Have You Ever Had Your Planer's Parallel Adjusted?

[Stuart Gardner]

I have a Makita 2012 Benchtop Planer that I bought new almost 10 years ago. I've put a fair amount of wood through it and it still runs like a champ. I never checked the parallel of the table to the blades until recently and it's out by 1/64th from one side to the other, which is not a lot, but I'd kind of like it to be a little closer to zero. I've read that the Makita is one of the few planers that cannot be adjusted by the user, that it must be adjusted by a service technician. Like I said, 1/64 isn't a lot, but I think it might be time to give the old girl an overhaul and adjustment. The only glitch for me is the shop is a 250 mile one way trip for me. If you've ever had your planer serviced in this way, what were your experiences? Would you recommend it?

[Mike Cruz]

Sorry, no, I don't have that planer (yeah, I know, what the heck am I doing responding then, right?) but I think you'll be a lot happier with the planer if you do get it adjusted. Just make sure, by phone, that the service station agrees that 1/64th is enough to justify adjustment. In other words, make sure they don't think 1/64th is "good enough"...you just might get it back in the same or worse condition.

I recently (with my brother's help) adjusted my 20" planer. There is nothing like the feeling of KNOWING that the wood is coming out as even as possible, and that if there is snipe or tear out or whatever, you know all that could be done to eliminate it was done...

Good luck with this project. I suppose you ought to consider what the resale value is of the planer, how much gas you would spend (you'll likely have to make the trip twice...unless they are going to fix it while you wait...good luck on that one), what your time is worth, and the difference between those factors and a new (or at least a new to you that you CAN adjust yourself) planer so that you aren't in this position again.

[Will Overton]

If you plane wide boards it might be worth it. If not you will just be spending money to satisfy a number.

Your biggest mistake was measuring it, unless you noticed a problem with your joinery.

[harry boyer]

I just bought the new Steel City with the helical head. On my old Delta, which I'm sure was out some 1000's ; I'd run the wood one way and then flip it and run the other side. At lest I thought I could take the high edge down on each side. Measure from the low end/side. Might make a diff on tenons etc.

[george wilson]

Here's a silly idea: If you can't get it adjusted,how about temporarily "fixing" it by planing a board as wide as the planer. Get the bed nice and clean,and stick down your planed board with thin carpet tape to the bed,so that its tapered thickness makes the bed now parallel with the cutterhead ? I recommend waxing the board with paraffin.

That will do until you can get it to be properly adjusted.

Alternate idea: Can you get the bottom of the planer off? If so,loosen the screws,and shim the side that planes too thin,and re tighten the screws. I don't know that model planer,but it looks like the bottom might be removable.

[Dan Friedrichs]

On this design, isn't the head moved up and down on 2 threaded rods (one on each side)? Then there are 4 smooth posts at each corner that guide it? And a chain connects the threaded rods so that they both move simultaneously?

If so, you can just remove the bottom to access the chain, remove the tension from the chain, then turn by hand one of the threaded rods to make the head parallel to the base. Retension the chain and you're done.

I had the same non-parallel problem on a DW733. I did what I described above, and was able to fix the problem in ~15 minutes.

[Bob Wingard]

I've never done that model, but it appears there is an inspection plate on the bottom that comes off by removing (2) 4mm screws. This exposes the chain & sprockets. You should be able to remove the master link .. make any necessary adjustments .. replace master link .. enjoy !!


If there isn't a master link, you can always cut the chain and install one.


Pretty much what Dan just said .. .. .. sorry .. didn't take enough time to read all the responses.

[Dan Friedrichs]

I'm glad to have someone confirm that my idea isn't crazy, Bob :)



If there isn't a master link, you can always cut the chain and install one.


I'm not sure you need to do that, though - at least on the Dewalt one I did, the threaded shafts are connected to the chain using a sprocket that was just set-screwed onto the threaded shaft. So you could just loosen one of the set screws, turn the shaft, and retighten the screw. Or, you could loosen the tension on the chain, and move the chain over one position on one of the sprockets.

[Larry Norton]

Stuart, it hasn't been brought up, but are you sure the problem isn't with the knives? Not sure how yours are secured to the cutter head, I have a Dewalt 735 and there are pins that hold the knives where they're supposed to be, yours might be different.

[Stuart Gardner]

Thanks for the input so far. I think I will take it apart some and see if I really can adjust it myself. I read a planer review a few years ago that said the Makita was one out of two or three planers of the bunch they tested that was not self-serviceable in the parallel department. But I figure I can't hurt it by digging into it a little. About a year ago it started skipping in the feed-rate of the boards and I just groaned, but then took the end panels off, oiled the drive chain and off she went like brand new. It's definitely not the knives, the blades are indexed and not adjustable. Most of the time I don't sweat 1/64 of an inch. I groan when I see posts about a tablesaw table being a thousandth out of flat, because after all, we're doing woodwork, not fitting pistons in a car. Keep the posts coming, it's always interesting to read other's experiences. Also, it's a wonder these things stay as true as they do with all the up and down, back and forth, and downright abuse they take. :)

UPDATE - I just found a good article about parallel adjustments at http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/Portable_Planing/?print=1 It's not real comprehensive, but it's adding to my confidence that I should give it a shot myself.

[Bob Wingard]

It depends on the point of view of the person who wrote the review that you read !! WOW .. did I really say that ??

If the sprockets are held to their respective shafts via only a setscrew, you should be able too loosen the screw and adjust as recommended .. if the sprocket is in any way keyed to the shaft, you will probably need to break the chain.

The parts diagram I looked at isn't clear enough to make that determination, but I really don't see why this should be declared to be a service center only adjustment. A simple gauge block (scrap of wood) will tell you when both sides are equal. Be sure to gauge off of the head .. not a blade. The head should be set parallel to the table .. THEN the blade exposure set properly.

[Stuart Gardner]

I haven't actually made the adjustment yet, but I turned the planer over and found the sprockets that make the screws go around. The picture below isn't my planer, but it's the exact same mechanism. One review of portable planers I read said they tried to get the tested planers to within 0.001 across the table. Mine is 0.016, so that's quite a bit off from their standard. Perhaps this weekend I'll devote some time to taking care of that task. I don't want to rush into it and screw it up.

Thanks to all who replied. Without this forum I'd probably truck the thing over to Denver, pay $100 or more plus all the time and hassle. I'll post a follow up to let you know how it turned out. Maybe I'll take that $100 and buy another tool. :D

[Bob Wingard]

If you know the thread pitch on the screw column and the tooth count on that sprocket, you should be able to dial it right in.

[Thomas Kunicki]

How did your repair turn out? I have the same problem with my 2012nb, but more severe (1/16 in or more out of parallel). I would appreciate your advice on how to correct the out of parallel problem, and you can assume that I need as much detail as possible. Thanks for any help.
TomK

[glenn bradley]

I think you'll do fine Stuart. My floor standing planer has adjustments for this built in and they are pretty easily accessible. The interval for inspection is something like every 160 hours of operation IIRC so these things do bear checking at some interval at least.

[Rod Sheridan]

Yes I have adjusted my planer for parallelism.................regards, Rod

[Art Mann]

One review of portable planers I read said they tried to get the tested planers to within 0.001 across the table. Mine is 0.016, so that's quite a bit off from their standard.

Here is another data point for you. I do a lot of flat surface carving with my CNC router an I need for the thickness of the material to be very uniform. I plane a blank with my ancient Ridgid lunchbox planer and always check the thickness all over the material with digital calipers. The thickness is usually within 0.005". I sometimes get a little snipe (~0.003" thinner) when I don't feed the material carefully.