planeing problem

[larry merlau]

i recently purchased a 15 inch surface planer, this weeknd ran the first board threw it, red oak kdried threw and ebac system. 5/4 took the first board down to 7/8" finished size looked great,good finish and uniform. came back sunday and ran the remainder of it threw 97 bf.. problem never went more than 1/4 turn of depth change approx 1/16th buthe finnish isnt good at all. it kept gettin worse it shows the feed roller marks and i took a 1/8 turn on the last two cuts running it at 16bf per hour speed i wasnt going to fast. i checked the moister content and it showed that it was around 9% the finish feels like it would if you had wiped the board down with water to raise the grain or if it had been left out inthe mosture for long period of time. one set of knives should cut more that 97 bf of lumber cleanly before needing shorpening right??? they appear to be sharp yet no nicks or resin build up ..any ideas help and thanks for listening

[John Miliunas]

i recently purchased a 15 inch surface planer, this weeknd ran the first board threw it, red oak kdried threw and ebac system. 5/4 took the first board down to 7/8" finished size looked great,good finish and uniform. came back sunday and ran the remainder of it threw 97 bf.. problem never went more than 1/4 turn of depth change approx 1/16th buthe finnish isnt good at all. it kept gettin worse it shows the feed roller marks and i took a 1/8 turn on the last two cuts running it at 16bf per hour speed i wasnt going to fast. i checked the moister content and it showed that it was around 9% the finish feels like it would if you had wiped the board down with water to raise the grain or if it had been left out inthe mosture for long period of time. one set of knives should cut more that 97 bf of lumber cleanly before needing shorpening right??? they appear to be sharp yet no nicks or resin build up ..any ideas help and thanks for listening
Larry, very elementary question, but I need to ask: Did you make sure you've got the grain direction right on the subsequent boards you ran? I think that would be my first check. Another thing to watch for is, making sure your boards are relatively clean before running them through. By that, I mean, no major dirt and crud on them. That can quickly put knicks in the blades. BTW, what flavor planer do you have? A 15"-er must be pretty something substantial! Hope this helps a bit. :) :cool:

[larry merlau]

[QUOTE=John Miliunas]Larry, very elementary question, but I need to ask: Did you make sure you've got the grain direction right on the subsequent boards you ran?
//yes. i got caught on one and then corrected it on the next pass.

Another thing to watch for is, making sure your boards are relatively clean before running them through. By that, I mean, no major dirt and crud on them.
//they were clean john fresh from a kiln. i dont have nicks in the blades as i can see just a raised grain and not cleaning the feed roller marks off.

BTW, what flavor planer do you have? //gereral international

[John Miliunas]

Well then, I'm wondering if it's just not something peculiar with the wood itself. Have you tried it on something with a bit closer grain like Maple or Cherry?:cool:

[Dennis McDonaugh]

... problem never went more than 1/4 turn of depth change approx 1/16th buthe finnish isnt good at all. it kept gettin worse it shows the feed roller marks...


Larry, feed roller marks are typically caused by taking too light a cut. In effect, the feed roller is leaving marks deeper than your knives are cutting. Take a bigger bite and they will go away.

[larry merlau]

Well then, I'm wondering if it's just not something peculiar with the wood itself. Have you tried it on something with a bit closer grain like Maple or Cherry?:cool:
i agree with dennis on the feed roller marks but the finnish is something i feel has to do with the wood possibly, i think that it may still be to wet inside. just acts that way?/ but i am new to the planning game so was asking for expert help. did try the other peice of wood theory john, tried a peice of red oak from another supply and it worked better but not as good as the first board did. after running that first board i was on cloud nine thought i had it whipped but i got shot down sunday big time/ fortunatly, i left enough for the drum sander but if its wet the sander wont fix it either!! my plan of attack is to take a sample to the machine supplier and ask them their thoughts but wanted to get some advice here first before being snowed by a salesman :eek:

[Jim Becker]

Larry, I've never found the heavy stationary planers to leave as "nice" a finish as many of the portables, but it still shouldn't be "fuzzy" unless it's your material that is the problem. Unsharp knives could be the problem, but I'd want to know why a brand-new planer had "bad" knives on it...if that is the case.

