850 Planer Question

[sancho57]

Hi guys,

When I use my planer to clean up saw marks etc I alway end up with a taper especially when I use it to clean up the edges with the bench unit.

when I free hand it I use the accessorie full length fence not the one that comes with it.
Im sure its in my technique. Maybe Im putting to much downward pressure on the rear handle. Not sure.

So what is the best technique to do what I want which is to clean up the edges/ joint my stock using the 850 rather then a full jointer, and using the 850 as a jointer using the bench unit.

thanks in advance

 

[KescoNY]

Following as i have a similar issue with my bench unit.

I tried everything including checking the tool thoroughly. I was worried that the cutter head spindle may have been bent but i could not find anything wrong with it.

 

[bkharman]

Happens to me as well. I don't use it all that much anymore, but if you get a solid answer Jobby, I am willing to try some stuff out.

Cheers. Bryan.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lwoirhaye]

Jointer and hand plane technique are pretty nuanced in my experience.  While planing a face of a board flat is straightforward, I find that making a straight and square edge is easy to screw up.  With a hand plane it's easy to get the edge out of 90 degrees while focusing on getting the edge straight and vice-versa.  A jointer with a fence does a much better job of keeping the edge square.

You can't just run long edges over even a normal-sized jointer and expect the tool to automatically do what you want.  To get straight edges you really need to assess each edge prior to jointing and after each cut as well.  If the edge is bowed more than a little, it's often smart in the shop to band saw a straight line and go to the jointer after.    To avoid tapering a board in a quest for a straight edge, plan where material needs to be removed first, usually from each end or from the middle.  It can help to put marks on the board face where you need to remove stock first.  If the edge is bowed with the ends needing correction, a common situation with a board perhaps 4 ft. long, you might need to joint off 18" from each end and then reassess the board.  This approach leaves "steps" on the edge.  Once the edge is jointed with enough steps that you can lay a straight edge on it and have the distance between points of contact shorter than your jointer outfeed table, then you're ready to make a full length jointing cut to produce the finished edge.  Obviously the outfeed table on the Festool isn't very long so jointing a truly straight edge will require some fussiness.  It's roughly comparable to edge-jointing with a jack plane.  If I'm hand-jointing an edge with a hand plane, if it's longer than about 24" I'll prefer a longer plane than a jack.

I use a 78" level to assess boards while milling.  It can be balanced on the board edge to look for light.

 

[Nat X]

I do it shooting board style--horizontally on an actual table with the angle fence attached to the planer rather than goof around with the bench unit. Adjust the blade so it does not cut on the side with the little safety flap at all, adjust the angle fence so it rides the surface of the workpiece, then with gravity keeping everything perfectly square against the table you can focus on making an even pass with no snipe.

It still leaves tool marks in most woods so most of the time I don't even bother getting it out and just go straight to a carbide sanding block because that's where I'm headed anyway.
https://duragrit.com/TruSander-Carbide-Hand-Sanding-Block.html

 

[Jim Metzger]

I have the same bevel issue and I am pretty proficient in hand plane work. Had a great semester long class with Mario Rodriguez a few years back. I think we all need to be very mindful of body position before, during and at end of cut. This thing is heavy and powerful and it makes "feeling" the position of the planer on the edge of a narrow board difficult.  I have also tried surface planing and have found some unevenness in the depth of cut side-to-side. I think it is operator error and only time and practice will tell. As far as I can tell the blade is square to the fence and parallel  to the body of the plane.