Replies

1. 
   saschafer | Jan 08, 2008 02:46am | #1

   I've never tried to plane pure end grain, but I have on occasion trued up the edges of plywood (really bad for the blades, by the way). No huge problems.

   If your blades are excruciatingly brand-new sharp and you take paper-thin cuts, it could work. You'll get massive tear out at the tail end, so you'll either need to accept some loss or glue on a sacrificial strip.

   And hope that you did a good job of glue up, so the whole thing doesn't explode.

   -Steve

    

2. 
   JamesS | Jan 08, 2008 04:05am | #2

   Yep, trouble it would be, lot's of tearout! Do you have access to adrum  sander such as Performax? Or try your local woodshop(s) to see if they could drum sand it.

   James

3. 
   bldrbill | Jan 08, 2008 04:54am | #3

   I've done this several times.  Steve got it right.  Glue on a sacrificial strip.

1. 
   wiskytango | Jan 08, 2008 05:25am | #4

   Thanks all, i was figuring there would be some damage to the tail end of the piece, guess i will give it a try.

4. 
   Spalted | Jan 08, 2008 05:33am | #5

   Another vote for endorsing the planer. I chamfered the trailing edge to prevent it from blowing out but it still had MINIMAL blowout. I would suggest gluing the sacrificial strip just the same. Make sure your blades are SHARP and don't take any more than you have to. You will still have a lot of handwork to be done, either sanding or scraping/handplaning. If you have ANY doubt about your glue joints, take it to the wide belt sander at your local cabinet shops. The loose chunk from an end grain butcher block will anhilate a planer in about 1/10th of a second. The sander is much more forgiving...

1. 
   wiskytango | Jan 08, 2008 06:50am | #6

   Um so your saying i shouldn't crouch down and peek inside the planer to see if its coming apart. Gotcha

1. 
   BriMcG | Jan 27, 2008 10:03am | #18

   I just wouldn't risk it with the planer. Gives me chills thinking about it, having just had a small piece blow apart in the planer and snap a chain sprocket in two. It was an easy fix but man I thought a bomb had gone off!

   Get ahold of a performax or some careful sanding with a ROS.

   Brian

    

5. 
   hammer1 | Jan 08, 2008 08:18am | #7

   I had one partially disintegrate in the planer. It puts a lot of strain on the glue lines.

   Beat it to fit / Paint it to match

6. 
   acornw | Jan 08, 2008 08:44pm | #8

   Well, there are planers, and then there are planers. The lunch box things will strain like crazy, and walk around. Larger more sedate industrial machines will do light passes without much trouble.

   Wide belt sanders are far better, but still require light passes.

   Is this a new block? Does anyone wan to hear the story about how the old, rancid fat in an old tops liquefies and odorizes an entire shop when wide belt sanded?

   Dave S

1. 
   philip | Jan 09, 2008 11:53am | #9

   "Is this a new block? Does anyone wan to hear the story about how the old, rancid fat in an old tops liquefies and odorizes an entire shop when wide belt sanded"
   One can only imagine.....burning pigs?Philip Marcou

1. 
   acornw | Jan 09, 2008 05:00pm | #10

   Worse than burning pigs (barbecue?). Far worse. The belt loaded up in the first 3-4" of a 40" block, and the 20 hp motors on the 2 head machine transferred all that energy into heat, liquefying 30 years of - godknowswhat - into one stinking gelatinous goo that slung all over the machine, the "sanded" wood, and anyone nearby. Then the smell hit you, literally and figuratively. When I left that shop 6 years later, the place still had that smell, and changing belts on that machine would always transport you back to that day... Dave S

1. 
   saschafer | Jan 09, 2008 05:26pm | #11

   Homogenized, aerosolized, burning rancid pigs. Mmmm, makes me hungry....

   -Steve

    

2. 
   jeff100 | Jan 26, 2008 10:31pm | #14

   That's the funniest story I've ever heard from a woodshop setting...thanks.  You made my day.

   I think I'd use a very sharp hand plane, especially after hearing that story.

   Jeff

   Edited 1/26/2008 2:33 pm by jeff100

2. 
   WillGeorge | Jan 26, 2008 06:01pm | #13

   The lunch box things will strain like crazy,??Not mine.. If I and my neighbors can put up with the NOISE!

7. 
   blewcrowe | Jan 25, 2008 08:58pm | #12

   Biggest risk comes at the end of the run where a chuck can be chomped off.

8. 
   BG | Jan 26, 2008 10:56pm | #15

   Wiskytngo,
   I did it when my planer was brand new.
   I had a large piece of maple that came with our portable kitchenaide dishwasher...it was 1" strips forming about 24x30"top. I decided to crosscut it into 1" strips, stand them on end and make a bunch of smaller cutting boards.

   I took as light a pass/cut as possible..the glue did not hold...pieces went flying. Shortly afterward, about a week later, the machine started smoking ...I took it to Delta rehab. My cutting boards are still in the corner of the shop 5 years later.

9. 
   wiskytango | Jan 26, 2008 11:38pm | #16

   OK so I did it. It worked just fine. The block is small only about 10 inches square. I cut a notch in a pice of wood to help push it through, so i could send it through at a 45 deg angle figuring that along with the support from the block would help lessen the stress on the last glue line.

   worked fine. oh and its new so no burning pig smell

1. 
   BriMcG | Jan 27, 2008 10:05am | #19

   Man I have just got to read all the way through these posts before posting a reply!! Glad it went well. Still gives me the creeps though!

   Brian

10. 
    MarkTaylor | Jan 26, 2008 11:39pm | #17

    I have to agree with jeff100; funniest story I've read.

    Mark

    Mark in WBGV