Delta 22-560 Planer issues

[Doug Schiefer]

Purchased a Delta 22-560 planer described as mint condition, cost me $75.00, total cost with transportation was under $100.00

This is my first planer and I am a novice who builds benches. Both the wrench tool and blade remover were missing, and one of the cutter plate knobs, owner will ship if found, can order them from online suppliers.

I found a replacement for the knob. I greased the gears and oiled the roller bushings as recommended, other than that cosmetically it looks pretty good, not mint as there was much wear on both in/out fold up extensions.

I could not determine what level of use the blades have, looked nicked to me. I have 1" x 12" x 30" pine pieces to plane so I gave one a test.

The results are that I can not get a smooth finish, one area leaves a gouge about 1/2" wide which tapers, plus I get what I think everyone calls snip (ridges or waves) at middle and end of board. Motor runs strong and all parts are tight.

I am cutting at about 1/32 - 1/16 on each pass. Boards although short will tend to turn when feeding.

Sorry for the long story, but should I just write this off or is it worth investing another $100.00 in blades and parts?

I was going to buy a Ridgid R4330 but for the price and to get started I thought this would be a reasonable approach unitl I became more proficient.

BTW, sill have all my fingers.

Doug

[Greg Cuetara]

Doug,
First Welcome to the creek.

Second. I think a lot of us around here have started off with the 22-560 or similar model from delta. It is a good solid planer but it does have some quarks. I would use the search feature and type in 22-560 and you will get a whole bunch of information regarding maintenance etc.

I would think to solve more than half your problems you will need a new set of knives. They run about $30 at the borg. The knives are reversible so you may want to try and reverse them first and retry the planer.

I would suggest that you get rid of the nuts holding the knives in and replace them with a hex head bolt. It makes it much easier to tighten and also get off becuase you can use a socket set. Another thing to do is to take some mineral spirits and clean both the infeed roller and outfeed roller. They are the two foam rollers on each side of the cutter head. It sounds like the boards are slipping and a good cleaning all around will make a big difference. Another general maintenance item is to wax up all the tables. It will allow the boards to slide smoothly.

One thing i have done with my planer is to slightly elevate both the infeed and outfeed tables and that has improved the snipe. You can also elevate the board as you are feeding it in and gently pull up on the outfeed side and that will go a long ways to eliminate snipe or at least minimize it.

Snipe is typically only at the beginning or end of a board. Caused by the board not being in full contact with the infeed and outfeed rollers and uneven pressure. A lot of newer planners take care of this in different ways. If you are getting something in the middle of the board it sounds like the knives. Also pine is not a great trial run. Do you have any hardwood that you can test it out on? I have always had trouble with pine in my planer but great results with any hardwood.

Sorry for the long reply. To summarize. New knives or turn them around. Slightly elevate the infeed and outfeed tables and wax all the tables.

Let us know your results when you try those things.
Greg

[Doug Schiefer]

Greg:

Appreciate the welcome and quick response.

I am just getting ready to go out and apply your suggestions, I am also going to see if I can flip the cutters without using the Delta tools as I have a pretty good variety of hand tools.

I just dropped two large red oaks and have black cherry to take down so will get to that as soon as I can get them to the sawmill.

My thoughts were to get the kinks out of the machine with soft wood thinking I could not inflict much damage to the unit if I did something wrong.

Again, Thanks for your time, this is a great source for us beginners and someday when I have a few thousand bdft under my belt would like to contribute.

Doug