, 2003

Knight of the Iron Cross
Image didnt attach

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EvilDonald
Aug 30, 2002

I'm the urban spaceman, baby.
You'd have to have some kind of guide for the lower platforms to stop them from wobbling all over. And it'd be kind of a pain cranking the scissor jacks up and down.

I'd put two fixed castors the legs on one side, on brackets holding them juuuuuust off the ground. Then to move the table you just rock it onto the wheels and go. You'd push it like a wheelbarrow.

ChaoticSeven
Aug 11, 2005

I've been swamped lately so I've been having to steal minutes (literally) here and there to work in the shop. I've started working on a torsion box assembly table to replace my current laughable workbench made from construction lumber. Heres the gridwork with the bottom in place. I've gotten more than this accomplished, but I won't have any more pictures till tomorrow sometimes.

maplecheese
Oct 31, 2006
Disturbingly delicious.

wormil posted:

On the rental saw? It would probably have been worth buying a cheap carbide blade just for the project.

Yep. Too late now, though.

wormil posted:

Pictures?

Not yet. There are some of me and my friend's fiance looking sweaty and sawdust covered, but they're on his phone. I'll be taking other pictures once the drat things are actually assembled and probably making a thread in PI.

Looking at the size of the posts next to the size of the... everything else... and testing out the strength of the mdf and shelf brackets, I am realizing that this is probably going to be the most ridiculously overbuilt cat tree in the history of cat trees. I would put a small lion on this thing, and my cat weighs like ten pounds, maybe twelve tops.

Oh well. More for her to scratch.

PMan_
Dec 23, 2002

ChaoticSeven posted:

I've started working on a torsion box assembly table

Wow, nice looking torsion box. Looking forward to seeing some more pictures.

ChaoticSeven
Aug 11, 2005

Got the plans from the wood whisperer site,with a few mods of my own. I'll have to do the doors and drawers later, but its functional for now.





wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!
The top must be heavy as hell.

ChaoticSeven
Aug 11, 2005

It is really heavy. About 2 and a half sheets of 3/4" MDF, then the cherry edging and a sheet of 1/4" hardboard for the replaceable top. Solid as a rock though, and I love it. Such a huge improvement over the old thing I knocked up when I first bought my circular saw, hammer and router 9 months ago. I like just looking at it :)

Now if I had time to use it...

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!
It reminds me of the huge workbenches we had in industrial arts (aka shop class) back in high school. I wish I had room for a bench that size.

maplecheese
Oct 31, 2006
Disturbingly delicious.
Sawdust makes my ferrets sneeze. :(

Other than that, the cat tree project is proceeding along rather slowly. I just had an exam this evening and my living room is a shitpile (not literally) so I haven't really wanted to invite my friend over to help, but I do have two posts carpeted now, and my cat has been expressing her approval by sharpening her claws on them as they lie on the floor. (Good kitty! Yes! Keep doing that and leave the couch alone!) The catnip I rubbed into the carpet probably helps. I am absolutely loving the Stanley TRE500 power staple gun I borrowed courtesy of another friend's girlfriend's mother -- it's being treated even more reverently than borrowed tools normally are due to the tenuousness of that connection -- and I can't imagine how tired my hands would be using a cheap manual gun. It is slightly terrifying as the TRE500 is fully automatic, and will just keep firing staples until you let off of the trigger. (current maximum count: four)

I'm hoping to get the first cat tree at least partially up (posts attached to base and at least one shelf on) this weekend. My downstairs neighbours are gone tonight, so I can use the staple gun at 3 AM with impunity, at least for the moment.

It's looking like the project will come to a total of about $200, or $100 per cat tree, with fully a third of that being shelf brackets. For someone who didn't own any tools beforehand and decided to buy carpet instead of dumpster diving it, I'd say it would cost maybe $300 for two. Sort of seems like a lot when you look at cat trees online, as a lot of them are not that much more, but I would put tigers on this thing. ... well, baby tigers.

And I am posting this in the woodworking thread because none of my friends are online to tell about this. Probably has something to do with the fact that I keep going "OMG cat tree cat tree cat tree" whenever they are.

Vander
Aug 16, 2004

I am my own hero.
I have a set of wooden wineboxes from my job and I want to make them pretty.


