Timber Framers Guild Forums General General Forum Questions planing?

So far my 2 small projects were rough planed with a hand plane but I am wondering what you all use to plane large timbers for that pristine look?

Depends on how finished a look you are going for. Some of the big TF shops have big expensive toys to do that sort of thing. Most people go over the timbers with a hand held power planer and call it good, or just do spot work from there.

If I wanted to smooth up power planed surfaces to a furniture grade finish (depending on the timber and what the planer left me) I'd either hand plane or top sand before breaking out the scrapers. Good thing I like my timbers with character.

hand held power planer works for bigger frames. Should be able to plane a house frame in a couple of days with a 12" planer. I have the makita 12" and I like it ok, it's a bit heavy and goes through blades faster than I like, but does the job.
http://www.amazon.com/Makita-KP312-12-1-4-Inch-Planer/dp/B000140B54

I have planed several small frames using the 6" Makita power planer. With a little practice faces wider than 6" can be planed in two pases without leaving a ridge. Just skew the planer so that the outfeed shoe is partially riding on the area planed by the previous pass. Tom

Has anyone found a power sanding tool satisfactory? Perhaps more suited to barns and shops!

Lee

The only drawback to bulk sanding is the sand paper clogs fairly quickly... At least with a 4" wide belt sander.
It's a slightly different appearence from planed, a little softer looking. Good for the cozy cottage feel vs. the formal dining feel.

Then there's the floor sander, hold on Ethel!

The mill that supplies our timbers has a 4 sided resizer. It pretty heavy duty and can take upto a 1/4" off a side on every pass. Then we use a 4 sided finish planner and to clean the timbwers we use a 12" planner and a DA to get them lookin nice and smooth. (If you like that look) So if you do alot of planning it is well worth the money.