Woodists advice please - thicknesser?

[Gragson]

I need to get these table planks back flat and bare, it's been drying out for a week in the shed, rain etc has lifted the grain a fair bit and there is a lot of varnish to come off.
I want to finish it with outdoor oil, I don't know what wood it is, but sure it was pressure treated from the look of the frame and board undersides.



Got half decent portable belt power sander, palm sander and electric "silverline" planer which I won't be using on that!
I'm doing wood jobs around the gaff more and wondered if a thicknesser planer would be a useful investment.

I saw this on amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07K8SPLFV/ref=sw_img_1?smid=A1YI8UHSPATJ3V&psc=1
At a push the size might even take sleepers at 10cm high, clearly Ding dong but might get lucky for occasional use?

Would like the same material to deal with spec, and sub £300 post xams pressie to myself.
Opinions please, am I dreaming with that one

 

[meyrickt]

You need one of these

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[cocker]

I use a triton tpt125 , looks similar .
They are ok , a bit noisy though .
I've been shoving 10" x 2" oak through it recently , managed just about !

 

[bourbon]

with a lunchbox thicknesser, You will stuff blades up quickly with the amount of varnish on that. Unfortunately, same with a belt sander, The varnish will melt and clog the belts up. best bet is to get a piece of freshly cut glass and use it as a scraper. (Best mate was a restoration carpenter for 35 years and he did this all the time)

 

[angellonewolf]

heatgun ?

 

[500e]

Not a wood bother but that's what we used in school

 

[cocker]

I just jam what ever I want flatish through mine . I think the nail dings help keep the blades free from a build up of carp !
Then tidy up with a smoothing plane .

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

I need to get these table planks back flat and bare, it's been drying out for a week in the shed, rain etc has lifted the grain a fair bit and there is a lot of varnish to come off.
I want to finish it with outdoor oil, I don't know what wood it is, but sure it was pressure treated from the look of the frame and board undersides.

View attachment 376461View attachment 376462

Got half decent portable belt power sander, palm sander and electric "silverline" planer which I won't be using on that!
I'm doing wood jobs around the gaff more and wondered if a thicknesser planer would be a useful investment.

I saw this on amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07K8SPLFV/ref=sw_img_1?smid=A1YI8UHSPATJ3V&psc=1
At a push the size might even take sleepers at 10cm high, clearly Ding dong but might get lucky for occasional use?

Would like the same material to deal with spec, and sub £300 post xams pressie to myself.
Opinions please, am I dreaming with that one

Got one of these going spare
https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-tt...kQGLHZu50E0jncJz5rhoCsoUQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

50 quid. Replaced it with a metabo earlier this year.

Nothing wrong with it. Hasn't done much work but I needed extra width for a job.

 

[Gragson]

Got one of these going spare
https://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-tt...kQGLHZu50E0jncJz5rhoCsoUQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

50 quid. Replaced it with a metabo earlier this year.

Nothing wrong with it. Hasn't done much work but I needed extra width for a job.

Got to have that Rob, even if I do need a bigger one in future will do for this job at least. Will PM/text mate.
Thanks a lot to all other replies, clearly I need to get the majority of the varnish guck off and will go at hot gun and scraper first

 

[cocker]

Be Carefull when planing , that the bit of wood your stuffing in is not thicker at one end/middle . Set thickness to Thickest bit first .

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Be Carefull when planing , that the bit of wood your stuffing in is not thicker at one end/middle . Set thickness to Thickest bit first .

Good advice. Saves on jams and hurriedly winding it up.

Feature I like on the metabo is a height gauge. As you slide the timber in it shows you it's depth of cut.

 

[grim_d]

Thicknessers are great but they are really only one half of a set, ideally you need a planer too.

A thicknesser references the opposite side of the board so if it's not flat it won't flatten the side at the blades, not parallel to the opposite side anyway. If it's twisted or cupped then often the rollers will distort it during the cut meaning it comes out the other side still bent but smoother.

You start with a planer to give yourself a flat reference face which you then take to thickness.

Lots of caveats on the above.

For those, I'd probably scrape it off with a carbide scraper then give them a sand....and I have both a planer and a thicknesser.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Thicknessers are great but they are really only one half of a set, ideally you need a planer too.

A thicknesser references the opposite side of the board so if it's not flat it won't flatten the side at the blades, not parallel to the opposite side anyway. If it's twisted or cupped then often the rollers will distort it during the cut meaning it comes out the other side still bent but smoother.

You start with a planer to give yourself a flat reference face which you then take to thickness.

Lots of caveats on the above.

For those, I'd probably scrape it off with a carbide scraper then give them a sand....and I have both a planer and a thicknesser.

Glue/secure the warped board to a flat board with packers to level.

Thickness then remove from board and do the other side.

Though I generally thickness down PSE stock so not much of an issue.

 

[grim_d]

Glue/secure the warped board to a flat board with packers to level.

Thickness then remove from board and do the other side.

Though I generally thickness down PSE stock so not much of an issue.

There's plenty tricks to get by with just a thicknesser but if you can have a surface planer too that's the way to go. Lots less faffing glueing timber to bits of MDF etc.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

There's plenty tricks to get by with just a thicknesser but if you can have a surface planer too that's the way to go. Lots less faffing glueing timber to bits of MDF etc.

Aye. Don't dispute it.

If I was dealing with timber that required it I'd use one. I've used the workaround above once to get me out of trouble. But as I say. Mainly resizing pse

 

[Turbo]

One of the older Scheppach planer thicknessers is a good investment, we've got a HMS 260 at the mens shed & it gets used a lot.

I recommend you get a decent wand type metal detector as there will likely be hidden nails in that wood & they will quickly wreck you planer blades!

 

[Keith 66]

Scraping old finish off timber is hard work whatever you use. Often I will use a Canvey plane (4 1/2" angle grinder) with coarse sanding disc on it, rips the worst off quickly, Then you can plane it down or sand it down with a random orbital & 80 grit discs.
If you are going to put anything like that through a thicknesser or planer Always check for hidden nails & screws. It spoils your day when you hear that sharp whang as the cutters mince a nail!
People often used to bring me wood to run through my planer They always said "I have checked it for nails", I always checked myself. Often they hadnt.

 

[Alan Reynolds]

I’ve got a Ferrex 8 inch planer/thicknesser, bit like the screwfix, Sheppach and other generic models. Noisy, but it does the job of planing. Worked ok with scaffold boards that I used for my new bench.
I picked up an almost new 12 inch, used suitcase type thicknesser for £50. There was no chip collection so I designed a unit to fit on it that I could attach a 100mm hose to. Otherwise it makes a real mess.
They are what they are. Not on the same plain as a Wadkin cast iron machine but thy do work.
A good metal detector is essential to pick up even the tiniest panel pin.

 

[Gragson]

Heat gun and mildest push with sharp glass plate did not work for me, too much pickup on the raised grain causing splintering.
Portable belt sander and palm sander with used zirc 80 belts had it all done in less than an hour.



I'm going to seal these off, not worth going deeper for this table. Maybe in spring.
@Alan Reynolds I've gone and bought a Sheppach, @eLuSiVeMiTe still up for yours in Jan if your still looking to sell.