Best way to flatten an 11 foot cherry board

[RonMiller]

I'm looking for advice. What is the best way to finish the face of this long board given the tools I have?

I have an 11 foot long, 7 inch wide cherry board that I need to finish on at least 1 side. It will be the main top piece of a wall to wall to ceiling built-in shelf system I'm making. The front side will be seen and have molding above and below it. It is 1" thick and rough on the surface (from the hardwood lumber yard). Its the best grade cherry and flat along its length. No warp or skew at all. But I need to smooth it and I don't have a way to put it through my 12" planer. I cut it to 7" wide with the TS75 by joining several rails.

Given its remarkable flatness, should I just start sanding at 40 or 60 grit and work my way up? The Festool sanders that seem most likely to succeed in my own mind are the ROTEX 150 and the RS2 to flatten and then move to finish sanding with the ETS 150/3. I have the RAS, LS 130 and the Festool planer but I don't see how those can help.

If it was really not flat, I'd think about making a small router sled and flattening it a few feet at a time. Is that crazy? It might be faster than the RS2...

 

[Michael Kellough]

You have a 12” planer and a 7” wide board…

I guess you don’t have 24 feet to pass the 11 foot board in and out of the planer?

This is why I only have a lunchbox planer. For long boards I can move it.

 

[usernumber1]

how about some winding sticks and a hand planer? or hl 850 since we're on this site here

 

[luvmytoolz]

If you've got an RS2E (which is just a superb sander) you could start with 40-60 grit and work your way up. The RS2E is a very aggressive sander with a larger surface area than the RO150 so I don't think it would be too onerous, and I would think it would tend to be flatter than using the Rotex which will be hard to avoid creating dips on something that large.

 

[Steve1]

I don't have a way to put it through my 12" planer.

Why not ?

If you don't have the length in your shop, you can take it outside. (Oh, unless its a big cast iron planer)

If you want to put it on a sled to truly flatten it, you could make an 11 foot sled with particle board shelf boards.  Just that you would need two layers because there will need to be joints along the length.    And of course, at least two roller stands.

But I think I would just run it through the planer first without the sled and see how it looks.

 

[RonMiller]

Clarification - my planer's too heavy, the shop too small, and the electrical cord too short to do this.

Thanks for the replies. I think the idea that the RS2 would flatten better than the ROTEX is right and I'll try that approach later today.

 

[Sparktrician]

Ron, a flattening jig might be a good addition to your shop and make it easier to get truly flat lumber while conserving as much as possible of the original unplaned piece.  You can use shim shingles hot-glued in place to make the piece sit in one plane as you flatten the first side.  Once the first side has been flattened, you can just flip the piece and it will sit flat as you plane the opposite side without the shims.  [smile] 

 

[sancho57]

Your ETS 150 should be able to do it if you just want to smooth the surfaces.

Got to go through the Grits though, Id start about at 40 grit and work my way up. It will be time consuming but its doable

 

[Cheese]

I think the idea that the RS2 would flatten better than the ROTEX is right and I'll try that approach later today.

I'd 2nd the vote for the RS2 rather than the RO 150.

 

[smorgasbord]

Its the best grade cherry and flat along its length. No warp or skew at all. But I need to smooth it ...
Given its remarkable flatness, should I just start sanding at 40 or 60 grit and work my way up?

Yeah, your title is a bit misleading. If all you want to do is smooth, you could just sand....

But, you make it sound like it's quite rough, as is rough-sawn. If so, you might find yourself removing more than ⅛" to get it smooth, in which case you need something with more ooomph than a random orbital.

Of course, the other thing to do is to find a shop with a planer and take it there.