Now I know nothing about staining or finishing, nor anything about adding nice hardware to make them a little more convenient (Like handles or hinges for lids). But I want to do that to them and have some real nice storage bins around the house. Should I make a thread, or keep bugging this one with all my newbie woodworking questions? :blush:

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

Vander posted:

I have a set of wooden wineboxes from my job and I want to make them pretty.


Now I know nothing about staining or finishing, nor anything about adding nice hardware to make them a little more convenient (Like handles or hinges for lids). But I want to do that to them and have some real nice storage bins around the house. Should I make a thread, or keep bugging this one with all my newbie woodworking questions? :blush:

This thread isn't nearly busy enough so please stay.

The boxes look like they are made of different woods so I would recommend an aniline dye for two reasons, 1) dye colors all woods evenly and 2) dyes are actually easier than stain. You can buy aniline dyes from local woodworking stores (probably other places) or order from online. The dyes can be mixed with water or alcohol, alcohol will dry very quickly but water will raise the grain of the wood (swell the fibers). I use dye like this: buy a cheap hand sprayer from the dollar store or Walmart and a quart of ethanol, mix the dye per instructions, spray the dye on the wood. If you don't get the dye on evenly wipe it with a rag but don't worry too much as dye is very forgiving. Even using alcohol you may get some raised grain (it will look fuzzy), simply sand gently with a fine sandpaper (220 grit).The dye soaks into the wood so you won't sand through the color as you would with stain unless you sand really hard.

The box joint boxes like the one on the top left that says Ruffino are strong and will last a long time. Boxes that are stapled will not be as durable and I would not spend quite as much effort on them. I'm not sure about lids, you could just take the existing lids and put hinges on them, I'll have to think about it.

Vander
Aug 16, 2004

I am my own hero.
:) Questions then:

wormil posted:


I would recommend an aniline dye


My big concern is preservation. These boxes are pretty raw wood and they warp quick in the sun. The lids are the big victims, but more on that later. So will the dye make the wood last longer?

quote:

I use dye like this: buy a cheap hand sprayer from the dollar store or Walmart and a quart of ethanol, mix the dye per instructions, spray the dye on the wood.

Just a hand sprayer a la Windex?

quote:

simply sand gently with a fine sandpaper (220 grit).The dye soaks into the wood so you won't sand through the color as you would with stain unless you sand really hard.

What about the art on the boxes? how can I sand the wood, but not damage the (I think) burned on brands?

quote:

I'm not sure about lids, you could just take the existing lids and put hinges on them, I'll have to think about it.


I just about have to have new lids. Between the sun and just necessity of opening the boxes, I have less than half of the original lids, and even those are mostly split in half. I'll need to straight up make a couple lids. I'd also like to have them attached to the boxes if possible.

How likely can I add handles on the sides? It seems the wood's thin-ish on a couple, so I have no idea if that's a matter or not.

And I can take any pictures you need. :)

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

Vander posted:

My big concern is preservation. These boxes are pretty raw wood and they warp quick in the sun. The lids are the big victims, but more on that later. So will the dye make the wood last longer?
If the sun is a concern then you need a UV blocking varnish as a final finish. The dye will not provide any protection. If you are using them inside then you can finish them with almost anything. From least to most protection: oil, oil/varnish mix, shellac, varnish, lacquer, or polyurethane. (lacquer must be sprayed)

Vander posted:

Just a hand sprayer a la Windex?
Yes. Dye is not like paint or stain. You can also just wipe it on. Dye is also clear, it will not obscure the grain or muddy the finish.

Vander posted:

What about the art on the boxes? how can I sand the wood, but not damage the (I think) burned on brands?
If you want the boxes to turn out smooth you will have to sand them but you shouldn't need to sand them very deep. Just a light sanding with the grain and a fine sandpaper. Or for a more rustic appearance just don't sand them at all (except for any wood hairs that stand up, I would sand those off).

Long answer: The wood fibers will not all be the same length especially if the wood has been sanded before. When you expose the wood to moisture (rain, water based stain) the wood fibers will swell and give the wood a bumpy feeling, some of the wood fibers will stand up like hairs on your arm and make the wood look fuzzy. By using ethanol instead of water you will minimize the amount of swelling. Often it is recommended to preraise the grain by swabbing the wood with a wet sponge and allowing it to dry, then lightly sanding it smooth again. This technique minimizes the amount of sanding you will need to do after staining/dyeing. Another alternative is to use an all-in-one stain and polyurethane (e.g. Minwax Polyshade) but you will still have raised grain and you will be sanding polyurethane. Also each coat of Polyshade muddies the wood grain which is sometimes desirable when working with dissimilar woods but it will also muddy the burned in brands.

