Pretty much what has kept me from building more. I am finally trying to get out a few boards before the season starts and I am now having a hell of a time with my router bridge profiler thingamajig. Basically I have never found a good way to hold the core down to the table. I have tried everything and no matter what I get areas of lift and therefore thinner core at that point. I am fed up with it. Pretty much going to give up on the router bridge method.
So, time for a planer, right? I think I found a great one on CL. http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/tls/1956526613.html
seems a decent price also.
But, will I have the same issues as far as needing to hold the core down to the planer crib? Are there pressure rollers that keep the material flat? I have never used a planer, so sorry for the stupid question.
Does this look like a good buy?
o.k. I answered my own question about the infeed and outfeed rollers. Thanks wikipedia!
Still want to know if this looks like a good machine.
Three rules from my experience (hard earned.. :-))
1. A stable (heavy) construction. No "toy" planer (cheap planer)
2. 2hp motor
3. A steady iron table. Which should be mandatory. I didn't think so before...now I know
I think the first one looks better doughboy
It seems to have a more solid table than the roller type deal on the second one.
I am looking at a 15 inch planer that looks similar to the first one just a bit shinier and newer. It's $1400 aussie, so i think 400US is pretty good for a secondhand one.
I had major trouble with the "toy" planers in the 400-500 dollar new price range so I think a secondhand solid cast iron job is better than a new 12 inch model. Having said this others seem to use the "toy" planers and they go OK. I reckon the bamboo I am using needs something more heavy duty.
As Mike said in my thread the rollers on top are a "must have", but I think you could easily weld/bolt some type of setup on one that doesn't have them.
Nice! We use a small Ryobi planer we bought at home depot. It could definitely be considered a toy, but we've had great results with it. We hot glue our cores to our crib to keep it from sliding, the rollers will push it into the crib.
We have to do a bunch of shallow passes with our planer, so it does take some time, but the results are way way better than the router bridge.
I'm working on a jig to do cores on my band saw in one pass, but that won't work on something as wide as a snowboard.
falls wrote:...I reckon the bamboo I am using needs something more heavy duty...
You're right. In my experience bamboo saws and sands well but HATES being planed. I chew up a set of planer knives on each pair of bamboo ski cores. The Delta knives I use have dual edges so I can flip them around for a second pair of ski cores. It's still rather expensive and time consuming to swap the knives so often. Actually the thing works better when taking thicker cuts on the bamboo, which is nice because the profiling job is done sooner.
Trailing end shown with the taper half-way done.
The leading edge of the core is screwed down to the angle jig. The trailing edge is secured using double sided masking tape. Notice the two pieces of MDF extending past the tail end of the core. These prevent snipe by supporting the infeed pressure roller until the core passes by the cutters.
This Delta planer is the absolute minimum sized piece of equipment suitable for tapering ski cores. A larger machine like being considered in this thread is superior, being able to profile two cores simultaneously is an obvious advantage.
I don't think you can go wrong with either planer, both are HD. I have a portable delta one like SHIF's. It works well but not in the league of those 2. You'll be happy with either one. I think you'll like planing cores too. Faster than router bridge and with 3 hp should be able to plane it down pretty fast.
May want to rig an out feed table or roller to catch the crib on the way out. Depending on the size/weight of the crib you make, it can get heavy.
doughboyshredder wrote:double sided planer crib or single sided?
I've seen it done both ways.
Is there a benefit to only having on side of the crib tapered? Downside of course is that you have to turn the core around after one side is tapered.
Double sided. If you ever plan on doing asymmetric profiles (like on a ski) it would have to be this way (are snowboards ever not symmetric tip to tail??)
Are your profiles just linear tapers, or do you have more curvy profiles? Curvy profile takes a little more work to get the crib setup, but thats how ours is.
twizzstyle wrote:
Double sided. If you ever plan on doing asymmetric profiles (like on a ski) it would have to be this way (are snowboards ever not symmetric tip to tail??)
Are your profiles just linear tapers, or do you have more curvy profiles? Curvy profile takes a little more work to get the crib setup, but thats how ours is.
Drrr, didn't even think of that. Most freeride boards have longer tapers on the tip. Although J.J. had a shorter taper on the tip for his last rossi board. Twin tip freestyle boards usually have the same taper on both sides.
I am just doing linear tapers at this point, although I do have a few other ideas that I want to try eventually.
Twizz how did you Arrive at your "curvy profile" dims? Trial and error? Feel like sharing the profile design/drawing?
DBS, running the core through the planer in one direction is wayyyy faster and easier once you have the jig set.
Flipping it sucks and the math is not hard but a pain if you want to shave .25mill off each side because you have to flip back again and again.
The adjustable jig seems like a huge pain in the ass.
I made several sleds with different profiles I feel work well for different loads and flexes.
Probably took as much time as the adjustable one but it was way easier the way I did it and with the help of the 2d cnc I have.
Basically draw the shape and cut some thin plastic with the machine I have access to and staple it on and rough cut and rout and screw together.
The shimmed sled was deflecting in the fore body of the core creating a swollen core profile rather than a linear taper. Even with the shims at what I though was the correct thickness, the mdf still deflected on this axis so I switched the sleds to having a longitudinal support rather than a horizontal one, if that makes sense.
We have a delta one like in the picture and we run 2 cores side by side of poplar and maple, so like 12 inches wide of wood. Boo is a different story I guess. Had trouble with the cutter head lock stripping and is currently kinda down because of this issue. It still works you just have to be careful.
