Canadian Woodworking

Accessoriz­e Your Planer Cart

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I have two thickness planer accessorie­s that I keep attached to the cart: an auxiliary surface to assist with dressing thin pieces of wood and a support for keeping the leading end of a longer board from dropping down as the board is dressed.

The first one is a length of 1/2" thick melamine cut slightly less than the width of the planer will accept. This auxiliary surface will assist with dressing thin pieces of wood, as the cutter heads on thickness planers often don’t get closer than about 1/2" to the table, meaning you can’t dress material thinner than that. I used melamine, as it’s more slippery than most other materials and won’t add any friction to the materials being dressed.

There are limits to how thin you can dress a piece of wood. If you orient the wood in the right direction, so the grain is running “downhill”, it should be easy to dress material down to about 1/4" thick. If the grain is oriented the wrong way, or it’s undulating, heavy chipping or breakage could occur even when dressing material over 1/4" thick.

A screw should be driven into the base, ensuring it doesn’t protrude through the other face. This screw will butt up against the infeed edge of the table and stop the surface from moving further into the planer. A hole can be bored into the base so it can be hung on a screw on the side of the planer cart. If you’d like, another pair of screws can be driven into the planer cart to stop the auxiliary surface from swinging while the cart is being moved.

The second accessory is used to support longer lengths of wood while they protrude out the outfeed end of the planer. I attached a wedge to the base to ensure the end of the board lifts upward while it’s moving through the planer. A wider piece of solid wood is attached to the distant end of the support base to support a wide board. A large pan head screw driven into the underside of the support fits into a hole in my table saw’s outfeed table so it stays put directly behind my thickness planer. A hole bored in the side of my planer cart keeps this support nearby while I’m planing.

?? ?? Keep It Close – A hole bored into the side of the cart provides somewhere to store the support.
Keep It Close – A hole bored into the side of the cart provides somewhere to store the support.
?? ?? Plane Thin Pieces – A piece of 1/2" melamine, with a screw driven into its underside to stop the melamine from moving in use, will allow you to dress thin pieces of material. There’s still a practical limit to how thin you can dress material before it shatters, so don’t push your luck too far.
Plane Thin Pieces – A piece of 1/2" melamine, with a screw driven into its underside to stop the melamine from moving in use, will allow you to dress thin pieces of material. There’s still a practical limit to how thin you can dress material before it shatters, so don’t push your luck too far.
?? ?? Give Your Work Support – This accessory will provide support when dressing longer pieces of material. A screw driving into its underside fits into a hole Brown bored in his table saw’s outfeed table so it remains in one place during use.
Give Your Work Support – This accessory will provide support when dressing longer pieces of material. A screw driving into its underside fits into a hole Brown bored in his table saw’s outfeed table so it remains in one place during use.

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