Producing flat wood scales

Camillus

Camillus

Joined
Jun 3, 2015
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Hi all,

This is a very basic question but reflects me just starting out in knife making.

I would like to know how to go about taking a board, let's say its 4" wide and is 1" thick and producing 1/4" stock from it, which is flat and uniform.

I would like to use the resulting pieces for knife handles, but also building boxes for knife display cases. That's why the flatness is important.

What machines would I need to produce this stock?
 
I use a table saw. With a high quality rip blade, and a decent fence that's square to the table and the blade, you can get stock flat enough that disc sanding it for the scales doesn't show any high points.
A good table saw helps though, a light duty machine would likely require a bit more finishing work on the wood.

Generally in cabinet making you'd use a jointer to flatten the first side of a board, and a planer to flatten the other and make it parallel to the first. But for knifemaking (small pieces and woods that don't exactly plane well) it's usually easier (and less likely to grenade pieces of wood) to just cut the piece, flatten the tang side on a disc sander, and not worry about the other side until you shape the handle.

A bandsaw is most likely a safer option for these smaller pieces, but the cuts require a fair bit more cleaning up, and if you get into some of the exotic woods they eat blades like you wouldn't believe.

If you're totally new to woodworking though and on a budget, a handsaw and a piece of coarse sandpaper glued to a board would work
 
A bandsaw will make a smaller kerf which makes the sides a little thicker if you piece is already thin.
 
A band saw and then a mill to mill the surfaces flat :)
 
A 1" thick board will yield three 1/4" slabs if cut and sanded carefully. A thickness planer is also useful for smoothing off the cut pieces..
 
For a board your size, a jointer and planer would work well.

When you get to smaller knife scale sized pieces, a drum sander would be ideal - it can handle shorter (2-3" minimum) and thinner (down to 1/32") stock, and works better with figured woods than a planer
 
Ok thanks all for the replies, I am learning a lot.

The list so far:

Saws:

Table saw
Band saw
Hand saw

Thicknessers:

Jointer
Thickness Planer
Disc sander

Finishers:

Drum sander
Disc sander
Mill

I only own a band saw from this list. I own a heap of hand planes but it seems they aren't that useful on highly figured wood.

My guess is that if I was to buy a tool, the next tool (including for versatility) is a drum sander, or the planer/thicknesser. Is this about right?
 
Honestly a drum sander wouldn't even be on my list. That's an expensive tool that I don't think you'll need for scales.
A bandsaw or table saw is going to get your block or scales rough cut, then a low grit on a disc or belt will smooth it out close to final dimensions. Finishing up on a piece of sandpaper stuck to some glass or granite will get it good and flat.
 
For knife sized things I'd recommend a 12" disc sander from harbor freight, grizzly, ect
I have a jointer and planer, and basically never use them for knife work. A lot of the woods used for handles will go off like a grenade if you try running them through one of those.
I had access to a drum sander for a while, and never really liked it that much. It was fast, but I still always found myself needing to take the pieces to the disc sander after.
 
A piece of angle iron clamped to the bandsaw table works as a decent fence which will get you a lot closer than freehand. (a machinist square or 1-2-3 block helps to make sure things are square, and a lot cheaper than a new power tool)
~billyO
 
If you already have the band saw and wanted a power tool to make sure they are flat, I'd get a disc sander
 
On a bandsaw, a point fence can actually often work better for resawing than a rail fence. And it's even simpler. Just pointed piece of wood (such as a 2x4 with the corners cut off) clamped however far you want from the blade. It keeps the edge a fixed distance from the blade, but allows you to push slightly off rather than just straight. This allows you to compensate for a blade that isn't cutting perfectly
 
I took an oak log a neighbor cut and bow sawed slabs and hammered junk steel through to split it. Then i split the big chunks into 1/4" scales using a knife. Of course, there are bows in the split wood. I find a fairly straight piece and hand sand it for an hour or so with sandpaper stuck to flat surface. Not the easy way, not at all, but it works.
 
If you use a bandsaw with a sharp blade (use the widest blade that will fit your saw, I use 3/4") you can get a smooth cut that you can flatten with sandpaper on a flat surface.
Otherwise for smaller thin pieces I use a drum sander ($1500+). Figured woods are prone to tear out when run through a surface planer.
Or you can buy a lot of already cut wood for a fraction of the cost of just one of the tools. Woodcrafters and a lot of the woodworking stores sell the more basic woods cheap.

When storing thin cut wood it is a good idea to stand it on edge to limit warping.
 
My buddy called me up one day and said his new bandsaw was not cutting straight. He had spent hours aligning everything by the book. He suspected his new carbide tipped blade was bad. He was trying to rip down some long pieces of 1"X3" stock and it was cutting in a curve. I asked him how he was doing it, and he said he was holding the wood tight to the fence and feeding it slowly into the blade. I asked him if he still had that funny 4" long rod of metal that came with his saw. He said it was in the drawer with the Allen wrenches. I told him to screw it onto the middle of the fence where the two matching holes for it were. This makes a round faced bump in the middle of the fence. Next, mark the slats down the center where the cut was to be. Now, feed the stock into the band saw with the round projection just touching the wood. He was amazed at how simple the re-sawing went after that.
 
Ok thanks all. I haven't had much luck getting consistent thin boards with a bandsaw - lots of wavy lines on both horizonal and vertical axes. And no lumber store sells decent timber boards less than 3/4". That's my big issue - not being able to make a supply of consistent flat stock around 1/4".

So based on the advice above - use a point fence for the band saw. Then finish on a 12" disc sander.
 
That, or invest in an expensive band saw sled jig for re-sawing.

Since most all of the wood I cut to scales is 2" or less in height, I use my table saw and a good blade to make the cuts. It leaves the cuts smooth and dead flat.
 
Thanks- so many options. That's why I have never sorted this out before. It does my head in!

I like the idea of a table saw now - one cut and its done. No messy clean up work involved.
 
After any cutting lengthwise, you need to let the slabs sit for a week or so to release any stresses. They may warp. Sand them flat if they do. Clamping to straighten is not good, as they will just warp again in the future and possible ruin a lovely knife.
 
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