Trimming wood binding height

[Blackstar1099]

I have some jarrah that I've cut up to make some binding strips. Ive gotten the width down to 2mm on my drum sander but I can't seem to think of an easy way to true up a rough sawn edge for the height . It would take me quite a while to run them on some sandpaper on a flat surface, even then I doubt they'd be straight and square. Stewmac sell a binding trimmer that would do the job but I baulk at the price. I thought of using a feather board on my table router with a fence but I would think it might chatter and cause a mess. Any suggestions?

[simso]

The stewmac binding trimmer setup, is a nice piece of ingenuity and works extremely well.

Steve

[Jeremy D]

Can you lay them all up together on their side and use a hand plane on the edge (or possibly even you drum sander)?

[routout]

I used a better one of these I cant find at the moment so this is a band sawed piece of wood to depth you desire and a disc made of any hard stuff with sand paper stuck to it and a bolt using the pedestal drill with the wood clamped to it and wound it up till the disc was just in contact and gently thread the binding through .I have also used the drum type in the drill with a fence next to it and slowly pulled it through . John.

[rocket]

Stack them together on edge and stick them through the drum sander.

Rod.

[Bob Connor]

Stack them together on edge and stick them through the drum sander.

Rod.

Me too.

[Tom West]

3/4" MDF 3" by length of binding making sure sides are parallel. A rebate in the top face same size as rough binding. 6 or 7 screw hold downs. Trim away on table saw. The edge is backed up by the MDF and comes out clean. Hope you can follow.
Tom

[kiwigeo]

Rout a slot in a piece of mdf so that depth matches desired height of binding. Slip the binding in the slot (use shims if its a loose fit). Run a block plane or scraper over the binding until its flush with the top of the slot. If its a bunch of strips then as above...tape them together and shove them through the drummie.

[Blackstar1099]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I don't have a table saw so that's won't work. I'm not sure the pieces will hold up if they're stacked side by side and put through a drum sander without support on either side but I'll try rigging something up. I like the idea of a slot in MDF and scraping or planing. I'll work something out. Or maybe I'll spring for the Stewmac trimmer. I need to order a bunch of other stuff anyway.

Thanks again.

Piero

[Allen]

When I need to do this I'll stack them together with some other scrap on either side for a bit more support, and then use some tape to wrap the bundle in several places along it's length in order to keep them perpendicular to the bed. Then pass through the drum sander.

The top of the tape is remove in the first pass, but it still tends to keep everything nice and true.

[Mark McLean]

Yep - drum sander

[Trevor Gore]

Stack 'em on edge, hold between finger and thumb of one hand, high angle block plane in the other. It's all I've ever done. No drama at all.

DSCF3396s.jpg (105.36 KiB) Viewed 21798 times

[dshaker]

Stack 'em on edge, hold between finger and thumb of one hand, high angle block plane in the other. It's all I've ever done. No drama at all.

Ah, but you keep your planes sharp.

[Trevor Gore]

Well, sharp is certainly important, but what really helps doing this sort of thing is a bit of candle wax on the sole of the plane. It really cuts down the friction and makes holding the stack a lot easier, because you don't need a vise-like grip to keep it steady.

[Dave M]

Or dry PTFE lubricant spray. It is surprising how much of the force used in planing is down to friction rather than the cutting action.

[Trevor Gore]

It is surprising how much of the force used in planing is down to friction rather than the cutting action.

Exactly.

[dshaker]

Interesting. I don't think I have ever tried a lubricant on my plane soles. I'll give it a try! Thanks!

[Steve.Toscano]

As per Trevors comment i put some candle wax on a plane sole and went at some highly figured blackwood backs. WOW!!!. Why am i only just discovering this.....
Now i need to get more candles.

[routout]

I was wondering about introducing wax into the wood and then trying to put a finish over it ?

[Jeremy D]

I was wondering about introducing wax into the wood and then trying to put a finish over it ?

The way I was tought was that you only put wax on the front part of the sole when makinging your finishing passes. That way the wax is cut away.

[Trevor Gore]

Now i need to get more candles.

Four candles?

[Trevor Gore]

I was wondering about introducing wax into the wood and then trying to put a finish over it ?

That's something I've wondered about, but in reality its never been a problem. Waxes are just long chain alkanes (oils are shorter chain alkanes). Shellite is mainly a short chain alkane "oil", methane is the shortest. So any residual wax would wipe off with Shellite. But unless you're really caking it on, the residual is likely less than the wax/oil already in the wood.

If you look at some of the old engravings of woodworkers' benches you'll see an oil pot with a bit of rag hanging out. The idea was that every now and again the sole of the plane was dragged across the rag leaving a thin film of linseed oil, which served as a lubricant and helped reduce the wear on wooden plane soles. Of course, when finishing with shellac/oil based grain fills/oil based finishes, there was never a compatibility problem. But I don't see one with epoxy based fills, for example, either.