# can you make a panel using a surface planner



## AnimalAdrian (Mar 28, 2008)

I need to make cabinet door panels. The plans call for 1/2 inch maple plywood. I can not source the ply, so obviously I need to make the panels by joining 4 inch stock. I own a surface planner but not a jointer. A friend suggested when making the edge, I could run four boards together and should come up with a fairly perpendicular edge. I plan to use biscuits to join the boards. The panels are 15 3/16 wide * 31 1/16 long. Is my friends advise good or should I look for other solutions. Any suggestions would help.

regards,

Adrian


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## woodworks (Feb 12, 2008)

Yes he's correct. But you have to make sure the peices stay tight together. Also, depending on your table saw, you could 'joint' them there. If you have a router table with both infeed and outfeed fences, you can joint there also. If you have a hand plane, you could make a jig and joint them by hand.

Have you considered taking 3/4" ply and planing in down to 1/2"?
I have done that before. 

Hopefully I have given you some thoughts to consider.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

AnimalAdrian said:


> I need to make cabinet door panels. The plans call for 1/2 inch maple plywood. I can not source the ply, so obviously I need to make the panels by joining 4 inch stock. I own a surface planner but not a jointer. A friend suggested when making the edge, I could run four boards together and should come up with a fairly perpendicular edge. I plan to use biscuits to join the boards. The panels are 15 3/16 wide * 31 1/16 long. Is my friends advise good or should I look for other solutions. Any suggestions would help.
> 
> regards,
> 
> Adrian



You could laminate (glue up) 2 pieces of 1/4" Maple plywood. If the plans call for plywood do they also call for a glue in panel? That would be a no no for a solid wood panel. When you say joining 4 inch stock, what does that mean? Did you mean 4 pieces of one inch thick pieces? Or was that a 4" thick piece?

Planers don't do that well with jointing. As stated already, doing it on the TS, or router table would be my preferred method in lieu of a jointer. 

Plywood can be run through the planer, but I wouldn't do it. There's tearout, due to the different directions of the plys and the glue isn't good for the knives.


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## woodworks (Feb 12, 2008)

Plywood can be run through the planer, but I wouldn't do it. There's tearout, due to the different directions of the plys and the glue isn't good for the knives.

I had to run some 3/4" through my planer. I couldn't get 12" around here. There was no tearout. The only problem was the fact that the opposite running grain wouldn't get sucked through the dust collector hose very easily. But other then that, it was just fine. 

As far as the glue? I've never had any problem with that aspect of it. I've run wood through my planer that was hard then any glue. And I've never have any gum up from it either. 

The glue up of two 1/4" panels is also good. The one problem with that is getting the center clamped tight. 

The bottom line is this, what do you feel comfortable with. You should get a lot of suggestions here, because there are a lot of guys that know what their doing. You just have to pick one that suit's your needs and comfort level.


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## AnimalAdrian (Mar 28, 2008)

woodworks said:


> Yes he's correct. But you have to make sure the pieces stay tight together. Also, depending on your table saw, you could 'joint' them there. If you have a router table with both infeed and out feed fences, you can joint there also. If you have a hand plane, you could make a jig and joint them by hand.
> 
> Have you considered taking 3/4" ply and planing in down to 1/2"?
> I have done that before.
> ...


 
Would you make a jig to keep them tight together? 

In another response there were some questions on what I mean by 4 inches. 


The doors are for an armoire type cabinet that will be seen from both sides. By 4 inches I mean taking 4/4 stock planning it down to 1/2 inch and making it 4 inches wide. 

as far as laminating 1/4 inch ply how would it survive the test of time?

The panels will be floating in rail and stile with a 1/4 inch groove. The panel has a 1/4 inch by 7/16 inch rabbet on the back side.

As far as my table saw, it is a contractors saw and I do not trust the fence or the truth of the blade angle.

I do have a strait bit for the router. could I use a straight edge and do a plunge cut?


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## woodworks (Feb 12, 2008)

That's what I figured you meant. 

Yes I would make a some kind of jig to keep them tight. 
There are some guys that will tell you to clamp your peices together and run them through the planer. I personally would NEVER run any metal through a planer. With a little inginuity, you can make something to clamp your peices together to keep them from tipping over. If I were doing it, I would square the edges before I planned them down to 1/2". That gives you a little more stability. 

What about a friend? Know someone who has a joiner? 
You have the idea about the router and a straight edge though. depending on the lenght of cut of your bit, you could possibly do a couple at a time. If you do it that way, you could plane them down to the 1/2" and then edge them. That could turn into a lot of work, but in the end it will all be past and you won't even know it.


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## Domer (Mar 23, 2008)

*Panel with Surgace Planner*

Why not rabbit the edges of the 3/4 stock. One side would be inside so you would not see the rabbit.


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## allthunbs (May 14, 2008)

AnimalAdrian:

I have a table-mounted router (OakPark/Router Workshop philosophy.) I also modified a fence to use as a jointer. I took a long piece of stock, marked the centre, where the bit would go, and removed (using the router) about 1/32" from the infeed side. I then mounted the fence, and cleared some chip room in the middle of the fence.

Now I'm set for removing 1/32" and making nice square joints. www.oak-park.com/ Take a look at the picture on the router table page. The fence is held on by the "C" clamps and is infinitely adjustable.


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## Handyman (Jan 2, 2008)

woodworks said:


> ..............The glue up of two 1/4" panels is also good. The one problem with that is getting the center clamped tight.
> 
> 
> I have glued up plywood together before and solved that problem. I would clamp the edges together like any other clamp job, but for the center, I would use a spacer or shim on both side of the plywood in the middle, and use a 1x2 on edge going across the plywood. Clamp the 1x2 on edge untill you have a good bow in them. This applies a lot of preasure to the center.
> ...


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## woodworks (Feb 12, 2008)

Handyman said:


> woodworks said:
> 
> 
> > I made a hollow core door out of 3/8 T-111 by laying it flat on a cement slab and stacking 2x4 on edge criss-crossing the door and then parked the forklift on top.quote]
> ...


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## AnimalAdrian (Mar 28, 2008)

Are you using laminate glue and rolling, like in counter top applications??? unfortunatly I don't have a forklift for weight as suggested by another post. I could lay the panel down on cement and find somthing to keep it weighted though.


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