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Solid Wood Casket Difficulties

5/11/16       
TCC Member

Tools: 16" Jointer, Makita 6" electric planer, Makita Router, Makita Circular Saw 9", hammer, screwdriver. Night time work after work, from 7pm to 9pm, almost daily.

I am a part-time coffin maker, the coffin i make is something like this the link i provide. Difficulties:

a) Very slow -, about 2 per week. b) Rough finish, painting.

Wish: 1) To make higher end coffin especially rounded top. Any suggestion / help?

2) Speed up Coffin Making Process with Single Phrase electric supply, limited space.

Ty.

Caskets

5/12/16       #2: Solid Wood Casket Difficulties ...
David Waldmann  Member

Website: vermonthardwoods.com

If you are making 2 per week, working 2 hours a day with the tools you have listed, to the style and finish shown in that picture, I highly commend you!

To make a rounded top I would suggest stave construction using pre-rounded staves. You can make these with a low power single phase planer/moulder such as the Williams & Hussey or similar. I would also mill them with some type of T-G or other alignment method to minimize the amount of finish work.

To really speed up production you will need more electrical power. No doubt there are some things that can be done, but without more detail it's hard to say for sure. For instance, if ample amperage is available and it's just a matter of 3-Phase, you can get a phase converter.

Best wishes.

Willams & Hussey Moulders

5/17/16       #4: Solid Wood Casket Difficulties ...
TCC Member

I need Single phrase 240 volt, 50Hz UK Electric machine

;)

5/17/16       #5: Solid Wood Casket Difficulties ...
David Waldmann  Member

Website: vermonthardwoods.com

I'm sure there are many similar options available in 50hz.

As to single phase, as long as you have enough amperage you don't need 3-phase service. There are (at least) three fundamental ways of converting single phase to three phase. See below.

BTW, the electronic variety can usually also conver frequency, so a motor requiring 60hz can have the 50hz changed up to 60. This has the added benefit of the ability to change RPM, which could be an advantage on a machine without mechanical RPM adjustment where you might want it, such as a shaper or lathe.

3 Phase from Single Phase

5/19/16       #6: Solid Wood Casket Difficulties ...
TCC Member

I borrow an old table planer (16 inches) from my friend last week, 2.2 kw 220 volt (about 3 horse power). the planer was dead when planning 6 inches width ironwood, and the socket melt because of heat after 15 minutes use. I need to plan 15 inches width stock with that table planer, so i won't need to plan by using hand electric planer.

Anyway to change hook/sharpening/clearance angles of the table planer by sharpening knife, and installation of planer knife?

5/20/16       #7: Solid Wood Casket Difficulties ...
David Waldmann  Member

Website: vermonthardwoods.com

Yes, you can REDUCE (but not increase) the effective hook angle, by sharpening the face of the knife.

For instance, if the head is set to produce a 25° hook, and you want a 15° one, you would grind a 10° angle on the front of the knife. It doesn't need to be very big - just 2mm or so will do. We used to do this on an old Powermatic planer we had because the hook angle was crazy large and we got terrible tearout on hardwoods.

BTW, reducing the hook angle will increase power requirements. Increasing the hook angle will reduce power requirements.

5/24/16       #8: Solid Wood Casket Difficulties ...
TCC

Thanks Mr. David. I thought by inserting the planer knife deep into the knife holder will decrease the hook angle measured from the center of shaft, and the opposite action will in turn increase the hook angle? I am thinking the depth of inserting planer knife will change angles like hook angle, clearance angle... any idea?

5/24/16       #9: Solid Wood Casket Difficulties ...
David Waldmann  Member

Website: vermonthardwoods.com

Well, yes - hook and clearance angles do change with projection of knife. However, I'm afraid you have it backwards. Setting the knife deeper will INCREASE the hook angle (and decrease the clearance angle) and setting the knife out further will DECREASE the hook angle.

To help understand it better, think about it this way. With greater projection the knife will hit the wood sooner, so the angle will not be as great. See the pic attached.

Note that most planers are set up with very small projection to begin with, so setting them deeper to increase hook angle is not a likely proposition. The amount of adjustment typically possible will not make much difference one way or the other.

Click the link below to download the file included with this post.

Hook_Angle_2.pdf

5/29/16       #10: Solid Wood Casket Difficulties ...
TCC Member

Dear Mr. David,

"Setting the knife deeper will INCREASE the hook angle (and decrease the clearance angle) and setting the knife out further will DECREASE the hook angle."

My Response: IMO, it is the opposite. Deeper decrease, further out increase hook angle.

When planing Borneon Ironwood with Makita Hand Planer, i need the knife deep to get good result. When planing soft wood, i set the knife further out. On paper, IMO, hardwood need smaller hook angle while soft wood needs bigger hook angle.
I don't know whether it is because of hook angle or the pressure on wood from smaller clearance angle. The bigger hook angle, the smaller the clearance angle is.. am i right? Or, it is because of the smaller amount of cut due to the deeper knife setting... i am quite confused..

"The amount of adjustment typically possible will not make much difference one way or the other."

For me, it makes huge difference when planing with makita hand planer.

Anyway, I cannot understand the drawing... ;). Care to explain more..?

5/30/16       #11: Solid Wood Casket Difficulties ...
TCC Member

Dear Mr David,

You are correct in hook angle, but it seems to work in opposite for hardwood and softwood... ;). Larger hook angle is suitable for hardwood..

5/30/16       #12: Solid Wood Casket Difficulties ...
David Waldmann  Member

Website: vermonthardwoods.com

The picture shows that with more projection the hook angle is smaller. IIRC I drew a 5" diameter head with a 1/8" projection at 45° hook angle for the initial picture. Then I extended the knife 1", to 1-1/8" and the hook angle changed to 34.58°.

From an efficiency standpoint you want the hook angle to be as large as possible. Think of hand carving with a knife; you want the blade as close to parallel to the wood as possible. Imagine how difficult it would be if you held the blade perpendicular to the surface.

The principle is the same for rotary cutters such as a planer. The problem the comes in is that hardwoods tend to chip if the hook angle is too great, so you have to reduce it to the point that it diminishes enough to satisfy your needs. As in the example with the hand carving, decreasing hook angle increases the force necessary to make the cut, and decreases life of the knife, both because of more "scraping" action as well as in increase in heat from the friction.

Practically speaking that means selecting a compromise as you generally can't just choose the hook angle you want, as it's primarily determined by the head. It's easier with shaper/moulder heads since they are designed to be interchangeable, but even still there are generally only a few hook angles available. We have a few with both 12° and 20° pockets and generally use the 12° for hardwoods and 20° for softwoods.

Getting back to your observation about a large projection working better for softwood with your power hand planer, the only thing I can say is that it must be for some reason other than the change in hook angle. I'd be interested to know what is "better" about the cut when planing softwood with the knife further out?

I've never used a power hand planer, so I don't really know, but the only thing I can think is that you need the knife deeper for hardwoods because A) it increases the hook angle which reduces power requirements, and B) the smaller radius also reduces power requirements because of leverage. BUT, it seems like softwoods would also plane better with the knife set further in; however, if there is enough power to plane softwoods with the knives further out, I could see that you may be able to plane more, faster.

I really don't think hook angle has anything to do with the situation you're describing. Yes, it does change, but I don't think it's changing much, and the characteristics you've described so far seem to be the opposite of what changes in hook angle normally produces.


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