Acoustic Guitar Construction

Well, ok, the shim helped with the spruce I was practicing on. However, the bubinga just won't give. I thought I saw somewhere that hardwoods could be fed cross-grain into the planer and was wondering if anyone has tried that.
And the bubinga has a lot of figure and that may have a lot to with this as well.

Thanks for the help guys.

Dave,
Just use your drum sander

Kevin

I know, I know, you don't have a drum sander....so see, you need to get one.

Kevin

I do have a drum sander, Mr. Smarty-Pants. Though we still have outdoor 'facilities' here in Oregon, we do have some modern stuff. :-)

Going cross-grain might help (pushing the stock from front to back). With some of these rotary planers, the instructions even state to do that first.
Whether cutting cross-grain or lengthwise, keep in mind rotation of cutters. Feed the wood into/against the cutters.
Mentally divide the planer head into two halves, remembering only one half is doing the work.

If you're cutting cross-grain, place the stock on the right side of the table. Push the left side of the board into right half of the cutter; push towards the rear of the table (towards the column). When stock is cut, slide it to the left for the next cut.

If cutting lengthwise, decide which half of the planer you want to use. The "front" half means the side furthest from the drill press column; the "back" half is the side closest to column.
In the video, the front half is used, so the stock is fed left-to-right.

Regarding the table being perpendicular, yes, that is is important for initial reference. But when people use a shim, they're intentionally erasing it. Shimming is a great idea, but it has to be done properly. The purpose of shimming is to relieve the back side of the planer head once it does the cut, thereby reducing heat buildup. Heat = less cutting time before sharpening, even though the cutters are probably M2 steel.
The placement of the shim depends on direction of cut.
If cutting lengthwise and feeding left-to-right (as in the video), shim left side of table.
If cutting cross-grain and feeding front-to-back, shim front of table (make the table "tilt back").
The amount of shimming need not be much. Two thicknesses of sandpaper will have measurable effect, but will not be visually apparent.

Depth of cut: A tenth of an inch (.10") is asking a lot. Try to keep cut depth at 1/16" or less.

Ensure that belts are tightened.
Make sure that speed is on highest setting (up to recommended maximum).

Softwoods are easy to cut, but the heat brings out resins that wreak havoc. Burning instead of cutting. Check the cutters and clean if necessary.
Hardwoods usually cut well, but some, particularly your bubinga, have high silica content that quickly dulls the cutters. My first board ever cut with one of these rotary planers was a 2"x4"x48" piece of bubinga; I had to sharpen the cutters after only that one board.

Thanks Robert! Good detailed information.

It has kicked my butt. I admit to ignominious defeat. Disappointing, but it was worth a try.
On a positive note, I did not, in my frustration, throw the item across the shop, nor did I kick a cat. I did take the bubinga into the workroom and go at it with a sharp plane and make excellent progress in a short time; the thickness sander is next, and life goes on. :-)