DeWalt 733 Planer mishap

[Ken Werner]

I'm hoping my stupidity may help someone else. Fortunately, no damage done to flesh, just to pride and metal...

First mistake: Starting to replace the blades when I was tired.

Second mistake: not picking the heavy planer up off the floor to work on it. [Ended up having to do so anyway later.]

Third mistake: using my DW 18v impact driver to replace the bolts that hold the blade to the cutter head. [See item 1]

Fourth Mistake: Snapping off one bolt [an end one, of course] with the impact driver.

Fifth Mistake: Thinking [see item 1] "it's only one bolt, the rest will hold"

Sixth Mistake: Turning the planer on.

Seventh Mistake: telling anyone about items 1-6.

So, the centripetal force of the blade and holder spinning at 10,000 rpm tore the cover partly off, and broke the blade in two. Took all of about 1 sec. Maybe 2. Spent the next 90 minutes or so taking off the blade and drilling out the old half bolt and rethreading [metric] the hole.

Fortunately today I found a fellow creeker kind enough to sell me one blade - I'd hate to have to trash the other perfectly ok blade, and an internet source for the blade cover...which will get here in a week or two.

Just sharing to hopefully prevent someone else from doing the same thing.

Ken

[Mike Lipke]

Yeah.
Eighth mistake could have been: Thinking an eye was tougher than a chunk of steel.

As my Dad used to say, "If money can fix it, it ain't much of a problem"

Money can fix that jointer, but it can't fix any part of your body.

[Don Bullock]

Ken, thanks very much for sharing your mistakes. It's people like you who help others like me from making the same mistakes and avoiding even more disastrous results.

I remember a similar situation when working on the engine in my friends gocart. He thought I tightened on of the bolts holding the piston onto the crankshaft and I thought he tightened it. We discovered too late, when we started the engine, that neither of us tightened that bolt as it ripped through the cylinder wall and became imbedded in a 2 x 4.

[Barry Vabeach]

Ken, I would have bet money that that blade would stay in place when running free - though once it hit wood I would have been suprised if bad things didn't happen. Glad you weren't hurt and thanks for the post - it makes us all a little more careful.

[Douglas Brummett]

Wow, add that to the list of reasons to have the tool unplugged. I am a bit paranoid with respect to anything that can turn my hand into hamburger. I hate getting stuff out of the garbage disposal.

And impact wrenches are really hard on cheap or poor quality hardware. I got bit by that this weekend when mine sheared off a 3in screw about 2in into the oak board.

Hope all works out well in the end.