Using planer to resize Baltic birch ?

[planeur]

Ever try to resize a baltic birch with your planer or another machine ?

Would like te resize a .587" piece to a .500" thickness.

I did  do somes tests with the planer and had good result (depending  of what you wanr to do with it .... ! )

Thanks

planeur

 

[kmmcrafts]

Are you talking about plywood? No way would I run plywood through my planer.. the glues in ply are tough on blades.. and imagine they'd chew through a set of planer knives pretty quick too.. plus the ply's aren't very thick themselves and who knows what grade of wood is underneath that you'll end up with.. If I need a certain thickness then I use a solid wood.. Not to mention.. could be dangerous if the ply decides to separate.. You might be throwing chunks out of either end of the planer.. damaging the planer or injuring yourself..  

[planeur]

Hello Kevin

It is that multiplies wood . And compare to regular plywood, this Baltic birch ( here we call it " merisier russe " ), it has more layers and better quality .

I did two tests and were OK.

 

For sure we have to  plane some glue.... but I have to plane a small piece as 12 X 12".

And I would not plane also regular plywood, which is lest quality and layer, as those one.

Have a good day

planeur

 

[Fedido]

I don't plane at all and haven't done it in over thirty years, but if you did some tests and it turned out okay, I would think Press with it. If your not happy with the results, then stop. I wouldn't think about regular plywood though as stated above. 

[ScollSaw Slasher]

With Kevin. Scares the heck out of me, no matter how many plys.

[tomsteve]

to me, its not worth trying to remove .087" especially with plywood of any quality.

[Bill WIlson]

The key to success would seem to be the thickness of the surface plys of the plywood.  As long as you didn't remove more than the thickness of the surface veneer, then you should be OK, theoretically.  I've never tried it.

I'm not sure just how thick the surface layers are on a sheet of BB ply.  If you took a little off of both top & bottom, it could work.  Based on my extensive research   on the topic, 15mm ply would be approximately the thickness of the OP's stock (0.591 thick).  15MM BB ply consists of 11 layers.  Presuming that all 11 layers are of equal thickness, each layer would be approx. 0.0537" thick, meaning that one could theoretically remove a total of 0.087" from the total thickness, without getting down to the 2nd layer of either face.

OK, now my head hurts.  Thanks OP.  

[Phantom Scroller]

Wow I would put a test piece through first because those blade will rip it apart bit scary. Roly

[teachnlearn]

What project would require removing .087 of an inch? RJF

[OCtoolguy]

I'm not sure of your need to do this but maybe try to locate someone with a Sandflee type device and sand the board down to the thickness you need. I'm not at all comfortable with trying to plane plywood. It would only take one screw-up to have a real mess on your hands. Safety-wise, I'd not recommend it. If you are near a Woodcraft store, they might be able to surface sand it for you for a nominal fee.

 

[fredfret]

I think sanding is safer than planeing. Just my opinion. 

[kmmcrafts]

Yeah sounds like a better job for a drum sander

[WayneMahler]

I don't understand why you want to do this. I would go with a drum sander for the sake of safely alone. If you are trying to achieve this thickness for like mounting in dado's and grooves then I would simply  make the dado's and grooves to match the ply. 

[planeur]

Thanks everyone for your reply and  your sympathy for my health , but everything is OK !

Before trying that, someone told me that he did it , with very little cutting material removed at each pass on the planer. And yes I have to planed 2 layers of wood to arrive at .500", the size need for my projet.

And the reason I did those test with  Baltic birch is that I need those 2 pieces for my future projet , a wooden gear clock , which is already in production.

I will show you soon !  Baltic birch is the wood recommended for that.

And I did not want to buy a 5'X5' piece only to use  12"X12", you would understand seeing the size of my basement's shop!

Thanks again and sorry  that you get much worry for me.

 

planeur

Edited February 27, 2020 by planeur

[Rolf]

I would have modified the design to accommodate the additional thickness. Since the 1/2 inch material is probably for the frame. 

For this type of thickness changes on smaller pieces, I agree with everyone else I would not run plywood through my planer. I am fortunate to have a Supermax 19-38 drum sander with a digital readout.

 

Edited February 28, 2020 by Rolf

[Woodmaster1]

If I had to make the plywood thinner I would use my drum sander. You would get better results and it would be safer.