# Can I run split logs through a planer



## zrodimel (Mar 23, 2016)

I'm fairly new to woodworking (anything beyond the use of a chop saw, anyway). Im getting a planer for my birthday and want to know what I can and can't do with it.

I had a walnut tree fall down on the property but I don't have any equipment to mill it. Can I split the log like this photo (http://postimg.org/image/wn9o4c7o1/) and run that through the planer?

I realize I'd be a lot better off if I cut it with a band saw instead of splitting it but I don't have one of those...

Thanks for any help you can provide!

Zach


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*not really*

Sorry, that won't work. A planer wants to have the two sides as parallel as possible. One side, the bottom has to be flat to ride on the bed. The other side, the top will get run under the cutterhead. If they aren't parallel, it will be "hit and miss" on the cutters. 

Yes, a bandsaw would be the best way to prepare the logs, and I have done it that way:
 

This is the thread that show various sleds for making lumber from logs on the bandsaw:
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f27/resaw-sled-7552/


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## Jig_saw (May 17, 2015)

I rip my logs on a make shift table saw with a 14" blade after planning one side by hand. But this is not recommended for a novice woodworker.


I agree with woodnthings: please get a 14" band saw for safely ripping the logs. Maybe you can ask for a bandsaw instead of the planer for your birthday gift! Happy birthday in advance


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## ORBlackFZ1 (Dec 25, 2013)

*Planer sled*

Sorry, but I just found this post from 11 months ago. Hopefully, you have been using your surface planer and figured out that another alternative to planing boards that are not flat on opposite sides is to use a planer sled. Here is a great thread on the topic http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f3/why-planer-sleds-35908/ 

Using a planer sled, is not my preferred method, but there are some posts of woodworkers using a planer sled successfully. I use a 12" jointer to first flatten one face of the board. The next step is to flatten and make one side perpendicular to the flatten face. Now, the board is ready for the surface planer.

Another method that I sometimes use comes from "The Unplugged Woodshop" by Tom Fidgen. In the chapter "Dimensioning Rough Lumber" he covers just what you need.


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## 35015 (Nov 24, 2012)

Hi Zach,



> I had a walnut tree fall down on the property but I don't have any equipment to mill it. Can I split the log like this photo (http://postimg.org/image/wn9o4c7o1/) and run that through the planer?


Splitting wood like that Zach is a time honored traditions of Riving. It was used for making boards and other useful items from wood. There are many methods, but the best forms of it will yield only Quartersawn wood.

For smaller pieces "riven out" of a bolt section (aka what you get after you cut a log up) can be runner through a thickness planner if you are careful. It is not necessarily the most effective method as you have probably figured out, but can be done if you are careful. I would recommend hand plans over the power thickness planner first like a scrub plan or a #4 Smoother with a rondel (slight radius) on the blade.



> I realize I'd be a lot better off if I cut it with a band saw instead of splitting it but I don't have one of those...


Or...again traditionally mind you...ripping out the boards with a hand ripping saw. We did it that way for a very long time  to good effect, and it doesn't take that long to do once you know how. It is muscle work though


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I surface wood like that but I flatten one side on a jointer first.


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