Adjusting planer

[Bob Cooper]

I recently put a Byrd head in my 20" planer and I'd like to check the various clearances -- cutter head to chip breaker, etc. What do people typically use as a reference block? Seems like I need something about 6" high that's perfectly flat at the top. Seems like the top can be pretty small but but it would need to be flat

[Steve Costa]

Look for a planer guage. Made by Lufkin amomg others. Solid base with an adjustable height piece. Most adjustments are made using the table as the base for the gauge. From there use feeler guages to get to the tolerences specified by the manufacturer. If you know the manufacturer you may be able to download the manual for your model.

[Will Blick]

joint a piece of wood on one face....
run it through the planar a few times...
use two 10" pieces, based on your jointer width.

cut board in center, about a 1" strip, perpendicular to how it was fed through planar
use calipers to measure board thickness on both strips, this should give you a good read on table-to-head clearance...
it also eliminates the use of more complicated measuring devices...

[Bob Cooper]

thanks for the replies. I did a search for the Lufkin planer guage and found several vintage ones for very cheap...$45 seems like a great deal to me anyway. It seems like it's exactly what i'd need. Will...i think your approach is right when i need to calibrate a digital height gauage or just to verify the head height is the same all the way across the table but right now i need check the chipbreaker, the planer head, etc. and check their heights relative to one another. I'm getting tear out and i'm hoping some adjustment will help.

[Philip Rodriquez]

I use a oneway milti-guage all over my shop. If you have a dial indicator, you could make one using a block of wood or a magnetic base.