Table planer / thicknesser

[Conor]

We have a couple large sycamore trunks and ash trunks that I want to mill in to thick planks to make furniture. I'll be doing it with an Alaskan chainsaw mill.... So I'm thinking a table planer and thicknesser will be essential to get them evened out and smoothed. We also have some large Douglas fir purlins from the old house that would make nice bench seats.

 

I've no experience in this kind of tool. All seem very expensive. Any suggestions or tips?

 

I'm looking at this, but would prefer to spend closer to £200. I think I'll need the 300mm width capacity. 

 

https://www.screwfix.com/p/triton-tpt125-317mm-electric-thicknesser-240v/5554k

 

 

 

[PeterW]

Got the Triton one - it was on offer on Amazon and think it was £260

 

Takes a lot of cleaning unless you put a decent extractor on it

[Temp]

58 minutes ago, Conor said:

I'm looking at this, but would prefer to spend closer to £200. I think I'll need the 300mm width capacity. 

 

https://www.screwfix.com/p/triton-tpt125-317mm-electric-thicknesser-240v/5554k

 

 

Ebay appears to have one for £200..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/24034143521?iid=274371349823

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jfb]

Don't forget to paint the ends of the planks when you put them down to dry. Less chance of splitting due to differential drying times.

[Miek]

I've milled a few ash and oak trees with an Alaskan mill. My only advice is QUATER SAW THE TRUNKS this will add more value to the timber than through sawing. 

 

A good jointer planer will cost more than 200 quid secondhand

[Field_of_Dreams]

The Triton is just a thicknesser and not a planer. 

Normally you would plane two sides to get flat edges and then thickness the other two sides. Your alaskan mill will not give a smooth enough finish to jump straight to a thicknesser.

Having said that, it all depends on the finish you want. If you are going for a "rustic look" then it may work for you.

 

As mentioned before, you need to seal the ends as soon as you cut it. You can also use paraffin and wax to seal it.

I recently cut a big sycamore and left it a bit too long before I sealed it and the cracks started to appear very quickly.

I won't know if I got away with it until I come to slab it...but I guess you are slabbing it straight away so that will also help.

[AdamSee]

What thickness slabs are you expecting to cut this in to and how long are you expecting to leave it for before working with it? Most timber is kiln dried to speed up the process. I think to air dry out a 2" thick slab could take up to 2 years before it's stable enough to use.......just something to take in to consideration when cutting.

[Conor]

11 hours ago, Miek said:

I've milled a few ash and oak trees with an Alaskan mill. My only advice is QUATER SAW THE TRUNKS this will add more value to the timber than through sawing. 

 

A good jointer planer will cost more than 200 quid secondhand

 

What do you mean by quarter saw the trunks? 

 

11 hours ago, Field_of_Dreams said:

The Triton is just a thicknesser and not a planer. 

Normally you would plane two sides to get flat edges and then thickness the other two sides. Your alaskan mill will not give a smooth enough finish to jump straight to a thicknesser.

Having said that, it all depends on the finish you want. If you are going for a "rustic look" then it may work for you.

 

As mentioned before, you need to seal the ends as soon as you cut it. You can also use paraffin and wax to seal it.

I recently cut a big sycamore and left it a bit too long before I sealed it and the cracks started to appear very quickly.

I won't know if I got away with it until I come to slab it...but I guess you are slabbing it straight away so that will also help.

 

I want a smooth, not rustic finish. The sycamore will be used to make a large 3.6m long dining table. So do I need a different machine? Would I be better off sending the planks off to a saw mill for planing?

 

 

11 hours ago, AdamSee said:

What thickness slabs are you expecting to cut this in to and how long are you expecting to leave it for before working with it? Most timber is kiln dried to speed up the process. I think to air dry out a 2" thick slab could take up to 2 years before it's stable enough to use.......just something to take in to consideration when cutting.

 

The trees were felled last Feb and have been stacked up ever since. I doubt I'll be working with the timber until at least this time next year! I have the option of drying the timber in the basement once it's built this summer, so heated and ventilated. Yes, 2" thick. Am I better off leaving the trunks for another year or milling them now to dry out faster?

 

I have to admit I've never done anything like this before, but I am competent with general wood work... Just never gone from tree to table!

 

[Russell griffiths]

I would cut into slabs now, but cut thicker than you need by at least 25% 

then when seasoned, use a slab master to flatten them back off, you will get a lot of curling

you can make a slabmaster using a router and building a sled that you move up and down the slab, look at YouTube 

 

 

[AdamSee]

Your best off cutting them in to slabs now and stacking them up to dry. A well ventilated basement would be fine as long as they can be lay down to dry. The rule of thumb on drying is 1 year per inch, but your best bet is to buy a moisture meter and keep checking them. A quick googling will tell to what moisture levels to look for. 

 

Personally I've never done anything with green timber either, such as preparation work. But its well work doing plenty of research before hand to avoid been disappointed at the end result or the time frame it forces you to work with. 

 

 

[Field_of_Dreams]

51 minutes ago, Conor said:

I want a smooth, not rustic finish. The sycamore will be used to make a large 3.6m long dining table. So do I need a different machine? Would I be better off sending the planks off to a saw mill for planing?

 

 

Are you looking to have the table made of one single piece that is 3.6M long?

If so, how wide?

 

As mentioned by someone else, you might be better off with a router sled as that is the only thing that will do very wide planks.

Take a look here and you will see he has several videos about big tables and also a couple or varieties of router sleds. He also has other videos that will help in regards drying, epoxy etc

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxxvtQQz4C4DO9KnqC0tZMg/videos

 

If this is going to be a one off build then you might be better off getting someone to collect the log and do it for you as the cost of the kit involved will soon mount up.

[Miek]

If you just slab through a trunk (plain sawn) everything except the slab through the centre will curl, not the end of the world but bowed timber is hard to work with and ends up being wasteful. Quarter sawing reduces curling  so gives better quality timber. Takes more time to do but worth it IMO. 

 

[dpmiller]

Ring Cardy Timber in Carrowdore, they specialise in dealing with fancy live-edged stuff and might be able to advise or assist.

[Declan52]

2 minutes ago, dpmiller said:

Ring Cardy Timber in Carrowdore, they specialise in dealing with fancy live-edged stuff and might be able to advise or assist.

They do so really lovely tables.

[vfrdave]

2 hours ago, Declan52 said:

They do so really lovely tables.

Yes they do and really lovely price tags.

 

I got 16ft lengths of cedar from them to make sliding barn doors for the house. Haven't started them yet but interested in @Conor timber pursuits.

 

Must add cardy were great to deal with.

[vfrdave]

@Conor Belfast city sawmills have a mill your own timber offering.

[Conor]

Thanks guys, really, really useful. I think between an Alaskan Rig, planers, Sanders etc, I'd be out of pocket by at least £400.... And likely rarely use the kit again. Definitely going to check those places out.