850 planer and the undulating rustic planer head help making a rustic mantel

[honeydoman]

bought the 850 planer today and the the undulating rustic planer head.  I have a 3" thick piece of rough cedar approx 10" wide.  I am making a fireplace mantel for an brick built fireplace.  it will also have corbels.

what tips can you give me in using this and making it look great with the wavey rustic look.

thanks for your help!

 

[chrisrosenb]

You got a great planer Kreg.

The first & most important thing to remember when using the undulating head is to have the infeed table set at 0 & to install the table stop. 
Next take a piece of scrap & practice.
A 36mm hose works best for dust collection with the undulating head.

Chris

 

[honeydoman]

used the planer yesterday with the undulating rustic head.  it worked great!  except remember to remove the extra washer with the small rectangle on it and put it in the circle slot of the other head then put the washer and screw nut on.  it wont work otherwise and will start to shave off the plastic flapper on the side......

after that, the mantel came out really great.  I am installing it today and will post pictures later today or tomorrow.

 

[honeydoman]

well just installed the mantel and it actually came out fantastic i thought and so did the customer.

I bought a 4x12x8' rough sawn ceder.  trimed it 9 1/2"  x  5' and then I took the undulating rustic head and started to just plane away in short strokes forwards, sideways and turned around and did it from the other direction  (sorta like sex !)  and then I used the rotex and sanded it a bit.  also did the face and the edges.

then I stained a dark oak, and then poly.

installed the mantel on french clets and then attached the corbels that I added the ogee edge to them.

came out great.  tried to get the best pic to show the undulating on the wood.

 

[Neill]

Kreg,

Looks like your usual work -- fantastic!  Sounds like you really like that planer.  You now have the ability to expand your list of capabilities.

Neill

 

[Michael Kellough]

Kreg, how do you use that?

Do you just lift the tool up and down as you move along?

 

[honeydoman]

just keep it running and just set it down and make a pass lift it up, keep it running and set it down again.

 

[chrisrosenb]

Looks good Kreg.

Chris

 

[honeydoman]

thanks everybody

 

[tbellemare]

Kreg:

That's really nice work!

In Central Texas, I guess because of the "ranch look", a lot of people with money are wanting very similar things done. I have had customers, whose customers were disappointed because they did a beautiful, carefully finished job and then their client wanted "distressed". The 850 and undulating head goes a long way, fast.

There are two other heads that are used around here to add variety/randomness to the look...

These heads are the Coarse and the Fine heads, as Festool describes them. When I first looked at them, it seemed like their result would look too "regular" to add value to a "random" look.

I have since realized that by using the planer in a "chopping", "running", "bouncing", "jittering" or other motion, with either of these heads or any combination of the three heads, you can create an incredible variety of surfaces that a lot of people want. I also recently learned that rustic means a lot of different surfaces - when I think about it, there are infinite combinations of patterns in soft rock and wood in nature.

I guess that's what the rich people around here are trying to reproduce in their houses.

Tom

 

[honeydoman]

yep I agree tom.  the rustic look fits texas and the mountains. !  i practiced on a small piece for about 3 min and then just did it.  it actually was pretty easy.

you are welcome to copy over the pictures onto your website  or whatever to show other carpenters the look with the undulating head to help increase sales !

If I was festool I would put them in their next catalogue and on the website !  No Charge to such wonderful people !  ;D

 

[Rob-GB]

There are two other heads that are used around here to add variety/randomness to the look...

These heads are the Coarse and the Fine heads, as Festool describes them. When I first looked at them, it seemed like their result would look too "regular" to add value to a "random" look.
Tom

That coarse head would make some interesting bespoke decking, much better than the mass milled stuff almost everyone has. Would it work in a wavy pattern if you were to 'meander' with the plane while traversing the length of timber?

Kreg, I like the look of the mantle, just enough rusticicity (is that a word!) to do justice to it.

Rob.

 

[honeydoman]

thanks rob! 

 

[honeydoman]

I just finished the cabinet front to anchor to the brick wall to the left which will provide cover for the 42" tv outside. I used roughsawn ceder and made raised panel doors and undulated them also.

will stain on sunday and install on monday and post pic that night.  it looks great so far.

 

[jvsteenb]

I don't own an HL850 yet (it's on the not-so-shortlist)  but for a rustic "hewn" look, I guess I'd use the barrel shaped head - I've seen it in action during a demo and I thought that was really awesome, and mimicked the rustic look way better than the undulating heads.

Then again, for the "king of beadboard", the repeating pattern must somehow feel a bit more appropriate  [big grin]

Regards,

Job

 

[honeydoman]

here are the finished pictures of the matching cabinet sorta that I built to house the TV for outside covered patio viewing on nice days!

it is all made of 5/4 rough sawn cedar.  I made the doors then after glued up then I undulated the face of the raised panel.  the door frame I only sanded briefly to remove some of the roughness.

then stained and installed.... done deal.

 

[greg mann]

Very nice work. Too bad somebody stole the TV.  :

 

[bill-e]

Man that looks great!  This is the first thing I've seen treated with the rustic blade.  I've been dreaming about doing something like that for a long time.  [tongue]

 

[honeydoman]

Bill-e,  thanks.  it is really very simple to do the rustic part you sorta just set it down on the wood and go at it.  usually in 4-6" whacks.  then pick it up and set it down at another angle for 4-6 " whacks and just keep doing it till it is finished..  you do not just start at one end and plane to the other end.

you set down lift up etc.

I saw a job last night, that I am going to make them a mantle similiar to the one in the pictures except it will be inside the house and will have legs and some other neet stuff. maybe I will use a hunk of walnut if I can find it. ! and if the customer can afford it!  the ceder chunk was about 175.00 including the corbels.  but that waas for a 4x12 x8  that I cut a lot off.

I have found another lumber company with smaller pieces and less costly.