Planer Questions - Laminating Lumber

Mark J.

Member
I recently purchased some kiln dried lumber from a local live edge table maker. Laying out the top view patterns the boards seemed flat/planed - but now with the boards stack for lamination there are some gaps I'm worried will be too large. My general plan was 1. temporarily screw together to carve 2. remove screws to hollow 3. rescrew and glue up.
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In my limited knowledge of woodworking and power tools (this forum and youtube have saved me countless times) I am wondering if a bench top planer will help on these already cut out boards? As I research I only see examples of running dimensional lumber through planers - will it be OK with the curves of a top view cutout? Or are there any other creative solutions?

Issue #2 I don't know anyone with a planer, and the two lumber suppliers I've called don't do custom planing. A few stores stock planers: Ridgid 13", Dewalt 12.5" and 13", King 12.5" and 13". Most reviews seem good other than the lowest level King. Anything to keep in mind when considering a purchase like this?

Thanks!
 
Mark,

What is it you are trying to make? Are you edge gluing these boards? Are you laminating for thickness or for width? Will this have a clear natural finish? If not, thickened epoxy will fill a lot of gap, but epoxy will not take finish the same as natural wood.
 
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Huntindave McCann said:
Mark,

What is it you are trying to make? Are you edge gluing these boards? Are you laminating for thickness or for width? Will this have a clear natural finish? If not, thickened epoxy will fill a lot of gap, but epoxy will not take finish the same as natural wood.

Hi Dave,

I'm working on Canada goose decoys, laminating for thickness. They will be sealed, painted and hopefully shot over. Meant to attach this photo initially.
View attachment IMG_2630 - Copy.JPEG
 
I wouldn't worry about it given what you have there, I would for sure not buy a planer to address it. Are you hollowing? If yes, you can stick a piece of coarse sandpaper on a flat surface and give it a few passes to take the highest points of to get a better mating surface.
 
Mark Jemison said:
Huntindave McCann said:
Mark,

What is it you are trying to make? Are you edge gluing these boards? Are you laminating for thickness or for width? Will this have a clear natural finish? If not, thickened epoxy will fill a lot of gap, but epoxy will not take finish the same as natural wood.

Hi Dave,

I'm working on Canada goose decoys, laminating for thickness. They will be sealed, painted and hopefully shot over. Meant to attach this photo initially.

Mark,

What tools do you presently have? Hand plane? 4 inch or larger angle grinder? Handheld belt sander? Any of those should be sufficient to knock off the high spots.

Several ways to skin a cat but if it were me, as an amateur I "might" ,

(A) flatten with either hand plane or angle grinder.
(B) use hot melt glue as a temporary method of holding the pieces together.
(C) saw your profile as you see fit.
(D) rough carve as you see fit
(E) separate by heating the glue joint, depending on the amount used, you can even put the whole block in the oven until the glue softens
(F) clean up the glue
(G) hollow the inside
(H) flatten the mating surfaces if needed
(I) glue up with thickened epoxy and finish your bird

If you want to use a standard wood working glue like Titebond or similar, you will need a dead flat surface on the mating faces.
 
Mark~


A planer is not the perfect machine for the problem you are trying to fix. Unfortunately, the best machine is a big jointer. My former neighbor had a 19th century planer with a 16-inch wide cutter head.


As others have suggested, you could improve your fit with hand planes or a coarse belt sander. In any event, I would use thickened epoxy to get a lasting seam. Once hollowed, the areas that need to be fitted are much more manageable.


If you are looking to increase the number of power tools in your shop, you might consider an electric (hand) planer instead. I have been very happy with my DeWalt DW 680 for many years - it has been put to many uses.



Hope this helps,


SJS





 
Thank you all for the input. I'd love new tools - but would rather save the funds for other projects.

I have an angle grinder, standard 4.5" I believe, and a hand sander/sheet sander. I will try and knock down the high spots with those.

I had seen a post elsewhere online recently, by a professional, about planing to ensure the best lamination which started me down this road. I think sanding and as much epoxy as it takes is good enough for me.

Hopefully get back at the geese tonight, thank you all!
 
A quick and dirty fix for your problem. If you have a bandsaw run the blade down the seam with a quick smooth cut. It will make a mirror surface on each side and the kerfs will interlock. Problem solved. I've done this on swans and herons that are too big to run through a planer.
 
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jode hillman said:
A quick and dirty fix for your problem. If you have a bandsaw run the blade down the seam with a quick smooth cut. It will make a mirror surface on each side and the kerfs will interlock. Problem solved. I've done this on swans and herons that are too big to run through a planer.

Nice!
 
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