Thicknessing tonewood with a planer

[Stray Feathers]

A friend bought a big piece of Cocobolo from a luthier's estate, and has begun cutting. Using a homemade angled sled he has resawn some of it to get quartersawn stock. He's found it really gums up his thickness sander when taking it down thinner. So he tried his very high-end Hammer (I think) helical 10 inch jointer/planer. He has taken one piece as thin as 2 mm (about .080"). But we're concerned about shattering this beautiful and expensive wood. We realize there can be issues with runout, wild grain and so on. But if you can do the thicknessing this way, is there any reason not to? It leaves an amazingly smooth surface and sure saves on thickness sander rolls. Bruce W.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

I can't see any reason not to take it down this way if it's working. I made a dred 14 years ago with a beautiful set of cocobolo from LMI (only $118 back then. Sounds cheap now)
Go for it. Maybe leave it about .090" and scrap it down about .005. Awesome

[tippie53]

never had success with a planer

[saltytri]

If it's working for you that's great. I bought a good brand table top planer a few years ago. About 18" across the head, I think, and probably 60 lbs or so, not a toy. It had a cutting head with spiral carbide bits. Tore the heck out of anything with the slightest figure, even when taking very thin cuts. It soon went at a loss to a new owner (with full disclosure of my issues with it). I went back to resawing close to the final dimension with a carbide blade on a big bandsaw and then finishing up with the thickness sander.

[jread]

I've had some success with this but also have had lots of pieces tear out so I don't mess with it. It's important to understand the grain direction. Not sure that is the right term. Lots of boards will tear out much more easily going in one way vs turning it around. I clamp a long feeder board into my planer and take as thin passes as possible when doing this. Generally, I don't do it. I just take them down with my drum sander even if it means changing the paper. Try a rougher grit if you have a lot of wood to remove and it gums up.

[Skarsaune]

I went back to resawing close to the final dimension with a carbide blade on a big bandsaw and then finishing up with the thickness sander.

This is the way I do it as well. Carbide blade was a game changer for me. Really nice cuts.

I have the same experience as others planing figured wood, even with a spiral carbide head I get tear out.

I don't like to plane below 1/4" or so and definitely not on curly / birdseye / etc woods.

[Skarsaune]

... It's important to understand the grain direction. Not sure that is the right term. Lots of boards will tear out much more easily going in one way vs turning it around....

Seen this as well - I've always understood it as seeing grain runout in/out of the surface. Prone to chip out more going one way than the other, and severity will depend on how much the grain runs out.

[MaineGeezer]

Since I have never done this you can dismiss this as uuninformed blithering...
I suspect a lot depends on how wild the grain is, and its direction. Some very curly woods will have spots where the grain is practically perpendicular to the surface. Cut down to 0.08" thickness or less there isn't much holding it together.
You've been successful. If you feel confident and like the results, have at it. I would be really, REALLY annoyed though if I tried it with a $500 back and sides set and it tore it apart on my last pass.

[starbuc2]

I've had luck with thinning cocobolo using 60 grit on the drum sander. A lot of light passes and cleaning the paper after about every 5 or so passes. its tedious but gets close. After that I sharpen all the hand scrapers I can find and plan on spending the next day or two with those. And then resharpen the scrapers and then another day. That is usually enough.
-David