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+-- Thread: Removing Finish with Planer? (/showthread.php?tid=7188137)
Removing Finish with Planer? - sawnuts - 01-08-2016
I occasionally purchase some reclaimed wood. Recently Bubinga and Redwood.
I have a power planer (lunch box) and I also use hand tools.
My question is what is the best way to remove the finish other than stripping it off.
Has anyone used their planer. Does it wear out the blades quickly. I have a metal detector.
Would it be better to rough it off with a hand plane first and then the surface planer?
The bubinga looks to have a sprayed lacquer..maybe water based. The redwood was siding and so it may be oil based or latex.
The wood is in great shape. No rot or dirt.
Thoughts?
Thanks,
Mark
Re: Removing Finish with Planer? - JR1 - 01-08-2016
I've always used stripper. I think that the finish will dull blades pretty quick. But hopefully someone who has tried it will chip in.
Re: Removing Finish with Planer? - Rob Young - 01-08-2016
sawnuts said:
I occasionally purchase some reclaimed wood. Recently Bubinga and Redwood.
I have a power planer (lunch box) and I also use hand tools.
My question is what is the best way to remove the finish other than stripping it off.
Has anyone used their planer. Does it wear out the blades quickly. I have a metal detector.
Would it be better to rough it off with a hand plane first and then the surface planer?
The bubinga looks to have a sprayed lacquer..maybe water based. The redwood was siding and so it may be oil based or latex.
The wood is in great shape. No rot or dirt.
Thoughts?
Thanks,
Mark
1) yes it works
2) yes it is hard on the blades -- use an "old" set or replace/resharpen after use
3) airborn dust & contaminates could be more harmful than the usual junk spewed out by the planers
A #80 scraper plane does a pretty good job and for the most part doesn't send things airborne.
Re: Removing Finish with Planer? - Splinter Puller - 01-08-2016
If its a few boards I just slip the old 36 grit sandpaper on my beltsander and get the hard finish off enough that a planer wont choke.
Re: Removing Finish with Planer? - John Mihich - 01-08-2016
I agree about using old blades. Biggest problem is that you are going to lose a fraction of the wood. Not a great big deal. Stripping has it's benefits - leaves patina, but also leaves any dents. The planer gives a new look. Leaving the patina can be an issue if you have to cut it - the cut edge will not have the same patina - staining can fix that though.
I am not a fan of hand planning - it's a lot of manual labor - that's why I buy machines.
Re: Removing Finish with Planer? - MsNomer - 01-08-2016
Not as hard on the blades if you cut deep enough to go under the finish.
Re: Removing Finish with Planer? - Admiral - 01-08-2016
Note that I have a bias towards hand tools, but I would take a #5 (or even a #4) to it to take off the finish, then put it through the planer. Bench plane blades are easier to resharpen than planer knives. Shouldn't take long with a well tuned handplane.
Re: Removing Finish with Planer? - jteneyck - 01-08-2016
+1. I've run quite a bit of painted and varnished molding through my Foley-Belsaw molder to reclaim it. It does wear the knives, but the wear is actually less if you take a bigger bite so that the knife only goes through the finish as it exists the wood. The wear is the worst if you just try to skim off the finish, forcing the knife to stay in the finish for most of it's travel through the wood.
I can tell you from experience that if you have 500 feet of molding to reclaim, stripping it by hand is not something you consider if you own a molding machine. Thankfully, I do.
John
Re: Removing Finish with Planer? - Robert Adams - 01-08-2016
MsNomer said:
Not as hard on the blades if you cut deep enough to go under the finish.
Exactly. I also plane boards to get paint off because paint gums up sand paper in less than a seccond and sandpaper will end up costing more than planer knives anyway.
Re: Removing Finish with Planer? - John Mihich - 01-08-2016
I too tried the drum sander - wasted a stripe of paper.