Life without a thickness planer

[Matthew Schenker]

Good Morning,
On planers in general, and handling shorter boards, we've discussed this here before, and some of us have posted ways to safely deal with shorter boards.

Here's a post from Jesse Cloud on a jig for handling shorter boards:http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=2398.msg25266#msg25266

Here's a post about a simple jig I use in my shop for handling shorter boards:http://festoolownersgroup.com/index.php?topic=696.msg6120#msg6120

There are others as well.  Search is your friend!

Matthew

 

[Grinding One]

Problem with used planers,damaged rollers,worn or chipped cutters,or the treads for up down all gummed up....Picking the thing up is like buying a used car,its going to need a good tuneup especially if the last guy using it was a little careless.

I recommend buying new if funds permit it First

 

[robtonya]

I found a picture of one like mine on the internet. Mine is in better shape though. I knew it was heavy, but they said it weighed 196 pounds.

 

[rjfarel]

Tage Frid shows how to flatten a board with a router sled.  There's a good explanation, with photos, in one of his books.

Even if you've already bought a lunchbox planer, this would be a good method for jointing one face of a board.

 

[Dan Clermont]

I haven't read the responses so I apologize if this has been covered.

I used a jointer plane up until very recently (just got a Planer/Jointer combo machine). If you have or plan on getting an MFT 3 you could thickness boards that way although it is quite  a bit of work and requires a knowledge oh sharpening.

Another option may be the Festool HL 850 which would double as a jointer. With some a bit of practice you could probably flatten and thickness boards with this. Buy the jointer fence and joint with it as well.

Dan Clermont