What's better than one planer? .... Two planers

[Quebecnewf]

Big project today , moving our second planer to the mill. Used the same method that we used to move the first one. Strapped the planer to a kometick and towed it to the mill in the small Boston Whaler.

Winched it ashore with the winch



Things went well and she is now sitting in the planer  shed next to my three
sided planer. Will run this one with the generator and the other one gas for  now



Plan is to throw all my lumber through the single sided one first and then through the three sided one second . This will be just my 2x material.

Hope to try this out in the coming weeks

Quebecnewf

[sprucebunny]

Where there's a will, there's a way !

Congrats on the successful move and hope things go smoothly 

I have an inflateable like that and a bridle on it, too. Always liked those small Whalers.

[thecfarm]

You got the job done. again!!

[YellowHammer]

I'm always amazed at what you get done in such a remote area.  Not to mention the view.  8)

[Quebecnewf]

Well we ran the planer today for the first time. It went real good. We planed up about 150 pieces of firing strips .3",4" and 5" wide random lengths from 8 to 12 ft.

We then put 175 pieces of 2x4 by 8',10' and 12 ft through. We brought it all down to a thickness of 1 9/16 . The next step is to put it through the three sided planer and finish dressing it down to 3 1/2x 1 1/2.

I am thinking it's going to be nice looking lumber when all done and should get a better price and be easier to sell. Most people here in this area are not too interested in rough ( from the saw ) lumber. I think it's fine but the customer is always right, right?

Quebecnewf

[petefrom bearswamp]

That auto planer is identical to my old Jet 15"
Keep up the good work Marcel.
When I finally retire I would love to visit you in French Canada.
Especially right now as the exchange rate is very favorable for us us guys.
How do I get to your place?
Pete

[Andries]

Yup, that'd be a gorgeous trip for sure.
Thirty hours travel time

QuebecNewf: Is Quebec Highway 138 paved or gravel?

[Quebecnewf]

Paved as far as Natashquan . Gravel from there to Kegaska 30 Klm. Then the road ends. Kegaska to Harrington . By boat . Bella Desgagnes.



Quebecnewf

[snowshoveler]

Quebecnewf...you do realize that once the southern folks get to your place.
They won't want to leave. Great food, great beer and even better people...plus some sawdust and planer chips. That is all most of us ever need.
Best regards Chris

[Quebecnewf]

Going in planing again today. Did a bit yesterday but no pics. Will try to take a few and post them here later this evening. We pushed around 90 pcs of 2x4 through the three sided planer yesterday. Went very well I must say. Not real fast as you can only feed one piece at a time of course. Even though it seems slow , because it is a continuos thing the pile seems to grow pretty fast. 

Real nice looking lumber very smooth and I like the look of the sharp corner better than the beaded corner on the " bought" dressed two by material we get here. The quality is certainly better than the last lifts of 2x4x8 we have had at the store to sell. Almost every piece has the heart in it and most of the " trees" they are made from are no bigger than 4 in dia.

Sure does produce a lot of planer shavings though. We just pile them near the shore line and light them up and in a few minutes there gone.

Pic to follow later today

Quebecnewf

[Quebecnewf]

185 pcs of 2x4x8,10,12.  Dressed four sides
All strapped and ready to tow. Had a small breakdown on the three sided planer so we did the last of it with the single sided planer. A little welding and the she should be up and ready for tomorrow.

Real pleased with the lumber we are getting now. Nice and smooth and dead on in size.

Quebecnewf

[Quebecnewf]

Did the repair on the three sided planer and we put 56 pcs of 2x6x8 through it in a very short while yesterday. Got it dialled in perfectly now it seems. By putting the wood through the single sided planer first you avoid any jams on the three sided planer.

I am more than impressed on the smoothness of the lumber. Just as good as I get out of my workshop planers. I will now need to hunt down some tongue and groove side cutters for the three sided planer. My plan is to do tongue and groove 2x6 as a method of building small sheds and micro cottages. Saw some info on a small company that was doing this and they had some very nice simple to build cabins. You just pack them together .
Quebecnewf

Here is a pic of the type of cabin they were doing

[47sawdust]

Mornin' Newf,
Great idea on the cabin kits.In your area that should be a big hit.

[Quebecnewf]

One of the problems I am facing in the quest for T&G cutters for my old planer is the age of the planer and the method used to hold the side cutters. That method is no longer used or considered safe I guess. Even though it was the normal method for many many years on all the old planer-matcher style machines and was used to run many many millions of board feet of wood.

I can convert the side cutters to a newer Logosol style head but the cost is fairly high and I do not want to modify the machine to that extent. For me it would be like dropping a new fuel injected computer controlled engine into your old Model T . It would run better but just would not be the same.

The side cutter heads have no guarding around them at all and are a scary looking thing when it's all spinning . I am in the process of designing some thin alum guards to go around those. That being said when we are running this machine we stand outside the shed it sits in. I am at the indeed door putting the wood into the machine and my wife is outside the out feed hatch taking the lumber as it comes out . We do not enter the shed on the out feed side unless the planer is stopped.
There is no guarding on the belts as well. I guess our older generation sawmill workers were more careful and paid attention more than we do . It seems we need more guards than they did.

They had less distractions than we do I guess. You were there to work and work you did. No cell phones or iPads .

Quebecnewf

[thecfarm]

And the older generation got hurt too.

[pineywoods]

Newf, I make my own knives using an old skilsaw with an abrasive disk and a jig. There's a post with pics on here somewhere, a search would turn it up. Pics in my gallery. Never had any problem with them coming loose.

[Quebecnewf]

That is so interesting . I have a friend in the next village who does the same thing for one of those inserted profile table saw blades. He uses truck springs for his steel. Cuts them out with a small plasma cutter. Can you elaborate more on the method you use and any other details .

Thanks

Quebecnewf

[pineywoods]

Try this link-make your own knives
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,30815.msg444391.html#msg444391

[Quebecnewf]

Very interesting link. Read it over a couple of times then went to the MSC link and spent some time there. Lots of " stuff" in that catalogue.

I would need to make two male knives and two female knives exactly the same to do the T&G I want. My knives would have to be 1/4" thick by 2" wide by approx 3 to 3 1/2" long. Not sure if I could do that and get everything exactly the same weight and profile on the first attempt at this type of tool working. Might give it a try though. My biggest concern would be making two exact males and two exact females.

Thank you so much for all the info. I see on your profile you are 80 years old in 2008 and still holding at that age in your posts of 2016. Do you have a link to that webpage where one can download the app that makes that possible. I am just guessing but I am thinking it would be a real popular link.

Maybe it's a link that is only accessible after 80 :D :D :D.

Quebecnewf