Reducer for Planer

[Darrin Davis]

I just got a 15" Delta X5 Planer and love it. I'm needing to reduce the dust hood from it's stated 4 7/8" size (the O.D. is actually 4 3/4") down to 4". Does anyone know of a reducer that fits this particular dust hood?

I read elsewhere at SMC that a person said you don't want to run this planer without a 5" hose. I'm pretty sure my vac system will pull enough through a 4" hose. I have a 5HP Woodtek dust collector that has a 3600 cfm flow rate. This thing can suck the chrome off a bumper.

[Jim Becker]

The funny thing about CFM is that it's comprised of volume and speed of flow over a particular amount of time. Your impeller can only generate so much air flow at a given pressure. When you reduce the size of the duct, you limit the amount of air you can move in any one minute because the air has to come from somewhere and you can only fit soe much in the pipe. The moving air is what transports the dust and chips, not "suction". You also increase the static pressure when you reduce the duct size which in turn reduces your CFM.

That said, you will likely be fine for "reaonable" chip removal with your existing setup unless you take heavy cuts on wide boards. Just buy a 5" to 4" reducer at the 'borg and use some tape to build up the area arount the existing hood so it slips on. "That direction" will not cause catches of the material you are removing. Alternatively, you can buy a rubber adapter in the plumbing department to adapt between the hood port and your 4" duct work. I like the former, however.

Please note that I did not get proper dust and chip evactuation from my 14" J/P combo until I upgraded my system and made sure I had a proper 5" drop to the machine. (the ports were similar in size to yours...120mm)

[Kristian Wild]

Hi Darrin,
We use the same X5 at work and run it with 4" hose to a General Int. 1 1/2 hp DC. As long as no other ports are open at the same time it does just fine. (the DC is linked to two other tools) The new guy at work actually stalled it out last week by trying to take 3/16 off a 12" wide pine board but the DC was still keeping up fine. I'm only glad that as of a couple of weeks ago I'm no longer the "new guy".

Kris

[Darrin Davis]

Jim, I am running 8" to 6" to 4" at the machine. I'm not planning of taking off more than 1/32" at a time. I always get my lumber 13/16" and take 1/32" off of both sides for a clean surface. So there is no concern about too many chips being delivered at once.

Another questions is that my old 13" Delta had 16 TPI rods that the head raised up and down on. This was nice becuase I new exactly how much I was taking off with each pass. I cannot figure out how many threads per inch this X5 15" planer has. So far I can only figure out that I'm going to have to eyeball the gage instead of just knowing my setting by where the handle is pointing.

[Jim DeLaney]

...questions is that my old 13" Delta had 16 TPI rods that the head raised up and down on. This was nice becuase I new exactly how much I was taking off with each pass. I cannot figure out how many threads per inch this X5 15" planer has. So far I can only figure out that I'm going to have to eyeball the gage instead of just knowing my setting by where the handle is pointing.

So, crank it up/down until the pointer is on the 1" mark. Then, crank it slowly up to the 2" mark and count the turns. 16 turns means one turn is 1/16", half a turn is 1/32", etc. 18 or 20, or whatever the number is will give you a starting point, whether fractional, decimal, or SI (metric).

[Bruce Wrenn]

Run a board thru planer, mike board. Continue running board thru planer, until depth adjustment wheel has made one revolution. Mike board again, this is amount that one full turn removes. Most likely lead screws are METRIC. I run 4" flex (Rockler) on my Delta 380. It is an older version of the 15" X-5. Bought a 5X4 reducer at woodworking store. To connect hose, I use a 3" schedule 40 to 4" schedule 20 sewer and drain pipe adapter. The hose fits over 3" side perfectly. Lowes stocks them with schedule 20 pipe fittings. To make connection between the two, use a wrap of aluminum flashing, secured by two large hose clamps. You may want to put a pop rivet in seam at center, if it puckers. I used a piece of "Formica" as it was handy. By heating Formica a few minutes in oven (When SWMBO isn't home), you can bend in in alsmot any radius. Wear welders gloves as it will be HOT! My 1HP Wood Magazine cyclone has no problem keeping up with chips.