What Machines Do We Use?
BANDSAW:
The bandsaw is a machine used to cut/slice through wood. Its charm is that it can be used to cut precise shapes. The machine is capable of doing this because it is a very thin and long saw that can take the pressure of pushing wood in a curved trajectory through it. This allows for a lot of precision, and as a result, little waste of material. Another useful trait of the bandsaw is that it can cut thick chunks of wood.
JOINTER:
The jointer takes off the outer skin of wood. The piece is moved along the flatbed of the machine until it reaches the cutting blade. The cutting blade is inset into the machine, and it can be raised or lowered to take off less or more of the material. Once the wood is dragged across the blade, its uneven parts are shaved off. After one side of the walnut piece is flat, one can square up the edges of the plank to make its edges meet at a 90 degree angle.
PLANER:
Next, the wood is run through the planer, which is a machine that shaves layers of the wood until it reaches the thickness one needs for the final product. It can only take off a certain amount of wood at a time - usually a sixteenth of an inch. As such, if there is a lot of material to take off the wood is run through a couple of times so as not to overwhelm the machine. To use the planer, all one has to do is set the desired thickness they want and push the wood into the machine. It proceeds to grab the wood and pull it through; simultaneously, there is a cutting blade that is shaving off the top of the plank.
TABLE SAW:
The table saw is used to cut pieces of wood. This machine is highly precise; the blade is very thin, and there are borders on the machine to ensure that one is cutting at a 90 degree angle.
TIMESAVER:
The timesaver is a giant conveyor belt that is surfaced with rough sandpaper. One runs a piece of wood through the time saver to get it to a certain thickness. It is a way to take off dried glue on the surface of wood once planks have been glued together.
SANDER:
The palm sander is a tool used to clear away scratches and cuts on a piece of wood. One starts sanding with a very rough grit base of 80. After that, we work through the levels of sandpaper (100, 120, 150, 180, 220, and 400 grit) until we can complete it with 800. By this point, the wood is very smooth and soft to the touch.