[larry merlau]

Larry, I've never found the heavy stationary planers to leave as "nice" a finish as many of the portables, but it still shouldn't be "fuzzy" unless it's your material that is the problem. Unsharp knives could be the problem, but I'd want to know why a brand-new planer had "bad" knives on it...if that is the case.
jim would wet wood act like that? the first board threw was great took it down to 7/8' from a 5/4 board only 6 ft long but still went fine. then when sunday came the rest didnt go well it seemed to be gettin worse the deeper i got into it?

[lou sansone]

how are you checking the moisture? using a pin or no pin meter. Try cutting a board in half and see if the center is really dry. 9% sounds high for a kiln..it should have come out at 6-7%. make sure you are taking 1/16" of a cut or you will probably get feed roller marks. Some planers have exit rollers that have a tooth to them and they can leave marks it the machine is not adjusted right. my grizz used to do that. I no longer have it, and my casadei has a smooth outfeed roller so it does not leave marks. hss blades should be good for at least a 1000 feet before resharpening.

[larry merlau]

what would the normal wear amount be on clean kd lumber red oak? how many bf per set of blades? before resharpening?

[larry merlau]

how are you checking the moisture? using a pin or no pin meter. Try cutting a board in half and see if the center is really dry. 9% sounds high for a kiln..it should have come out at 6-7%. make sure you are taking 1/16" of a cut or you will probably get feed roller marks. Some planers have exit rollers that have a tooth to them and they can leave marks it the machine is not adjusted right. my grizz used to do that. I no longer have it, and my casadei has a smooth outfeed roller so it does not leave marks. hss blades should be good for at least a 1000 feet before resharpening.

well lou// i used a pin type and cked it through the edge of the board mid way the lenght of it, i can ck the center tonight. lou. it had been out of the kiln for awhile and was outdoors under cover so could have gained some moisture back.

[Ken Salisbury]

Larry, I've never found the heavy stationary planers to leave as "nice" a finish as many of the portables, .

"Heaven forbid" I wouldn't want to start a controversy :) However I just couldn't resist a reply. I have a 15 yr old Jet 15" 2 feed speed planer and will put the "finish" up against any portable machine I have seen. The trick is knowing what feed speed and what depth of cut to use on what type of lumber (it definetly varies)

[Jim Becker]

No controversy, Ken. A skilled operator can do a lot, especially when they know their machine well and take the time to adjust it, etc. Unfortunately, many folks don't make those adjustments, especially when they upgrade from a "portable" to a "stationary" tool...moving from a machine that essentially has little or no adjustments to one that has (and requires) a lot of them, especially in the beginning. So we are both correct... ;)

[Scott Banbury]

I can typically get 300-400 feet of rough oak through my Grizzly 15" between sharpenings but dirty lumber will reduce this significantly.

Even the best KD lumber will have some moisture gradient between surface and core and 9% would be ok--I regularly use Oak that's 10-12% with no machining problems. In fact, I prefer QS oak at 10% as the additional moisture helps with tearout at the rays.

Without seeing pics, I would suspect that there is an undue amount of grain runout in your lumber and that what you are experiencing is fiber springback from taking shallow cuts.

[larry merlau]

I can typically get 300-400 feet of rough oak through my Grizzly 15" between sharpenings but dirty lumber will reduce this significantly.

Even the best KD lumber will have some moisture gradient between surface and core and 9% would be ok--I regularly use Oak that's 10-12% with no machining problems. In fact, I prefer QS oak at 10% as the additional moisture helps with tearout at the rays.

Without seeing pics, I would suspect that there is an undue amount of grain runout in your lumber and that what you are experiencing is fiber springback from taking shallow cuts.


i will see if i can get a pic to post tonight or tommrow, but your discription does sound likly. thanks i thought i was doing myself a favor by taking lighter cuts to avoid bad final finish.

[Pete Lamberty]

I had a problem when I first got my planer. I ran a board through and it came out terrible. The problem was that I had the waste chute partially blocked and a lot of the chips just kind of stuck to the blade. The blade then couldn't make a clean cut. This probably isn't what is causing your problem, but you may check just to be sure. Good Luck.

[larry merlau]

I had a problem when I first got my planer. I ran a board through and it came out terrible. The problem was that I had the waste chute partially blocked and a lot of the chips just kind of stuck to the blade. The blade then couldn't make a clean cut. This probably isn't what is causing your problem, but you may check just to be sure. Good Luck.
well pete the waste chute isnt the culprit. it was taken off and the chips were free to go as they wanted. would have been changing bags pretty regular if i had connected to the DC :) as it was i had 5 -55gal drums full, with a scoop schovel.