Avoiding cost of thickness planer?

[fgrule]

Another vote for buying a planer. I use mine more than I ever thought I would. I see them on Craigslist almost daily.....and cheap, especially if you are patient!

Fred

[garys]

+1^

Add me to the list of people suggesting you buy a cheap 12" planer.

25 years ago when I got my Shopsmith, I pondered the same thing. I had a pile of rough cut oak in my garage and wanted to build with it.

I bought a cheap 12" planer. It has run many hours for me since then, and paid for itself many times over.

In December, I ran across a guy locally who had a pile of rough cut Wisconsin cherry in his garage he wanted to sell for $2 a ft. I bought 70 board feet of it and planed it all. Without the planer, I wouldn't have considered buying it, and that would have been my loss.

Now, I have a new solid cherry dining room table to enjoy.

[tablesawtom]

I agree with the need for a thickness planner. I bought a thickness planner before a jointer. I can work without a jointer if I have a planner After you have used a planner, which only takes a minut or two, I wouldn't want to go back to the old ways.

But when it comes to rehabing hand planes I am the one to see. Look under planes at tablesawtom.com I am new here and I haven't figures out how to send messages yet so use the email from the web page.

Tom

[dlbristol]

Magnaman, I have a SS planer that I got used, and I use it a lot. I also have a band saw and have done some re-sawing with it. I have found that I can re-saw easily enough, but I do not ever get a usable face on the cut side, I need to plane it. I have a friend who teaches woodworking at school who swears he can cut a face that needs only a bit of sanding and keep the thickness right on! Maybe he can, I can't. So I have used both and I am usually pleased with the results. Be sure to follow the safety procedures for planing thinner stock.

[magnaman]

Thanks for the info, guys. I tried sawing to reduce thickness with my bandsaw and it came out okay. But I can tell it would take a lot of work to get the two pieces ready for a tabletop!!
My sisters and I finally sold my mother's old house so I am going to reward myself for all the trouble I went through on that with a planer and a .22 rifle to use for plinking cans on the back of my property.