Vander posted:

I just about have to have new lids. Between the sun and just necessity of opening the boxes, I have less than half of the original lids, and even those are mostly split in half. I'll need to straight up make a couple lids. I'd also like to have them attached to the boxes if possible.

How likely can I add handles on the sides? It seems the wood's thin-ish on a couple, so I have no idea if that's a matter or not.
I'm not much of a box maker, I mostly do furniture; hopefully some of the box guys can do you better on the lids.

I would fashion the handles from wood, either just buy them pre-made or make them by hand. Making handles isn't as difficult as it sounds and if they are imperfect it adds to the rustic feel of the boxes.

Vander
Aug 16, 2004

I am my own hero.
Ok, cool. I'll have a status report sometime soon. Thanks :)

PMan_
Dec 23, 2002
Okay, here's another question. As we know, I’m new to woodworking and had initially wanted to plane my boards down using hand planes. Since then… Well, planers are looking better and better. As far as jointing goes, I figured I could just use the table saw to get a minuscule amount off.

I was thinking about getting one of those $250 Grizzly planers, but then I saw this on Craigslist for $90, a 6 1/8" Jointer/Planer:

http://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/tls/735970990.html

Having not much money in the woodworking budget at the moment, this seems pretty nice. My question is, can this actually be used for planing boards, as well as jointing, and how would it work for that as opposed to having an actual planer?

I have found some information on it thanks to google, but I would definitely appreciate any insight offered here.

Vander
Aug 16, 2004

I am my own hero.
No wood dye in my little town here. So let's talk about staining. My dad say it's easy- peasy. Is it?

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

PMan_ posted:

My question is, can this actually be used for planing boards, as well as jointing, and how would it work for that as opposed to having an actual planer?
I don't see why not, for narrow boards anyway. Jointers are underused in woodworking but in my opinion they are one of the most important power tools available. Jointers of course are used to make adjoining sides square, plane sides flat and can also be used to create tapers and rabbets. Planers of course are used to make boards the same thickness and to make opposite sides parallel. You'll just have to be careful to make the same number of passes on every board to keep them the same thickness. You should also buy or make a proper push board for planing the broad side of a thin board.

Vander posted:

No wood dye in my little town here. So let's talk about staining. My dad say it's easy- peasy. Is it?
There is such a thing as mail order. Dyes are easier and more foolproof but if you really want to use stain then I recommend a gel stain because you have several different types of wood. You can also use the all in one products I mentioned before. Stain is easy to apply, you just wipe it on then wipe it off. Follow the instructions on the can. The downsides with stain are that some woods will not accept stain evenly and blotch, pine doesn't stain well, plywood doesn't accept much stain and will be a lighter color than wood, some of these problems are diminished by gel stain. For storage boxes I don't suppose it matters that much. There are oil based and water based stains. The water base will cause more grain raising but is easier to clean up.

edit for spelling.

wormil fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Jun 30, 2008

ChaoticSeven
Aug 11, 2005

PMan_ posted:

Okay, here's another question. As we know, I’m new to woodworking and had initially wanted to plane my boards down using hand planes. Since then… Well, planers are looking better and better. As far as jointing goes, I figured I could just use the table saw to get a minuscule amount off.

I was thinking about getting one of those $250 Grizzly planers, but then I saw this on Craigslist for $90, a 6 1/8" Jointer/Planer:

http://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/tls/735970990.html

Having not much money in the woodworking budget at the moment, this seems pretty nice. My question is, can this actually be used for planing boards, as well as jointing, and how would it work for that as opposed to having an actual planer?

I have found some information on it thanks to google, but I would definitely appreciate any insight offered here.

I don't see how that thing converts to a planer. It just looks like a run of the mill benchtop jointer to me. Maybe I'm wrong, though.

Cmdr. Chompernuts
Jun 6, 2004

PMan_ posted:

Okay, here's another question. As we know, I’m new to woodworking and had initially wanted to plane my boards down using hand planes. Since then… Well, planers are looking better and better. As far as jointing goes, I figured I could just use the table saw to get a minuscule amount off.

