G0453Z First Use and a Few Questions…..

[Justin Jump]

Well, I have been running some 2x4 just to get her moving, and get any last oil and cosmoline before I start my next project, which will be a vanity for the kids bathroom.

Let me say that with a Rotocator, setup was pretty straight forward. I had a dial indicator and base, but I feel the Rotocator made it a bit easier.

Also, let me say that I changed the oil on many different pieces of machinery in my time (quads, bikes, cars, lawn mowers, you name it) – getting 90w gear oil into that fill spot with a ¼” hose – well those of you that have done it know what I mean…..

Anyways, I got it setup and planning…..I have to say that I am pretty amazed at the sound level, pretty quiet compared to the lunchbox planers, I also like the finish, but I still have to mess with the setting, I am getting some roller marks on both sides of the material and some snipe.

On the side that was flattened on the jointer, I am getting marks every 3 ½”.

On the top side on a light cut I am getting outfeed roller marks.

Snipe – well I know where to start with this, I am going to bump the rear of the infeed/outfeed tables up a bit.

I setup all the heights according to the manual, but I think I may need to back off a bit.


Couple questions…..


The weight of the table height change handle causes the handle to swing down if I am at the top of the handle, any suggestions here? Make sure I end up at the bottom each time?

When changing table height, I expected a bit smoother action, maybe it’s just me, but I find that I am hearing some clunking noises on table height changes.

The FPM gear change is pretty rough, is this normal?

While cutting, towards the end of the cut, I get a clunk. Is this the wood passing through the infeed roller possibly? My tension is at the 1/8” shown in the planer setup video, and my infeed roller is at .010”. I am thinking of lightening that up a bit.

Any other setup advise is appreciated…..

THX

[scott vroom]

The weight of the table height change handle causes the handle to swing down if I am at the top of the handle, any suggestions here? Make sure I end up at the bottom each time?

Use the black knobs to lock the table in position.

[Cary Falk]

The clunk is the wood slapping against the table when it clears the table roller. If you are doing mostly skipped planed or better completely take them out of the picture. This should halp the snipe also. I have my extension tables completely flat. I backed off each sid fo the outfeed roller a quarter turn until the makrs went away. You can tell when the roller gets unparallel to the table because the wood will pull to the side where the roller is closest to the table. I never change gears but I did try it once and it seemed kind of hard to engage.

[eugene thomas]

Adding gear oil. I actually took 1 of the bolts that holds gearbox to planer out and added oil that way less of a pain.

[Justin Jump]

Use the black knobs to lock the table in position.

I was using those......I wanted to mention that first off both of them are cracked from tightening them down. I was thinking of contacting grizzly for new ones, but Iw will just get the same cheap ones. I was thinking of ordering some better ones from McMaster.

[Cary Falk]

Should have replaced the gear box gasket before filling it up. You will have to do it sooner or later. I just used the blue rtv silicone type stuff from the auto store.

[Sam Joyce]

There are going to be some clunking noises as you raise and lower the table as it is propelled by a chain drive system. You just want to make sure it is well lubricated and should be from the factory. The gear change takes a bit of pressure but is quite smooth on mine. As Im sure you know it should only be changed when the machine is running. Depending on how much tension you have on it, the clunking sound at the end of the cut could also be the chip breaker as it comes off the end of the board.

I've had my Grizzly planer for a couple years now and recently rotated the inserts in the spiral head. While I had things apart I retuned the chip breaker and all the rollers. On firing it back up and running some wood I was not happy with the results. I had waves and terrible snipe and this was with factory settings set up with a Oneway indicator. To remedy the situation I tried all sorts of things and finally settled on this setup:
Table rollers at same height or maybe a thousandth above the bed.
Feed roller tension set to factory settings and then a quarter turn tighter.
Extension tables set slightly above the main bed. (at the ends)
Chip breaker set so as never to be in contact with the wood. This one is unorthodox but I tried it as a last ditch effort and all my issues cleared up. I think part of the problem is due to uneven wear across the width of the chip breaker. Obviously it shouldn't be a problem on a new machine but could be an issue down the road.

[glenn bradley]

I have the G0453Z and the oil fill / change is just as pathetic as you state. Do change the oil at the recommended interval though; just because its poorly designed doesn't free you from routine maintenance. I found that I already had all the parts to make a Rotocator on hand -


I run the table rollers flush with the table nd have the feed rollers backed wayyyyy off. The machine arrives ready to rough plane very rough lumber. I wanted something as close to a finish planer as I could get so the tension is probably half (or less) than the factory setting. The infeed/outfeed tables are dead flat to the main table and I have no snipe issues. You do have to control your material. You cannot just shove it in and catch it at the other end. the feed path needs to remain true to avoid snipe on any machine. The locking knobs have already been mentioned and I just keep a finger on the wheel with one hand while I lock the first knob with the other, then I lock the second knob; no problems. The gear change is pretty abrupt and this is normal when I used other planers of a similar design. I leave it on the slow speed so this is a non-issue for me. I believe the clunk you are referring to is the material passing the infeed fingers; this is normal as well IMHO. I love this planer and would buy one again in a heartbeat. If they offered a rubber coated outfeed roller I would buy it. I know others have found ones to fit but, I guess with the tension set light, it is just not an issue for me right now. I should add that if you run the material for a second time at the same depth setting you will get serration marks. Even at the light setting I still get them on softer woods like mahogany. Remember, this is not a 'finish' planer like many lunchbox units.

[Justin Jump]

Thanks all....

As for the chip breaker, thats something I just back off right? I dont see an adjustment for the tension on that....

[Sam Joyce]

If you remove the top cover you will see two set screws with locking nuts on the orange chip breaker. Loosen the nuts and tighten or loosen the screws to adjust the breaker.

[Justin Ludwig]

I'm with Glenn, I have everything set to the minimum. My table rollers are .002 above the table. I get virtually no snipe. Your table height adjustment is moving because the gear chain underneath the table is not tight enough. If you tighten it down too much then you'll hear a popping noise when cracking the height adjustment. It's takes a little trial and error.

The marks you're receiving on the jointed side are most probably from your rollers being set too high or not evenly. Notice they're the same distant apart as your marks.

My planer changes FPM normally so I can't trouble shoot that for you.

The "clunk"? Adjust your table rollers down.

I plane my stock 1/32 at a time when nearing the finished (pre-sanded) product thickness. Take Grizzly's recommended settings and back them off like Glenn mentioned.

[Mikail Khan]

"On the top side on a light cut I am getting outfeed roller marks."


You can't take too light of a cut with a planer with a serrated roller. With my planer the minimum depth of cut I take is about 0.015" or a quarter of a turn of the handwheel.

MK

[keith micinski]

If your getting infeed roller marks on the top side that means you are taking to light of a final pass or your indeed pressure is to high. Not a lot you can do about that but lower your pressure on the infeed side as much as you can and still get boards to feed through properly and don't make your final pass a skim pass. If your getting smaller cerated marks those are coming from your out feed roller and there really is nothing you can do about that except again lower your pressure on your out feed as low as you can while still being able to feed stock through at a consistent rate. That clunking you are hearing isn't the board leaving the table rollers it's the chip breaker clearing the piece and popping down. The chip breaker pushing down on the wood is fairly standard on any planer and I wouldn't suggest raising it up so it is no longer used unless that is a last resort. The poster that suggested to do that even admitted it is a non standard setup. I'm not sure why that worked for him but again that is probably the first time I have ever heard of anyone suggesting to not use the chip breaker at all. Every machine is probably going to have its own quirks and setup but most will fall under a general set of rules and just need to be tweaked from there.