Has Anybody Used this Micro Planer?

Not sure what you are planing...

But on the occasions I need wood planed thinner than my 12" portable planer can accommodate, I have a jig made up. It is basically a false bed for the planer, so I can adjust the knives closer to the bed than the stock configuration allows.

Even with this false bed, you can't go super thin, cause the force of the knives against the wood will shred the wood. Try and see how thin your particular machine can go with the woods you are planing.

The reason I asked what you are planing, is you will get much better results (but slower) with a thickness sander if you are working with figured wood. These have come down greatly in price over the past few years.

Finally, the latest in planers are spiral cutterheads that use indexable carbide tools. I've been reading about them in the woodworking mags, and they are said to work much better on figured woods than conventional straight knife cutterheads.
 
I remember looking into getting a thickness sander when I used to make furniture and they were really expensive. I guess I could revisit that.

I had made up some ring billets the other day and was thinking I'd like to have some thin ivory strips to put in, which is what prompted me to search for something like this. Then I got to thinking, if I had something like that, I could do some hardwood veneers as well.
 
Tony Zinzola said:
I remember looking into getting a thickness sander when I used to make furniture and they were really expensive. I guess I could revisit that.

I had made up some ring billets the other day and was thinking I'd like to have some thin ivory strips to put in, which is what prompted me to search for something like this. Then I got to thinking, if I had something like that, I could do some hardwood veneers as well.
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;) That's the same line of thought that led me to seeing that one in a search, I wanted something to do consistent billet strips, exotics veneers, and those type of things. I was searching ideas for something low cost & compact (cause as You mentioned good ones are expensive), and in trying to research something I could build I ran accross It. Also saw a version that mounts on a drill press, and uses a 3" drum sander that would be reasonable in price too, but I just don't know how well they would work. Don't get me wrong It's not gonna take the place of a planer, but Might be something compact to fine tune strips without all the overkill.
 
Yeah, I saw the drill press one too. Was like $169, but I've got pretty much everything it includes except the table and fence, which I could build. The nice thing about that little planer is the fine adjustments.

I may go ahead and order it and see how it works. If I don't use it I guess I can always put it on Ebay.
 
Tony Zinzola said:
Yeah, I saw the drill press one too. Was like $169, but I've got pretty much everything it includes except the table and fence, which I could build. The nice thing about that little planer is the fine adjustments.

I may go ahead and order it and see how it works. If I don't use it I guess I can always put it on Ebay.
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I have the drum and an extra drill press that does'nt get used since I got a mill. I thought about trying to build the fence jig for that setup, but still debating which way I want to try going.

If you do get one of those other ones, Please let me know how It works. I already have a extra motor to run one, so I would just need the unit, and to make or buy a coupling to connect them. My first thought was to build something simular out of aluminum, but then I saw that, and for $169, It may not be worth the hassle og fabricating something. That is if It's any good.

I found some forums where they built some bigger units, and they made the frame out of wood, I think the drum was also made of wood, simular to a rolling pin. The motor was located inside the frame under the bed, with a pulley and belt running up to the drum. One guy even geared off of that to run some kind of feed. They were much bigger units though.
 
Tony Zinzola said:
Was looking for a planer that can plane something thinner than my big one and came across this:

http://www.minicrafttools.com/37040.html

Was wondering if anybody has used it or if not if you have any suggestions on something that can plane down to more than 3/16"?

Thanks
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How much thinner?

All the 12 in benchtop planers I have seen claim to be
able to plane as thin as 1/8 in.

I used one quite a bit many years ago and it did a very good job
of getting squares equal thick/width.

Never tried to get thin stock myself tho.

Dale
 
Maybe a Performax sander will work?

I use a 10/20 model to make my veneers. you have the advantage of being able to go up to 10 inch width in one pass with it. And it may be quite easy to resell to any woodworker. I made a wood "sled" onto which I glued a soft rubber liner to carry wood down to 1/16 inch thick by up to 30 inches long quite successfully. I tried a planer but got too much ripping out of Birdseye maple and other highly figured woods. The sander is slower maybe but does a nice job.
 
pdcue said:
How much thinner?

All the 12 in benchtop planers I have seen claim to be
able to plane as thin as 1/8 in.
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Mine goes to 3/16". I looked around for a different model and most I've seen go to 3/16" and some to 13/64".

I use mine for my points, but would be nice to be able to go to 1/8" and possibly thinner.
 
Did you see my earlier post? Just make a false bed for your current planer, and you can go as thin as you want. Just take a piece of masonite, or melamine coated particleboard, plexiglass, anything smooth, etc. and clamp a strip to its bottom side to form a ledge that rests against the infeed side of your machine. I keep this jig by my planar and slide it on top of its bed whenever I need something thin.

You just have to experiment to see how thin you can go before the wood gets so thin that the force of the knives and the feed rollers actually rip it apart.

1/8" should be no problem. That is about how thin I would go for my application when I used the false planer bed. I was making bottoms for jewelry box drawers, and wanted to keep them a thin as possible to take away as little storage height as possible. I was working with straight grained american hardwoods, so tear out wasn't to much of an issue.

You can do this in 5 minutes with your current setup. If it doesn't work well, then look into the thickness sanders. I think they are down to the $500 range for the smaller cantilever designed woodworking models by the lower brands like Ryobi. I think the Performax models are still above the $1000 range, but a quick check online will give you the current prices.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Did you see my earlier post? Just make a false bed for your current planer, and you can go as thin as you want. Just take a piece of masonite, or melamine coated particleboard, plexiglass, anything smooth, etc. and clamp a strip to its bottom side to form a ledge that rests against the infeed side of your machine. I keep this jig by my planar and slide it on top of its bed whenever I need something thin.

You just have to experiment to see how thin you can go before the wood gets so thin that the force of the knives and the feed rollers actually rip it apart.

1/8" should be no problem. That is about how thin I would go for my application when I used the false planer bed. I was making bottoms for jewelry box drawers, and wanted to keep them a thin as possible to take away as little storage height as possible. I was working with straight grained american hardwoods, so tear out wasn't to much of an issue.

You can do this in 5 minutes with your current setup. If it doesn't work well, then look into the thickness sanders. I think they are down to the $500 range for the smaller cantilever designed woodworking models by the lower brands like Ryobi. I think the Performax models are still above the $1000 range, but a quick check online will give you the current prices.
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The 10/20 Performax is down to 499.95 and the 16/32 is around 950.00 at Amazon.com. I was researching them a couple of weeks ago when I was thinking about buying a used 16/32. I didn't even know they had a 10/20.

Dick
 
Tony Zinzola said:
Mine goes to 3/16". I looked around for a different model and most I've seen go to 3/16" and some to 13/64".

I use mine for my points, but would be nice to be able to go to 1/8" and possibly thinner.
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Then you need a sander.

claim 1/32 in - cost $500 give or take

Dale
 
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