The title says it all, do you use a portable surface planer?  I've been looking into purchasing one but not sure how much I'll actually use it.

Views: 770

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

is this what you are talking about, i built 4 guitars 3 of witch had glue up necks, and the use of one of these was absolutely mandatory , how ever i need one too, i got the store i bought the wood from to use there's for me , think ill go looking for one today.

Actually I think it's called a Thickness planer.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_221857-70-DW734_0

I have the 3 cutting blade dewalt and like it a lot except all the small portable one.will not cut true at both ends for about an inch. I deal with it by using a piece of melimine shelf board underneath the material. I'll take a picture when I get home if you want. so don't plan on running finished lengths. This is more pronounced with smaller and thin pieces like fret boards

Thanks, that's what I was looking to use it for....fret boards and any old wood I get making it the same thickness.

I buy all sorts of exotics rough and mill my own.  I've also book matched sitka spruce for tops and planed them down to less than a quarter inch with good results.

It really depends on what level of use you are going to get out of it.  I don't use mine a lot but that is because I mill up a bunch of what I need at a time.  If I had room and money, I would surely get as big of a plane as I could find but this one does a pretty good job only a couple of limitations for our kind of work.

The Craftsman photo is of a joiner. Typical use is to establish a good edge on a board in preparation for gluing up or simply getting the piece square. It can be used for limited thickness planing but is limited by the width of the board you want to plane. These are frequently found at auctions for a fraction of new price. I have never seen a thickness planer for sale at auction. I think many small shops build with dimensional lumber and can't justify the cost. Having been a teacher I always had access to a planer in our school's wood shop so never spent the bucks to get one of my own. The school no longer has a shop and I have never found it necessary to plane anything building CBGs. I have a good band saw and if I need a thin piece I can use it (or my table saw) to resaw a thicker piece. 

I have a DW735 (the one you posted a pic of) and love it. I bought mine shortly after they came out and were lower priced, that said I would buy another one at today's price but I'd look a lot harder for a sale or lightly used one first.

I have a Grizzly tools 6" jointer and a craftsman surface planer. The 2 tools are a great combination.

To add besides thicknessing lumber and panel glue ups I've found it makes quick work out of flattening inlays like fret board marker dots. I cut my fret slots a bit deep, drill and glue in my dot material, then a quick trip through the planer with a light cut and the fret board is ready for a final sand, finish, and frets. 

That is indeed a Jointer in the first picture, and the planer and jointer are a great combination to have. A few passes over the jointer will cut the cup out of a piece of stock, which then can be run through the thickness planer to bring it down to thickness. A jointer will also true up one edge of a board to go against the table saw fence for straight edging short lengths of stock (no more than about 4'.) I used my jointer to thin down the end of the neck that became my headstock on my first build. I also use my jointer to clean up the mating surfaces of neck scarf joints, and cleaning up the top of the neck after the scarf joint has dried.

The uneven cutting at the ends of the board you're talking about, Don, is called "sniping." It's common - just about all planers snipe to one degree or another. I've seen a couple of planers that sniped as far as 4" (!) into the board. About all you can do is figure out how long the sniped area usually is, on average, and cut the stock to be planed a little long so the sniped area can be cut off.

I use my planer and jointer a lot. I use a lot of reclaimed wood for various projects, and sometimes buy rough lumber at a much cheaper price than S4S or S3S stock sells for. A planer makes quick work of both applications. I don't do any inlay work with mine, but I've heard of a planer being used for that. I tend to think a thickness sander would be a better tool for that application, but if it works for you, then great. I do quite a bit of resawing as well, and can tell you that after slicing a 3/4" board right down the center on the bandsaw, nothing cleans up the sawn surface better than the planer.

So, in a nutshell, if you use a lot of reclaimed wood, do a lot of resawing, laminating, or just need to plane stock down to thicknesses not usually available at the lumber yard, then a planer is the tool to do it with. It's one of those tools that a person could do without, but when you need one, you really need one.

