A timber planer, often referred to as a planer thicknesser, is a woodworking machine designed to trim down boards to a consistent thickness and width. Its primary purpose is to create flat, parallel surfaces on rough lumber, making it ready for further processing or use in projects.
How a Planer Thicknesser Works
Based on the provided reference, the mechanism of a planer thicknesser involves a simple yet effective process:
- Feeding the Board: The machine uses a set of rollers to grip the timber board and draw it through the machine.
- Contacting Cutters: As the board passes through, it comes into contact with a set of sharp cutting knives mounted on a rotating cylinder, known as a cutter head.
- Material Removal: These knives rapidly shave off material from the board's surface. The depth of the cut is adjustable, allowing you to control how much material is removed in a single pass.
- Achieving Consistency: By repeatedly passing the board through the planer, or by using a machine designed for both planing (flattening one face) and thicknessing (making the opposite face parallel), you can achieve the desired, uniform thickness and flat surfaces across the entire length of the board.
This process removes large amounts of material in a single pass, making it an efficient way to prepare lumber from its rough state.
Key Functions
- Creating Uniform Thickness: The most common use is making boards the same thickness.
- Producing Parallel Surfaces: It ensures the top and bottom surfaces of a board are parallel to each other.
- Preparing Rough Lumber: It takes rough-sawn timber and makes it smooth and dimensionally accurate.
In essence, a timber planer transforms uneven, rough boards into precisely sized and smooth pieces suitable for fine woodworking and construction.
