Planing

[browders]

I am trying to plane some maple down to 1/8" thickness for Christmas ornaments. My planer is a DeWalt DW735 with new blades and clean rollers. It planes well until it gets close to the 1/8" thickness then begins to chip. Am I just expecting to much of the planer?

 

Thanks.

Jim

[WayneMahler]

Not really familiar with the Dewalt planers. One thing I  have found is paying close attention to the grain direction. If the grain direction changes in the board, instead of cutting with the grain you start going against the grain. This will cause chip out and a few other things too. Another thing to try would be to mount the maple on a separate board and use it as a sled. I attach mine with double sided tape and it works great . Taking lighter cuts may also help. Maybe others will chime in on this for you also. Best of luck with your issue and getting it resolved. Please keep us posted.

[kmmcrafts]

You may want to read your manual for the planer you have.. My planer manual states to not go no less than 1/8 but also states that you should take very light passes with anything less than 1/4".. I've taken boards down to 3/16.. but I've also took really light passes.. I've read on the forums in the past that you should be very careful going down to those thin boards.. many say going to that thin of board you're better off with a drum sander.. I run my planer a lot.. but I usually just run it down to 5/8 or so.. rarely go less than 3/8.. so I'm no expert.. just stating what I've read in my manual and also what I've observed on forums.. 

Wayne also made a good point about paying attention to the grain direction.. I forget to look at the grain sometimes and it'll get a lot of chip out.. so I start the board on the opposite end.. I generally do that on my first or second pass and if I'm getting chip out change the board end for end.. and or take light passes... 

[oldhudson]

Yep, read the manual find out the minimum thickness. I think on my Delta its something like 3/8". When I plane under the minimum, I use a sled to raise and carry the stock through. And as already mentioned, cut with the grain.

[MrsN]

Like OldHudson said, using a sled to plane thinner materials is a good idea.  the planer creates a lot of stress on thin boards and can cause them to break or kickback.

[browders]

Thanks for all the great replies. Definitely learned some things from this. 

Jim

[stoney]

Make a planer board and adhere coarse sandpaper to the surface with a good spray adhesive.   I have planed narrow straight grain wood down to 1/32 thickness for bookmarks with very light passes.   As a safety measure never stand directly behind the infeed table and always wear eye protection.

Edited October 14, 2020 by stoney

[Rolf]

Do a Google search for planeing thin wood. I have also have the Dewalt 735 and have exploded a few pieces of thin wood. Never stand in line with the feed because you will have wood being kicked out. you can make jigs etc. to hold the wood. The grain direction is also critical. I use a great deal of thin woods and now own a Supermax 19-38 drum sander. I re-saw and then sand to dimension. I have also had to replace the internal plastic chute that was shattered by one of my thin wood adventures.

I usually don't go below 1/4 in the planer. These videos use double sided tape , CA glue or hot glue.