My new (old) big (smaller) planer

[Rusty Eads]

I have been using a Ryobi 13" planer for the past 6 years and have been happy with it, just not ectsatic. The knives dull quickly and are not resharpenable (though a breeze to change). I came across this old Belsaw 9103 12" planer on CL for $350. It came with a 5 hp 220 volt motor and 7 never before used molding knives. I decided it was worth a look so I called the guy and before I got off the phone with him he told me he would take $300 for it. I drove over there and was extremely impressed with the machine. He ran a piece of rough cut walnut through and took nearly 1/8" off in one pass, something my little lunchbox couldn't even dream of doing. I then noticed sitting in the corner of his shop... the rip saw attachment for it. Plus he threw in an extra saw blade, two manuals and a roller stand. It needs a bit of a cleaning but it is in otherwise perfect shape. While I am losing an inch in width, I don't think I will be disappointed. The guy also said that he has ran about 900 board feet through it and has yet to sharpen the blades (I have ran about the same through my ryobi but am on my 3rd set of knives). With the new 5 hp motor that is on it, I don't think I will ever have to worry about it bogging down.

I know that I didn't steal the machine but I feel like a got a pretty good deal on it. Does anybody have a Belsaw planer? What do you guys think about this old beast? At a little over 300 lbs, it is quite a bit heavier than my 60 lb portable.

[Van Huskey]

Beats the heck out of a lunchbox... you suck!

[Don Jarvie]

I have the same one and it's awesome. I gave mine a complete rehab with new paint, roller bearings and new knives. Mine has a 3hp Wagner R/I motor that weighs close to 80 lbs itself and will cut through anything.

Mine didn't come with the saw attachment and I don't see the use for it.

Google Foley Belsaw and their website will have the manual you can download.

Any questions about it let me know. I completely tore mine apart so I know every nock and crannie.

[Chip Lindley]

Congrats Rusty! Belsaws are tried-n-true old planers! If the rubber feed rolls are in good shape, there is little else to wear out except belts. With 5hp motor, $300 is a pretty good coup!

You still need a big 8" jointer to compliment that planer! *wink*
~Chip~

[Rusty Eads]

As luck would have it there is a guy close to me that has an old crescent 8" jointer for $300 and an old Northfield 12" jointer for $750 :rolleyes:. I figure that LOML would be happy if I take a break from buying tools and setting them up and using them though :D.

Don, thanks for the info and the offer of help. I am sure once I get my 220 outlet ran for this machine and start to use it I will have some questions. As luck would have it, the guy had not one but two original owner's manuals for this bad boy. One question I can ask now though is would the knives being out of alignment cause tiny scallop marks in the wood?

[Van Huskey]

and an old Northfield 12" jointer for $750 :rolleyes:.


If it is running you need to go on another buying spree NOW...:D

[Chip Lindley]

Rusty, one knife only a few thousandths higher than the rest causes an uneven finish. Since I see your Belsaw has jackscrews to raise/lower the knives precisely, you are in luck! Jackscrews make knife-setting relatively painless, compared to adjusting by trial and error. You will need a dial indicator and magnetic base to make it painless. I'm sure your owner's manual shows how to set the knives accurately. Try for accuracy within .001" on all knives. It's possible.

[Rusty Eads]

The planer came with a knife setting jig that has 3 legs and a screw that adjusts down. It is the jig that originally came with the machine from Belsaw, I think. Is this a fairly accurate way to test the adjustment? When I tested it against how the original guy had the knives set, they were completly out of whack, one side higher than the other (about a 1/32" over the 12" length) and they were set at 3/32"-4/32" above the cutter head instead of 5/32" that the manual called for. Of course this is using the 3 leg knife jig that I got with it, but it does seem like an accurate test for it. Setting planer knives is something that I am not familiar with since my last planer had indexing knives, which made changing knives painless also was the machine's ultimate downfall.

[Rusty Eads]

It has a 3hp 3 phase motor and if I had the funds I would be all over it :o.

[Chip Lindley]

The planer came with a knife setting jig that has 3 legs and a screw that adjusts down. It is the jig that originally came with the machine from Belsaw, I think. Is this a fairly accurate way to test the adjustment? When I tested it against how the original guy had the knives set, they were completly out of whack, one side higher than the other (about a 1/32" over the 12" length) and they were set at 3/32"-4/32" above the cutter head instead of 5/32" that the manual called for. Of course this is using the 3 leg knife jig that I got with it, but it does seem like an accurate test for it. Setting planer knives is something that I am not familiar with since my last planer had indexing knives...

1/32" deviance in knife alignment on a 12" planer head is totally unacceptable. We are talking a couple of "thousandths" of an inch, not "fractions", for proper alignment. Loosen the jig bolts, one-knife-at-a-time, and use the jack screws with the Belsaw setting jig to bring all knives to the same height at both ends. The knife should barely kiss the stud on the gauge. If the knives need sharpening, that is another issue.

