850 - looking for some tips

[gxgn]

Hi, i just got an 850 planer and I'm looking for some tips on how to use it right. See attached images, I started from the right side of the board with 0.1mm setting. After 1-3 passes it removes a lot of material. Then, when i move to the left and do 3 passes it doesn't bring it to the same level, I get the stairs effect as I move to my left although i take the same # of pssses and the planer is lovked in the .1mm setting.

How do you guys plane a 10" board to avoid this issue? Other yhen my lack of skills, the tool is excellent, it removes wood so fadt compared to my hand planers.

Thanks
george

 

[neeleman]

I'm afraid you cannot avoid these uneven passes.
Even tough you use a 0.1 mm depth setting the board will not be that flat overall.
You have to flatten it afterwards with a belt sander or a coarse eccentric disc sander like the Festool Rotex 150.
Or maybe a No.4 smoothing hand plane like in the old days.

These kind of planers are mainly meant for boards or beams which are narrower then the planer knife.
So in this case smaller then 82 mm.

 

[Brent Taylor]

If you read up on the use of hand planing and a lot of practice, you should get the hang of it's use. I have used both hand and power planers for years ,before getting a 12" thickness planer. I do still use this method when I in a pinch, but it's still not easy due to lack of practice.  Get some scrap and take some time, you'll get how it works.  Good luck

 

[stevefitzgerald]

I would suggest that you only take one pass instead of 3 at a time
it is also a case of put a straight edge along board and across board to see where it twists or any high spots
google winding sticks...it may help

this may help as well

Steve

 

[carlb40]

I assume you have no fixed machinery to do this job ie jointer/thicknesser?  So i would suggest making a router sled, and use that for surfacing large timbers.



More similar ones on youtube.  [smile]

 

[Birdhunter]

I have seen this happen and it was due to a reference surface problem. Suggest 1st pass be using only 1/2 the cutter width on the right side of the board. About 1/2 of the cutter head is hanging off the edge of the board. Move the planer left 1/2 the width of the cutter head. This 2nd pass also using only 1/2 of the cutter width. Make 3 to 4 passes using this technique and see if you still get the stair step cuts.

 

[sancho57]

I dunno, I've had mine for a while and still haven't figured it out. Maybe I'll get some help with it at my BBQ. I end up always getting a taper when edge planing 2 boards of equal width.

 

[wrightwoodwork]

Planing wide boards with an electric planer is really just a pain in the neck. To me electric planers are great at removing a lot of material fast yet never give great results in many situations like wide boards.

 

[grbmds]

I don't believe this tool is made to be used to surface a board. While I can't tell how long the sole plate is it doesn't look very long, thus making it extremely difficult to flatten a board. It might be useful if you have cupped or twisted board to knock down the high spots so you can use a jointer to face joint or a planer to actually flatten the board. It really doesn't look like it is made to use like a hand plane (jack plane or jointer plane). It's difficult enough to develop the skills for flattening and thicknessing a board with hand planes, but this this planer is going to be hard to control how much wood you take off and will not result in a flat board of the same thickness very often. Unless I miss the point of the tool, it looks like it could work for edge jointing with a little practice and for rabbeting and, like I said, knocking down the high points of boards so they can be jointed or planed.

 

[MrToolJunkie]

Some great video tips here. Also, as the video mention, you do not need to get entirely flat 100% to run through a surface planer. 75%-80% is often good enough - as long as there is no rocking. This is a great tool to have in the shop and lots of capabilities.

 

[grbmds]

But only for preparation for a jointer or planer; not for making a board flat on its own.

 

[sancho57]

Here's some videos on the 850