Jim Becker
11-15-2003, 9:20 PM
Instead of doing things I probably "should" have been doing today, I decided to spend some quality time getting to know the FS-350 jointer/planer now that I had the necessary 120mm to 5" adapter to allow hookup to the DC system. So here are some additional comments and pictures.
This machine is sweet and the finish it puts on the wood is outstanding...as good as or better than my Delta 22-560 planer. And the power really enables one to get lumber flat and thicknessed a lot faster. Where I needed to take little bits before on wide lumber, I can easily take a nice 1/8" or greater bite with no problem...other than overwhelming the DC system. More on that in a minute.
To put it through it's paces, I grabbed a bunch of poplar boards that have been taking up too much space in front of my miter station and made them into flat and true lumber. After crosscutting the 12" boards into 8' and 4' sections (and ripping one to eliminate a split), I jointed them flat in a few passes with about a 1/16" cut. I had no trouble handling the 8" boards as the infeed and outfeed tables are long enough to provide sufficient support without extra help. Longer (or heavier) stock might benefit from some auxiliary support at the beginning and end of the passes. The wide jointer bed was terrific for working with these 10" and 11" wide boards, too. For once, I can make wide stock flat before planing! I do need to make a very small adjustment to the outfeed table next weekend as there is a very small amount of snipe on the trailing edge...the outfeed table is just an RCH lower than the knives.
After making about a hundred board feet flat, I switched the machine over to planer mode and began thicknessing the lumber down to a final 3/4". (It all started at about 1 1/8" or so) This process was surprisingly fast and as I mentioned above, the finish on the lumber is outstanding. Even "problem" areas around a few knots had absolutely no tear-out and there was no snipe at all from the planer. In fact, I used one of the last few passes to insure that the small amount of jointer snipe was eliminated. One thing you can't do with this type of planer is put the board back through for a second pass at the same setting like you can on the portables...the serated infeed roller marks the wood. Overall, I'm very pleased with the machine's capability of turning rough lumber into flat and true lumber of the exact thickness I want.
I did experience one small problem relative to dust collection...the machine can easily overwhelm the capacity of the hood when in planer mode. The heavy shavings can bunch up as the hood narrows before transitioning to the 120mm round outlet. More airflow would be nice, but there is only so much air you can fit through that size duct, no matter what the capability of the DC! I may try to build a new hood at some point that can accept the full capacity of the 5" duct work.
Pictures
1) Dust collection hookup - Jointer Mode
2) Dust collection hookup - Planer Mode
3) Jointing a wide board
4) Planing the same board
This machine is sweet and the finish it puts on the wood is outstanding...as good as or better than my Delta 22-560 planer. And the power really enables one to get lumber flat and thicknessed a lot faster. Where I needed to take little bits before on wide lumber, I can easily take a nice 1/8" or greater bite with no problem...other than overwhelming the DC system. More on that in a minute.
To put it through it's paces, I grabbed a bunch of poplar boards that have been taking up too much space in front of my miter station and made them into flat and true lumber. After crosscutting the 12" boards into 8' and 4' sections (and ripping one to eliminate a split), I jointed them flat in a few passes with about a 1/16" cut. I had no trouble handling the 8" boards as the infeed and outfeed tables are long enough to provide sufficient support without extra help. Longer (or heavier) stock might benefit from some auxiliary support at the beginning and end of the passes. The wide jointer bed was terrific for working with these 10" and 11" wide boards, too. For once, I can make wide stock flat before planing! I do need to make a very small adjustment to the outfeed table next weekend as there is a very small amount of snipe on the trailing edge...the outfeed table is just an RCH lower than the knives.
After making about a hundred board feet flat, I switched the machine over to planer mode and began thicknessing the lumber down to a final 3/4". (It all started at about 1 1/8" or so) This process was surprisingly fast and as I mentioned above, the finish on the lumber is outstanding. Even "problem" areas around a few knots had absolutely no tear-out and there was no snipe at all from the planer. In fact, I used one of the last few passes to insure that the small amount of jointer snipe was eliminated. One thing you can't do with this type of planer is put the board back through for a second pass at the same setting like you can on the portables...the serated infeed roller marks the wood. Overall, I'm very pleased with the machine's capability of turning rough lumber into flat and true lumber of the exact thickness I want.
I did experience one small problem relative to dust collection...the machine can easily overwhelm the capacity of the hood when in planer mode. The heavy shavings can bunch up as the hood narrows before transitioning to the 120mm round outlet. More airflow would be nice, but there is only so much air you can fit through that size duct, no matter what the capability of the DC! I may try to build a new hood at some point that can accept the full capacity of the 5" duct work.
Pictures
1) Dust collection hookup - Jointer Mode
2) Dust collection hookup - Planer Mode
3) Jointing a wide board
4) Planing the same board