To whom had Ridgids Planer- ?

[Craig D Peltier]

Hi I have the ridgid planer. I passed about 80 bf of oak through it, and today 25 feet of pine. The oak no problem, clean as could be, no sanding needed. The pine different story. The pine had much larger longer shavings that kept clogging the dust tube. I dont have a DC yet, and also it seemd like when it got clogged or was taking off more than an 1/32 it would have a bumpy texture to it an not a smooth one. Not like rolling hills, like bumps all over? Do u think the jamming chips had something to do with it? On the outfeed table there were alot of flattened blade shavings on the boards.
How long do your planer blades last before they need changing?

Is 100 bf it? I took about 1/4 inch off the oak and the same with pine.Oak was 2x10s no knots and pine with knots 1x7s..

Thanks

[Jim Becker]

"Bumps" on the output can be the result of chips being mashed onto the stock by the rollers.

Softwoods like pine plane differently than hardwoods sometimes...and the resins in the wood can make them stickier, too. Time for a DC?? ;)

[Matt Campbell]

Yeah, I have the Ridgid planer. The same thing happens to me when I forget to turn on my DC. You just need to make sure all the dust/chips are getting out. The blades should be fine for a long time. Also, you might try lighter passes and changing the direction you feed the board if the problem continues once you attach some form of DC to it.

[Tim Malyszko]

I have the Ridgid also and had the same problem until I purchased my dust collector. At the time, the shop vac did a fairly good job removing the chips, but I got similar results that you describe.

Overall though, this planer is an excellent unit. I've run somewhere in the ballpark of 500 bf thru it since purchasing and the boards today looks as good at the first boards run thru it 6 months ago. After using it, I do take the time and vacuum out all the little bits of chips that do not get sucked up.

["Michael Hinkel"]

I have a Ridgid, 3-4 years old, No problem but mine is hooked up to a DC. Mine can also be hooked up to a Vac, which I have done on occasion. It does require some dust/chip collection to help keep the interior clean, haven't changed blades yet, maybe I should:rolleyes:

[Craig D Peltier]

Thanks everyone.I got my answer. Appreciate it!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Craig..........I have had the same experience as you with my Ridgid planer. Oak was fine....pine was something else....I'm just using a shop vac right now...........Later this fall.....I may upgrade!

[Dan Drager]

I've found that pine really gums up the blades on my Ridgid, seriously affecting the quality of the cut. So I stop every 30 feet or so and clean the blades with a toothbrush and some of the stuff from the blue can with yellow letters and numbers on it. You don't even need to remove the blades, just spray the brush and run it along the visibly gunked up edge of the exposed blade.

I know my blades need flipping / replacing when I start getting chip out on anything other than figured wood.

[JayStPeter]

I can't stand putting pine through my equipment. What a mess. Once you get a DC, pine will work fine. But, it'll gunk up the works and you'll have to clean the rollers and base plate pretty often. After I gunked mine up running a bunch of 2x through it to build some cheap bench bases it has never been the same.