I was thinking about getting one of those $250 Grizzly planers, but then I saw this on Craigslist for $90, a 6 1/8" Jointer/Planer:

http://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/tls/735970990.html

Having not much money in the woodworking budget at the moment, this seems pretty nice. My question is, can this actually be used for planing boards, as well as jointing, and how would it work for that as opposed to having an actual planer?

I have found some information on it thanks to google, but I would definitely appreciate any insight offered here.


Thats not a planer at all. That is strictly a Jointer, and it will only flat one face, it will not do the other side parallel. I'm going to lay it out like this for you. I don't have a jointer because I consistently use boards that are longer then 6 inches wide and 8-12 inch jointers are expensive. I would definitely recommend getting a planer though. With a planer you can get one side relatively flat, but you don't have to get it perfect with hand planes. Then run the board, flat side down, through the planer, and then flip it over and do it again. This is my method of milling boards and it has served me well. A jointer eliminates the need to use hand planes and is more precise. If you decide to use hand planes exclusively you are in for a lot of work and a lot of practice. hand planes are great tools but they require a great deal of maintenance and practice.

The problem with using a jointer exclusively is if you run 2 long sides they may not come out parallel, and that can be a huge problem.

ChaoticSeven
Aug 11, 2005

Finished up this today. A relative asked me to make a couple end tables out these old foot operated sewing machine bases. I took all the old wood off, used a brass bristle brush chucked into my drill and cleaned it up for as long as I was willing. Some gloss lacquer to finish. The top is walnut with a cove profile.





PMan_
Dec 23, 2002
^^That looks pretty nice!!

Well, as far as any "planing" aspect of that jointer, I guess I was inspired that it could be used to plane boards of less than 6" thanks to this picture on the GRR-Ripper site:



To my novice eyes, it seems like using the jointer that way could flatten boards like a planer. But I see Cmdr. Chompernuts has said it won't do the other side parallel. So, I dunno. Maybe I will just wait and get an actual planer, but it'll have to wait until we get a new house, possibly 4-6 months. I just thought that using the jointer to plane could be a quick-fix in the meantime.

ChaoticSeven
Aug 11, 2005

What he's doing there is face jointing. You joint a face, then an edge using the face to reference. That gets you one 90 degree angle. Chomper explained that although you can flatten the opposite side too, it won't be parallel to the first face. You'll end up with a wedge.

The reason you can't just use a planer to make a board perfectly square is because the infeed rollers flatten any bow/cup out before it hits the blades. The board comes out the other end, thinner, yet still bowed or cupped. If you've jointed a face first, though, you place that fat face down on the planer and feed it through. Theres no bow or cup to press out, since its already flat. That allows the planer to flatten the other face, and do it so its parallel. The final edge can be squared using a tablesaw. Place the jointed edge against the fence and feed it through so that the entire opposite edge is trimmed by the blade.

You CAN, however, make a sled that allows you to joint boards with a planer. It uses a sheet of ply as wide as your planers capacity. You use shims underneath the board, resting on the sled, to make sure the board doesn't rock and has nowhere to go when the rollers try to press on it. I had some links but I lost like 3 years of bookmarks the other day. I'll try to find the page with illustrations/plans if I can find them.

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

PMan_ posted:

To my novice eyes, it seems like using the jointer that way could flatten boards like a planer.

This is what I tried to explain in my earlier post, a planer doesn't flatten boards, it reduces their thickness and makes opposite sides parallel. A jointer makes the boards flat and adjoining edges square. If you look closely at the picture you posted, the board he is jointing is cupped.

A planer will not remove cup, it will make opposite sides parallel but they will still be cupped. Now sometimes you can remove some cup with light passes but a planer is not designed for that.

Here is a review of wood defects:

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PMan_
Dec 23, 2002
Aha, I believe I understand now - finally. Sorry for the confusion, and thank you for correcting me.

Edit: Once again, thanks for being patient with me on this. The more I thought about it after I realized I was completely and obviously on the wrong track with the whole planing / jointing / face-jointing thing, the dumber I felt, and thus all the more grateful that you guys took the time to respond and explain things for me.

PMan_ fucked around with this message at 16:05 on Jun 30, 2008

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