Evaluating a used planer cutter head

[Brian Hughner]

I'm going to look at a used ‘06 Grizzly G0593 8" planer with spiral cutter head this week. The machine has been used in a small production shop so it probably has had a fair amount of wood run through it. I've never have used a planer that has a spiral cutter head and I would like to know what I should look for as far as wear and tear on the cutter head. I want to make sure that I account for any cutter replacement cost if I make an offer on the machine.

Thanks for the help!

[glenn bradley]

Spiral cutter heads use square inserts that can be rotated to a fresh edge individually or in groups. A visual inspection of this jointer would give you a general idea of how it has been treated. I would rather run a board across it a time or two. My focus would be on the tables. This is a dovetail way machine so table problems can be a bit of a pain to resolve if present. If a straight edge shows the tables to be flat and co-planer, I would do the following:

- Run the tables up and down to assure free movement
- Move the fence carriage in and out to assure same
- Check the fence to see that it is consistent along it's length. That is; set it at 90* and run a small square along it at the table intersection.
- Check for any signs of abuse at the table to cutterhead gap.

[Brian Hughner]

Thanks, that sounds like a good game plan.