Jointer Techniques

[JGrout]

Thanks, Joe.

I don't have a power planer, but I've tried sanders and hand planes. Don't mind the cost of sand paper, but the lumber is often covered in dirt and "stuff" after sitting 50-100 years in barns and old buildings. I clean the pieces off as best I can (and check for nails), but I'm reticent to used my hand planes. If the pieces are thick (say, 2" or more), I just resaw them as I know I won't need any stock that thick for my projects. That lets me see the guts.

Meh...it's a process...

Thank you, again.

A quick hit with a wire brush is all I ever did before putting any tool to the stock other than sandpaper This is especially important now that you have upgraded your planer and jointer heads. Those chips are not cheap and hard stuff will damage them

I understand it is a process and you want to stick with it......... it just seems that some monor tweaks would fulfill your desires without causing as much angst. 

40 bucks less 20% with a coupon sure would go a long ways toward simplifying things might even look on Craigslist locally for a better one for about the same money

[WilliamHodge]

Using a beater power plane is a lot better than a belt sander. Sanding wood leaves sand on it, which will dull your planer. I realized this when sanding curved work before routing it. It was killing the router bits.

I keep an old Bosch power plane, with a dust collector hose permanently attached to it. When I get sandy wood it's fast to reach for the old power plane and clean the sand off.

[Steve N]

I used to do a lot with old barns, as in dismantling them, and selling off the wood. I fully understand the ages of caked on grit, dung, and whatever. The fastest process I found to clean it so I could feel safe about processing it was to power wash it all. I usually would only do that on hot days, as I didn't have a heated shop, and a prolonged drying time may have worked against me, on hot days you are dry again in a short time. After washing I would stack it stickered to air dry. The power washer would take off the outer crap, and usually blow out stones, and other grit that would affect cutter knives. Nails are all to themselves, and good scanner type metal detector did a god job there. To tell the truth I used the wand HF used to have, not sure if it is the same one, even if it is the same shape?