RSS

The Essential Pages

New to Cigar Box Nation? How to Play Cigar Box GuitarsFree Plans & How to Build Cigar Box GuitarsCigar Box Guitar Building Basics

Site Sponsor

Recommended Links & Resources


Forum

crossover guitar.

Started by Timothy Hunter in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 21. 11 Replies

Tune up songs

Started by Ghostbuttons in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 9. 5 Replies

Duel output jacks

Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 8. 6 Replies

How to Get Your Own Music on Spotify

Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by Southern Ray Feb 21. 2 Replies

CB Bass Guitar

Started by Mi Rankin in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Justin Stanchfield Jan 27. 5 Replies

Latest Activity

A.D.EKER commented on Dar Stellabotta's video
Thumbnail

A Cigar Box Guitar Six Stringer Built by Louie Lamanna

"i See Your ready to Blow away the GRAND STADIUM ! tree strings more of DAR DELIGHT !! Shine Girl !…"
1 hour ago
A.D.EKER commented on A.D.EKER's video
Thumbnail

Im Troubled (Tribute) Mc K Morganfield by BCB - A.D .Eker 2024.

"Thank you for the kind comments Doug! Glad you liked the Picture !"
1 hour ago
BrianQ. commented on Dar Stellabotta's video
5 hours ago
BrianQ. liked Dar Stellabotta's video
5 hours ago
Southern Ray commented on Southern Ray's photo
Thumbnail

Project Punch!

" Thank ya again Keith!"
7 hours ago
Southern Ray commented on Southern Ray's photo
Thumbnail

Punch Project!

" Thank Ya Keith!"
7 hours ago
Doug Thorsvik commented on AGP #'s photo
Thumbnail

AGP #527 - ''Led-Zep 2''

"This build really strung you along Alan! Reminded me of all my fishing line experiments; a lot of…"
9 hours ago
Doug Thorsvik commented on A.D.EKER's video
Thumbnail

Im Troubled (Tribute) Mc K Morganfield by BCB - A.D .Eker 2024.

"Diggin’ the slow blues. I like that last pic Andries! Look at all those cool guitars. Yeah!!!"
9 hours ago
Dar Stellabotta posted a video

A Cigar Box Guitar Six Stringer Built by Louie Lamanna

This video is the unboxing and the demonstration of a beautiful, six stringer built by Louie Lamanna. Join Louie and I June 15 at the second annual Pittsburg...
10 hours ago
Doug Thorsvik commented on Doug Thorsvik's video
Thumbnail

Hail the Resurrection Day: 2-String Violin Chugger Cigar Box Guitar

"Happy Easter to you too Andries! The passion is definitely in full swing. Turns out I’m…"
11 hours ago
A.D.EKER commented on Doug Thorsvik's video
Thumbnail

Hail the Resurrection Day: 2-String Violin Chugger Cigar Box Guitar

"Happy Easter Doug ! the Passion is in full swing !"
12 hours ago
A.D.EKER commented on Ricky D's photo
12 hours ago

Music

© 2024   Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

\uastyle>\ud/** Scrollup **/\ud.scrollup {\ud background: url("https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/963882636?profile=original") no-repeat scroll 0 0 transparent;\ud bottom: 25px;\ud display: inline !important;\ud height: 40px;\ud opacity: 0.3 !important;\ud position: fixed;\ud right: 30px;\ud text-indent: -9999px;\ud width: 40px;\ud z-index: 999;\ud}\ud.scrollup:hover {\ud opacity:0.99!important;\ud}\ud \uascript type="text/javascript">\ud x$(document).ready(function(){\ud x$(window).scroll(function(){\ud if (x$(this).scrollTop() > 100) {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeIn();\ud } else {\ud x$('.scrollup').fadeOut();\ud }\ud });\ud x$('.scrollup').click(function(){\ud x$("html, body").animate({ scrollTop: 0 }, 600);\ud return false;\ud });\ud });\ud \ua!-- End Scroll Up -->