How to make these slab offcuts thinner

[william127]

I bought this pallet of offcuts a few months ago, worked out great value- about 2 quid a piece, if that. 

Trouble is I'm finding them too thick for a lot of the jobs I'd like to do- router templated boards for example.

One of the pictures shows the before and after thicknesses of a board I did. 

I'm currently putting them through my little triton thicknesser at the moment, which is obviously time consuming, messy and a bit wasteful. 

I'm thinking of trying to put them through the sawmill to cut them to a closer size, which should also give me a usable thin slice off the top.

Obviously clamping them down safely is likely to be a bit of a challenge.  Any suggestions on the best way to do it? Or any other thoughts/ideas?

Thanks. 

 

[GarethM]

Your only removing 1/2", probably best thinking about a bigger planer thicknesser, maybe a ex school surplus one running on a vfd.

[Squaredy]

Re-sawing boards is very difficult to achieve without very large kit.  I agree a larger thicknesser is the way to go.  And a suitable dust extractor of course.  Or take them to someone else who does have such kit.

[GarethM]

Agree on the dust extraction, even using a band saw with that sort of exposed blade would be bloody lethal and probably leaves a wonky edge.

 

Whilst a bit wasteful planer thicknesser is probably the safest option all round.

[Woodworks]

The snag is with bigger planner thickeners  is the feed rollers are further part so snipe is more of a problem for short boards IME.

 

Should be easy enough to make a jig that holds boards safely on your bandsaw mill. 

[william127]

38 minutes ago, Woodworks said:

 

Should be easy enough to make a jig that holds boards safely on your bandsaw mill. 

I  I'll look into this as my first option 👍

If it doesn't work out I can  just crack on with thicknessing (think I'll set it up outside😅).

 

[GarethM]

Keep a look out for a dust extractor on eBay are a great investment, plus you can burn the dust.

 

Best investment I ever made for chopping up pallets and such.

 

Think at the time I bought a used SIP one for about £80

Edited November 27, 2022 by GarethM

[Woodworks]

9 minutes ago, william127 said:

I  I'll look into this as my first option 👍

If it doesn't work out I can  just crack on with thicknessing (think I'll set it up outside😅).

 

Just an idea

 

Set up a wide stable board that bridges between two bunks. Could even screw it down. Then mount some cam clamps like these (could be home made) to the face of the board  to clamp your offcuts 

UJK Surface Cam Clamps (Pair) | Axminster Tools

WWW.AXMINSTERTOOLS.COM

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Based on the successful UJK Surface Cam Duck Clamp, this particular version has a 20mm dog hole slightly offset to create the cam action. Designed originally for use on a multifunction...

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by Woodworks

[Conor Wright]

I've resawn a few slabs by screwing them down to a cant clamped in the woodmizer, I had extra length to play with on the slabs so drilling holes didn't really matter but I took 15mm off no problem. Just make sure the screw heads are recessed enough to clear the band!

[william127]

Current thought is this:

Get a heavy timber, like a new softwood sleeper, always got one or 2 of them.

Lay that on the bed of the mill, secure it down.

Get 2 timbers the finished thickness (plus say 5mm for finishing) I want, screw one down to the sleeper. 

Lay the slab to be cut on the sleeper, butted up to the above timber.

Screw the second timber to the sleeper, so that the slab is wedged securely between the 2.

Set the blade so it just skims the screwed down timber. 

Carefully cut👍🤞

(All screws will be Carefully sunk well below the surface!)