Flatening Handle Material

Michael J. Spangler

Michael J. Spangler

Joined
Oct 8, 2003
Messages
2,181
i know some of you out there have woodworking tools, what do you think of using a jointer to get a good flat surface on handle materials? i know nothing about them really but i did use one once, thats enough to bring up the idea. let me know if anyone gives it a try
thanks
Mike
 
Hello, Michael. Long time no see.

A planer or jointer/planer works, but don't try to joint a small piece, or it'll wind up in your face. :eek:

The wood must be long enough to span from the front table to the rear table.

Another way I sometimes use is to clamp the wood to the crosscut guide on my table saw and slice off thin slices.

And,,, you can grind it flat on a surface grinder, or mill it on a milling machine.

Where there's a will there's a way. Just be careful.
 
thanks a lot, sounds resonable. like the rest of the machines out there. they're all fun untill you grind away your finger, or pop a belt. :eek:
 
On small pieces of wood, you can glue two longer length scrap boards to the sides of the block, then run them on the jointer or through the planer.
Helps keep the snipe down on the ends of the smaller block.
Saw the scrap off after that.
 
Mike, I use a big flat piece of corrian or surface plate........Use some spray adhisive or barge(rubber) cement and put down some 80 grit.....gets everything flat in just a few minutes of back and forth sanding.
Mace
 
Mark, You'll have to let me know in a couple of days. :D Just got to make sure you don't use it fresh!
Sorry about the mini highjack Mike.
Mace
 
a friend of mine years ago in shop class
took 3 fingers off with a jointer, past the joints :(
no way to stick those back on...the wood fliped out and he drove his hand right in
the fingers didn't slow the blades down at all...

a mill :) , disk or platen..
 
The easiest way to save your fingers is to line the handle material up on your knife handle and drill your holes. As long as the handle material is fairly flat this works. Then insert 2 pins of the same diameter as the drill into the handle material and use them as handles to hold the material against your disk grinder. You can also drill and tap the holes in yor handle material and put in screws to use as handles. This really helps when trying to get handle material thinner than 1/8 in.

To get something really flat on a surface plate you have to lap it in a figure eight motion, going back and forth will give you a taper on the ends.
 
striper28 said:
To get something really flat on a surface plate you have to lap it in a figure eight motion, going back and forth will give you a taper on the ends.
Click to expand...

intersting?
the 8's will also taper all the edges if you have a tendency to rock your downward pressure
front to back as well as side to side.
if not careful you will cause the dreaded crown on the back side. and it's hard NOT to do this..
pushing down at dead center of the piece will help.
I've found flattening on a plate pushing in one direction works better
you have better predictable control.
 
I have become an expert at thinning down ALL types of materials, on the platen.
It's a pain in the ass, but that's just life without a mill or surface grinder....

I think a mill is next on my list...


P.S.
I've never had the problem of tapering both ends of the material on a surface plate, as long as SLIGHT, but equal pressure is applied to the MIDDLE of the piece.
 
razorhunter said:
P.S.
I've never had the problem of tapering both ends of the material on a surface plate, as long as SLIGHT, but equal pressure is applied to the MIDDLE of the piece.
Click to expand...

that was what I meant by saying

pushing down at dead center of the piece :p :)
 
Yes Dan, I know bud! I was just echoing what you said. Didn't mean to come across like that! I know exactly what you meant!
 
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