Thinning quilted maple

[Jim Phillips]

i have a quilted maple back set that is way too thick. I wasnt thinking right when I bought them. I was thinking I'd run them through the delta planer when I got ready to use them. What I didn't think of at the time was the potential to pull huge chunks of the grain out. I cant hand plane it because I don't have a plane with the proper angle of cut in it. I don't remember what the angle is but I don't have one anyway. I live in an isolated area and don't have access to a drum sander. So my only option, unless you can point me in another direction, is to use the planer. I figured I would put on a fresh set of blades and make very small depth adjustments. The planer has a dimensioning speed 60 CPI and a finish speed 90 cpi. Which speed would you run it on. I'm thinking the smaller cuts on the finish speed would be least likly to pull chunks out unless the time the blade spends in the area puts it more at risk.
Jim

[Bob Gramann]

That planer is a big risk on thin, valuable wood. If you have a plane, #4 or larger, you can get a couple of extra blades, tooth one, and put a back bevel on the other and do it the old fashioned way as described in Cumpiano's book. If you don't have such a plane, it's worth getting one. A used Stanley #4 from an antique store or ebay isn't expensive and can be tuned up to do a fine job. If you go that path, you might get three. Then you won't have to change blades (one with normal grind, one with back bevel, and one with teeth).

[Jim Phillips]

I have his book but I don't remember if he goes into detail on making the blades. I recently found a huge stash of planes at an estate sale. They all need to have the rust removed from the foot and new blades. I think there may be a #4 in there. Is the #4 blade set at the magic angle I remember someone mentioning some place? I have a couple of new blades on hand and I guess I could use a couple of old ones for the toothed one and the back angle one. What does having a back angle do to the cut.

[Peter Wilcox]

I've used a belt sander. Go easy, and frequent checks with a straight edge and caliper. Hand sand the final few hundredths with a flat block.

[Steve Senseney]

The toothed blade is easy to make, and works well to bring down a board with out much tear out.

I have used a triangular file to make the "teeth".

The spacing is not crucial, but you can take a coarse file, put the edge of you blade on the evenly space teeth, tap the blade and you will have a good pattern for spacing your teeth evenly.

[Jim Phillips]

LOL. My Porter Cable 4 in. belt has helped me destroy more wood than the planer. I get bored and look away for just a second. When i look back i have an 8 x 24 inch wedge. Thanks for the input. I'll probably go with the plane if I actually have one. If not I'll break out the wedge machine and try to pay attention

[Jim Phillips]

I need to make a jig to hold the belt sander to turn it into a DIY finish sander

[Bob Gramann]

The back bevel on the blade effectively increases the angle and makes tearout much less likely on a hard, hardwood. I prefer a #4 for what you're up against. It's just the right size. You might find a reference somewhere on how to tune up the plane. When the sole is perfectly flat, the mouth is small, and the cutter is sharp, planing can be a real pleasure. The work you put into getting the plane right will pay you back many times over the rest of your life. I agree about shunning the handheld belt sander. I attempted thar on one of my first builds a long time ago. I had to order more wood.

[Charlie Schultz]

Hand planing is probably the best approach in your case, but one trick mentioned here (in addition to making sure the blades are sharp) is to lightly wet the wood before sending it through the planer: http://www.mimf.com/old-lib/plane_maple.htm.

[Doug Shaker]

Wooden planes aren't that hard to make if you are willing to take the time. I have made several using David Finck's book:
http://www.davidfinck.com/book.htm

The typical bed angle on a Finck-style plane is 45 degrees, but if I were going to try to thickness some figured maple, I would build the plane with a 55 degree bed angle and then I would outfit it with both a smooth blade and a toothed blade.

Whether you want to build tools specific to this task or to use a more attention-intensive approach - e.g. a belt sander - depends, in part, on how often you think you will be doing this kind of task.

[Michael Lewis]

If you want to do it by hand then go ahead, but I would look for a cabinet shop with a Time Saver wide belt sander and pay them to run the figured material for me.

[David King]

I'm with Michael on this. Just make sure they don't burn the surface with a dull belt. That said I send 2 and 3A quilt through my planer all the time and so far so good if the knives are fresh.