Model 130 planer is finally home

[Gregory King]

With many thanks to Dave Kumm, I went back to the seller of the General 130, early last week with a counter offer. Two days later, he accepted. And I'm tickled pink. Picked it up on Friday and other than getting some motor numbers copied on paper, I have not had a chance to look closer, since I parked it in my shop. My daughter / son in law 's house has me on double duty these days, targeting an end of November move in. This is one heavy little planer, all of the 500 pounds it brags about. The tables need some surface cleaning [ 4 year's in his basement] of some light rust, but they raise and lower well and I don't see any signs of abuse. A little search tells me it came from a high school c/w a spare set of sharp knives. Without measuring the width, that set of knives appears not to have ever been resharpened. I believe a new set is probably close to a full one inch. When I get a bit of time, I want to check the age of it from the serial number. In fact, before I have the 3 phase motor harnessed for single phase usage, I want to check every thing tied to this machine. I do plan to have some type of mobile base under this unit, as I like to move things around a lot. Thanks Creekers, I will post pictures tomorrow. Whoppee, I'm still on cloud nine. Greg

[Gregory King]

The pictures. Sorry, I could not rotate them. Greg



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[Sam Layton]

Hi Gregory,

Congratulations on your new planer. You have just purchased an outstanding planer. I have the General 130 planer as well. The General 130 is the third planer that I have owned. The first two planers worked, but I was not happy with them. I kept searching for the perfect planer. Then I purchased the General, it is outstanding. This will be my last planer. Clean it up, tune it up, and you will be happy.

Good job, Sam

[David Kumm]

That is really sweet. Original paint in good shape, a little scotchbrite and life is good. You got a rare and hard to come by machine in what looks to be great shape. Dave

[Gregory King]

Sam, I dare say this will be my first and last planer too. And Dave, I'm glad I took your advice and called the gentleman back with an offer. As soon as I felt it's weight on a two wheel dolly, I knew the beast was built to last. Now I need to get some proper tools to dial in the knives. Can't wait for the first board to go through. And the guy at the local motor shop told me early last week that as soon as I had the T-frame number , he could give me a couple options. We'll see. Greg

[David Kumm]

Sam, I dare say this will be my first and last planer too. And Dave, I'm glad I took your advice and called the gentleman back with an offer. As soon as I felt it's weight on a two wheel dolly, I knew the beast was built to last. Now I need to get some proper tools to dial in the knives. Can't wait for the first board to go through. And the guy at the local motor shop told me early last week that as soon as I had the T-frame number , he could give me a couple options. We'll see. Greg

Greg, for $250 max you can put a VFD on the wall and wire the planer into it. You can use the mag starter to serve as the on off for the vfd to the machine- not to the motor- and be good to go with the existing motor. Talk to the motor guy about vfds rather than a new motor and you will have a better deal than a motor swap. Easier than swapping the mag starter along with the motor. Dave

[Rick Fisher]

Hey Gregory ..

What work are you going to do to it ? I just bought one that came from a school .. it needs quite a bit of love but has good bones.. If your going to tear it down, post pictures . I am going to redo the bearings and similar in mine .. see if I can return it to its former glory..

Any interest in a Byrd Shelix style head for it ? I have been looking .. seems like $1165.00 is what I have found so far ..

PS . Mine is also PH3 . Seems like its pretty common .. These where not really Retail / weekend warrior tools .. more designed for light industrial use, small shops and schools... I already have a Teco FM-50 ready to go on it ..

[Gregory King]

Rick , I won't say that I will tear down. But I want to check and clean all of the rollers and table tops and scour the bearings. The seller told me he had used it on occasion, which makes me think that he taught or worked at the school, but he never had it running after he purchased it. From a bit of reading, the 2 HP models were used in schools to discourage students from planing the full 14" width. The 3 Hp motors were designed for that use. I'll post later when time I have some free to examine. Greg

[Rick Fisher]

I think he 2hp was largely single phase back in the 80's and the 3 phase models where 3hp .. It allows the manufacturer to use the same electronics as the amperage will be pretty much the same ..

Mine has a gold colored Baldor 3hp motor which has an FLA of about 10 amps .. I have not run it yet.