Edit: There may be method to the PO's madness, IF the planer head is out of parallel with the feed table. The knives may have been set 1/32" lower at one end of the cutterhead to maintain parallel with the table surface. That situation negates using the knife setting jig. The planer manual shows how to adjust cutterhead to table parallelism if needed.

Concerning the 3/32"-4/32" height above the cutterhead, IMO, the less knife protrusion above the cutterhead, the better! Makes the knife more rigid and more of it clamped in the gib. But, Belsaw owners know what's BEST! Until they advise, consult your Belsaw manual.

[Jeff Gunter]

I have a 910 (I think) which is (I think) about the same as 9103 of the original poster. I seem to recall it has a Leeson 5 HP, it's never caused any problems. I put a whole house full of red oak trim through mine last summer --- from bandsawn rough to finished for over 1500 sf counting both sides. I started with fresh blades, but need to change them. I picked this up a couple of years back for around $250 to $300 with a spare set of knives and a few molding knives (no rip saw). I have no idea if the FB can pull two blades (gang saw).

I've never run molding through my FB since I have a Woodmaster with variable speed feed for that purpose. The WM has gang saw capacity which is a whole lot better than feeding large amounts of stock through the table saw twice, even with a power feeder. Hence my ponderance on the FB running two blades.

It would seem crazy to me to mal-adjust the blades to compensate for an out of level bed on this since the bed elevation screws appear easy to adjust --- though I suppose the bed could be warped.

[Don Jarvie]

Rusty, 1st set the knives and then the table to the cutterhead.

Chip is right on with the jack screws. You have to loosen the gibs so you can work the knife up and down. Its a real pain because the knives are in there really tight. I have my knives set so when the knife angles up its flush with the cutterhead. This way it took some of the guess work out of fooling around with measuring them. Set the jack screws and you can tighten the gibs.

The knives will move so I used 2 rubber squeeze clamps on each end to hold the knives in place while I screwed them in.

[Rusty Eads]

Thanks for all the tips and tricks, I really appreciate it as this is my first serious planer. As to the misaligned knives, I had the same idea as you Chip, however after testing the height of the knives to the table, it seems the cutterhead is parallel. I believe someone just didn't set the knives right. The PO did tell me that it didn't plane very smooth but that he never touched the knives either so I feel confident that with some attention paid to the knives this planer will cut like a brand new machine (I hope). I am going to get the 220 line and outlet ran this weekend and hopefully will be able to correctly set it up and create some chips :rolleyes:. I will let you guys know how it goes.

Thanks again

[Don Jarvie]

To check the cutterhead to the table here's what I did. I bought a dial indicator from Grizzly that has the magnetic base and put it in 1 corner of the table and put the idicator on the top of the cutter.

Move the indicator base to each corner so the indicator hits the same spot on the cutterhead. You can adjust each section of the table accordingly.

A clear sign the table isn't level is it will be had to crank it up and down. Hopefully you don't becuase it's a pain to adjust the table.

[Rusty Eads]

I used the knife setting jig as a guide and placed it under the cutter head on one side and moved the screw up til it hit the cutter head and then slid it along the table feeling for the screw to either snag on the cutter head or have a gap, it did neither. I know it is not an extremely accurate method but it did give me an idea as to the general levelness of the cutterhead to the table (which greatly alleviated some of my concerns).

[Joe Von Kaenel]

Rusty,

I have a Woodmaster planer which is the same company that made the belsaw units. These planers are built like a tank, I have never tried it, but it would probably plane steel :) Good Buy!!


Joe

[Don Jarvie]

Once you get the knives figured out plane a wide board and check the board with some calipers and see if it matches.

[John Paulicelli, Jr.]

I have a Belsaw 910 planer. I've had it for 32 years and have run a couple of thousand feet through it, not to mention hundreds of feet of moulding. The only things I ever had to replace in all these years was a set of rollers and cutterhead bearings, and knives , of course. It has a 3 HP motor and is still going strong. Belsaw offered a knife setting jig which is simply an aluminum collar that you put around the cutterhead. It makes setting the knives an absolute cinch, like 15 minutes. I think it is still available.

[Jaze Derr]

wait...it can rip, too? I've never heard of that! how cool.

[Rusty Eads]

Yes, yes it can. I haven't set it up yet and not really sure I will because I have yet to think of where it would benefit over just ripping on my table saw. Though I guess if I had a lot of boards the same width such as baseboards and wanted to rip to width and put cut the profile, oh and plane to final thickness all in one pass it would be more efficient :rolleyes:. Maybe when that time comes, maybe