End-grain planing

davebodner · Post by **davebodner** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 6:32 pm

Several years ago I made an end-grain maple cutting board that's about 2" thick. It's now warped a bit so it rocks slightly on the counter. Can I use the Pro Planer to flatten it out, maybe in several passes of very shallow cuts? Or is that a dumb idea?

BuckeyeDennis · Post by **BuckeyeDennis** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 7:07 pm

I haven't planed end grain with my Pro Planer, but I'd expect that to work OK.

The wobble could be a problem though, unless you either flatten it first or use a planer sled.

I tried this sled technique for the first time a couple weeks ago, and got perfectly flat surfaces in one pass through my Pro Planer. I used a leftover piece of melamine-coated particle-board shelf for the sled, and it worked great.

This last weekend, I tried the same sled technique to prep a chain-sawed half log for a bowl blank. It was way too tall for the Pro Planer, so I used my new-to-me rotary planer (like a Wagner Safe-T-Planer) on the SS in drill press mode. I just slid the melamine "sled" around on the SS table and made multiple passes. First I mounted the flat side of the half-log to the sled, and planed a flat strip on top, about 4" wide. Then I flipped the log over and re-mounted it on the sled, to plane the wide side flat (to prep it for bandsawing the blank). That latter step was something of an "acid test", but it worked like a charm. I've found the sled, tape, and hot-glue method to be easy, secure, and stable.

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 7:17 pm

I don't have a thickness planer.

I would use a hand plane.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 7:18 pm

I have doubts that it will work. I wood think that the rollers wood flatten out the warp while it's being planed. But once out it will go back to the warped shape.

paulsgreenbarn · Post by **paulsgreenbarn** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 7:35 pm

Hand plane the high corners off one side to make it fairly flat.then run it throught he planer.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 8:12 pm

Hand plane(low angle plane) the high corners on the bottom and forget about running through the planer.

If the top side is rough, use a sander.

rcplaneguy · Post by **rcplaneguy** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 11:00 pm

davebodner wrote:Several years ago I made an end-grain maple cutting board that's about 2" thick. It's now warped a bit so it rocks slightly on the counter. Can I use the Pro Planer to flatten it out, maybe in several passes of very shallow cuts? Or is that a dumb idea?

http://youtu.be/QJ2LSj4RhAs

davebodner · Post by **davebodner** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 10:28 am

Thanks everyone. Looks like I'll pass on just putting it through the planer.

stephen_a._draper · Post by **stephen_a._draper** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 1:03 pm

I recommend using a portable belt sander or the Shopsmith belt sander.

gr8mesquite · Post by **gr8mesquite** » Thu Feb 27, 2014 11:09 am

I've made many end-grain boards and I've run them thru my DeWalt planer. It worked nicely, but I was very careful to not be too aggressive. I only "kissed" the surface on each pass.