One of the most important aspects of woodworking is the preparation of the wood to be used—that is, the stage which turns logs to workable boards. And, cutting and surfacing are among those steps for preparing wood.
A Once-Popular Equipment
A radial arm saw is a power saw with a circular blade that can slide along and be turned perpendicularly to its horizontal arm, thus allowing it to make a variety of cuts.
For most of the 20th century (since 1925), the radial arm saw was the mostly used machine for cutting up wood either cross-cut or rip-cut. Since its blade can be adjusted according to its angle and height, it can also be used for making miter cuts and dadoes.
However, by the 1970s, it started to fall in favor of other machines like the miter saws. And by the 2000s, its popularity further dwindled in favor of other power saws.
This decline was mainly due to the danger associated with the radial arm saw (concerning its blade “feeding” on the wood) and its relatively higher cost. Today, other power saws, such as the miter and table saw, are more recommended to make the cuts that it could do.
Nonetheless, the radial arm saw had become vital in woodworking for its primary function: cutting logs into lumbers.
Getting Uniform Thickness
After cutting and producing lumber, they will be fed to a surface planer to turn them into workable boards—and there’s an equipment that flattens and smoothens in uniform thickness the lumbers fed to it.
A surface planer is a machine-powered planer that flattens and smoothens the surface of larger boards. Like the radial arm saw, it functions in the preparation stage of woodworking—that is, the surfacing part, though it is not so efficient in small surfaces that require the more-delicate touch of hand planers.
In the preparation stage, the surface planer helps in keeping the woodworking as smooth as possible, because working with rough and uneven lumber makes woodworking a lot more difficult.
Before using it, here are some reminders:
1. It can only flatten the lumber if the other surface of the wood is already flat, as it keeps the thickness uniform across the board—this can be solved by first feeding the lumber to a jointer;
2. It produces a lot of dust—possibly requiring a designated dust collector machine in order to manage its dust output;
3. Be aware of snipe, an uneven thickness in either beginning or end of the lumber, which occurs when the wood is fed in the machine incorrectly. To avoid this, lift the lumber slightly as it enters into the machine and then as it comes out.
If done correctly, the planed lumber will be ready for further workings.
Key Stages in Woodworking
Cutting and surfacing are the preparatory stages in woodworking. And as the craft slowly flows to industrialization, so does the process. The radial arm saw emerged to facilitate cutting, and the surfacing planer increased the efficiency of planing for larger projects.
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