Planeing "WIDE" Oak boards

[Ridgid_rocks]

I am currently taking down an old barn and it's all oak. Alot of the boards are about 15 to 18" wide and are very nice. How can I plane them down since my 1300 planner only goes to 13"? I don't want to cut them down.They are to nice for that.These boards are over 1" thick. I am very carefull about the nails and check with a metal detector before I do any planeing at all. This is a very big barn and all the wood is in excellent shape..I need help with this one....Donny

[ 10-29-2001: Message edited by: Ridgid_rocks ]

[RRitch]

Donny,

As far as planing a 15 - 18" board, there are only 3 options.

1. Hand plane them
2. Get a bigger planer.
3. rip them to fit the 1300.

A couple of things to keep in mind, a wide board such as 15 - 18" may be prone to warping, so sometimes it is advantageous to cut them down. also, a friend of mine has a 50 year old barn that we have removed some of the stalls from. It is oak as well so I laid claim to it real quick. I had a heck of a time working with it, with all of the nail holes and such the yield was pretty low. The other problem that I have had with it, is that it is real prone to splitting. I do not know if it is because it is old and VERY dry, or what.

Just some things to think about

-Rob

[Hergy]

Donny, the short answer is you can't plane a 15" or 18" board on your 13" Ridgid. Ripping them and regluing is about the only way you coud do it with your current equipment. Heck I've even seen Norm do this on his TV show. I suppose hand planing is an option, but, not one I would care to exercise.

Might check around for a sawmill or lumber yard in your area that could do the work for you. Since it sounds like the wood is free, paying somebody to plane it sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

(Yeah, what rrich said also about the cupping. He posted while I was typing.)

[ 10-29-2001: Message edited by: Hergy ]

[Ridgid_rocks]

I would "Really" hate to rip it but if I do should I glue it back in the same way I split it or flip the board over to keep it from warping /cupping? These boards are over 8ft. long and I have probally 30 or more of them that size.Sounds like alot of sawing and guleing........Donny

[Hergy]

Really no reason to do them all at once. Why not just rip and glue as a project calls for it. Unless you have some humongus projects that call for 18" wide boards. If it were me I would alternate cupping/end grain....one board up, one down etc. particularly if I was making a tabletop or something of this nature. Quite surprised that these boards are not already cupped, but you did not mention this.

[Dave Arbuckle]

Please don't rip a rare piece of wood just to fit a stupid machine.

If you cannot figure any way to use it yourself, please consider selling the lumber to someone who wishes that dimension, they will pay a premium for it. It is a very sad waste of a resource that is essentially gone, to treat wide boards in that fashion.

[By the way guys. There is no reason at all to be surprised that an old growth board of this size is not warped. There are old pieces that are made from Oak, Mahogany, Walnut, with boards that are sometimes over 30" wide. They aren't warped.]

Dave
Lumber Lover

[ 10-29-2001: Message edited by: Dave Arbuckle ]

[b52v]

Why not stop by and visit with the Jr. High or Sr. High school shop teacher. I did this several years ago and he was happy to run a few boards through his planner which was much wider than my 13.

[Ridgid_rocks]

Dave Arbuckle,
I'm kindly with you about not wanting to rip the boards. Some of the boards are warped a little but most of the wide boards is on the inside walls of the barn and out of the weather and "NOT" warped at all.It's just hard for me to look at a 18" oak board and think about cutting it down.Like you said Dave you don't find those kind of boards anymore.I called my local lumber yard yesterday and their planner doesn't go that wide either. I will look more today. Donny