Routing veneer off of wide doors

[MacMarty]

A local non-profit recycler of building materials has handed me a stumper.

They've received a ton (several tons actually) of veneered wood doors from a hospital that's being remodeled. The veneer is usually in kinda rough shape. They're interested in "planing" the veneer off, and using the solid wood core to make other stuff. (Bar tops, coffee tables, who knows.) Yes, the cores are definitely secondary hardwood, with knots etc, but they think it'll be worth doing. But a planer big enough to handle a 32" or 36" wide is not gonna happen. A cheap approach is needed.

So my thought is to put it on my CNC router table, and use it to hog off the veneer. The question is what kind of bit will be most effective here? I'm concerned that a plain end mill might be slow, and leave some surface ridges between passes. Would some kind of ball-nose end mill or shaper bit be better? Ridges might not matter, I can imagine that a finish pass with a hand plane may be in order anyway. Anybody out there "been there done that"? What's the smart way to do this?

[ger21]

What's the smart way to do this?

Probably a wide belt sander, preferably one with 2 belts, rough and fine.

With a router, I'd try a bit like this one.
Insert Spoilboard & Rabbeting Router Bit with Scorer 2 + 2 Design - Toolstoday.com - Industrial Quality Insert Bits

As you mentioned, if your spindle isn't perfectly perpendicular, you'll get ridges.

[MacMarty]

Ah, that's an interesting router head, Ger! Lots of swept area, that will speed things up if I have enough power to drive it. (Got a feeling that a Bosch Colt isn't gonna cut it, sounds like a job for a Porter Cable 75182 or equivalent beefiness!) Thanks for the tip!

[ger21]

Any 2HP router should do it. It has a 1/2" shank (RC2250), so it won't fit in a Colt. But it's only 1-1/2" diameter, so you don't need something as big as a 7518. Especially if you're only removing veneer.