Planer Adjustment

[Paul Stroik]

I am presently cleaning and making necessary adjustments to my Foley-Belsaw Planer (20+yoa). Presently adjusting the infeed/outfeed rollers and noticed the rollers were much lower, to the table, than the blades. Aren't the rollers supposed to be even with the blades (approximately)? The manual doesn't make any mention of this. So before I start it I figured I had better ask. ~Paul

[Richard Keller]

Hopefully the rollers are spring loaded. This allows them to move up when you put a board in. This is what gives the rollers "traction" so they are pushing down on the board and don't slip. If you push up on them by hand, they shouldn't move though (unless you are REALLY strong) as the springs usually are a few hundred pounds of force (I'm assuming this isn't a portable planer) If they can be moved freely by hand, this usually indicates that the bushings that hold the rollers are worn out.

Richard.

[Lee Schierer]

It depends upon the purpose of the rollers. There were two sets of rollers on the old planer my Dad owned. One set was on the table and was supposed to be set slightly ( a few thousandths) higher than the table so the wood would slide in more easily. The other set were spring loaded and held the board down as the cutter head (mounted above the board) did the cutting. The upper rollers would hang below the cutter when there was no board present.

[Gary Bordeaux]

The rollers are supposed to be lower than the cutterhead. I have mine adjusted as loose as they will go and have never had a problem with feeding. Now if I could just get rid of the snipe I would be in fat city. Mine is a 9103 if it matters.

[Paul Stroik]

They are spring loaded and only two rollers - infeed/outfeed. I needed to adjust the outfeed roller as it was to low and stopped the feed requiring me to give a little nudge so the roller could grab it. This is a floor model and not portable. When the springs are tightened down I can not lift them. I will give it a test run now. Everything appears to be in good condition yet. The snipe is barely visible and about 2 inches if that in most cases.

This is the first time tackling this type of project so with the info you guys provided I will leave the rollers as is, slightly below the cutterhead and give it a try and adjust if necessary. Thanks for the info.

[Pete Brown]

The rollers are supposed to be lower than the cutterhead. I have mine adjusted as loose as they will go and have never had a problem with feeding. Now if I could just get rid of the snipe I would be in fat city. Mine is a 9103 if it matters.

The loose rollers are very likely the snipe problem. They may not exert enough force to hold the board down at the beginning or ends.

Pete