Dressing
This article will cover what dressing is and and why it is important to dress your timber at the start of any project. It also covers a step-by-step process of how to dress a board on machines.
What is Dressing?
Dressing is the first step you take when working with timber. It involves transforming your ‘rough sawn timber’ (i.e. rough finish) to ‘dressed timber/surfaced’ (i.e. smooth finish), revealing the timber’s real colours, textures, and grain direction.
Why Do I Need to Dress Timber?
There are 4 main reasons why you need to dress timber:
To get a clean and smooth finish
To remove any ‘bowing’, ‘cupping’ or twisting’, ensuring that all faces are flat
To achieve parallel faces and square edges, ensuring that all edges are 90 degrees
To cut your timber to the required and exact dimensions (i.e. width and thickness)
If your timber is not accurately made parallel and square during the dressing stage, your final outcome will also not be parallel nor square.
How Do I Dress Timber?
Consider the timber’s condition, length, bow, and grain direction
Condition - Check the condition of the timber before dressing and ensure that it is dry, clean and free from metal (e.g. screws, nails and staples).
Length - Ensure that the timber is not too short or too long. If you’re unable to handle the piece on your own, the timber may be too long and may need to be cut down into more manageable lengths, no shorter than 350mm.
Bow - Bowing, cupping and twisting are common in timber and need to be removed to ensure that all faces are flat. Anticipate to lose thickness in your timber when removing a bow, cup or twist. (show image of bowing, cupping and twisting and timber to be lost)
Grain direction - The grain direction will determine the way you feed your timber in the machines to ensure a cleaner and smoother dressed surface. (show image of grain direction for planer + thicknesser)
If timber is wet, covered in dirt or contains traces of metal, it will damage the machines.
If the grain direction is not taken into consideration, the dressed surface may result in torn timber fibres, with a rough finish.
Cut Down Length
Using the Radial Arm Saw or Mitre Saw, cut down your piece into manageable lengths, no smaller than 350mm. Consider cutting down pieces that are bowed to save dressing time and material. (Show image of material lost from a bowed piece vs material lost from a bowed piece cut in half)
Plane 1 Face + 1 Edge
Dress 2 perpendicular face/ edge on the Planer. Follow the steps below:
Dress 1 Wide Face
Set up the machine
Orient the timber so that any bowing/ cupping/ twisting is the right way down
Orient the timber so that grain direction is correct
Use 2 push blocks to feed the timber
Mark the dressed side with a chalk or a pencil
Dress 1 Edge
Set up the machine
Orient the timber so that planed face (reference) is against the fence
Orient the timber so that grain direction is correct
Use 1 push block and 1 push stick to feed the timber
Ensure that the angle between the face and the edge face is 90degrees using a square
Mark the dressed side with chalk or a pencil
Thickness 1 Face + 1 Edge
Dress the 2 remaining face /edge on the Thickness and Table Saw (if required). Follow the steps below:
Dress the remaining wide face on the Thicknesser
Measure the thickness of timber and set up the machine
Orient the timber so that planed face (reference) is on the bed of thicknesser
Orient timber so that grain direction is correct
Dress the remaining edge on the Thicknesser OR Table Saw
Measure the width of the timber (and ensure the width : thickness is 5 : 1) and set up the machine
Orient the timber so that planed edge (reference) is on the bed of the thicknesser
Orient the timber so that the grain direction is correct
If the measurement of the width : thickness of the timber is more than 5 : 1 (i.e. 6 : 1) cut the remaining edge on the Table saw instead, with the planed edge (reference) against the fence.
Level 3 Machine Inductions are required for access to the Planer and the Thicknesser.
Next Steps?
Double check that the timber is perfectly square and parallel. If it is, then it is time to start making!
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