The rough F1F grade walnut had rested in the shop. Now acclimatised with her surroundings, it was time to mill for the Mr Smith table. I had a cat to skin, these are not light, short boards. So I did some experimentation & research & serious head scratching. I knocked up this planer sled based on FWW plans. She slid through the planer nicely, & I like the adjustable wedges on the runners. Given the length, the sled was never going to get the first surface perfectly flat, but it got me really close & meant no humps & bumps trouble spots that can leave you cursing at the jointer as most of your precious wood ends up in the dust collector. After sledding it was just a couple smooth, light passes on the jointer to get a perfectly flat surface. Heavy machines mandatory, this is not for wussy sub 300 Lbs models. just wish I had the space to take my machines off the rollers.
Here's the western Maple planks I milled for the door frames. This was after the prelim milling & couple week resting period to calm down, then final milling. A little tear out from the machining will leave some handwork. maybe western is not as forgiving as hard maple. The walnut on the other hand didn't care which way it went through the machines, forget grain direction, absolutely remarkable wood & so pretty. Despite the scale & labour intensiveness of this project, and the tired forearms, I must remember how privileged I am to be working with so much nice wood. The motherload really.
