Setting Knives on Larger Planers

[Paul Canaris]

I am looking for someone that owns a larger thickness planer; 24”or so that can comment on setting the knives. Any advice on what you use in the way of jigs or dial indicators (commercial or home made) as well as any hints on the process of setting the knives would be greatly appreciated. :D

[Mike Heidrick]

I own the 22-451 20" Delta. It is just like their 24" model only 4 inches smaller. Go to www dot dewaltservicenet dot com . Sign in and look up part number 22-470 on the technical pages - that is delta's 24" planer. You can download the manual for that machine in PDF. It walks you through setting everything up. Checking, setting, and replacing knives starts on page 17. Have fun.

[J.R. Rutter]

Before I went to the 24" Byrd head, I used a dial indicator in a shop-made base with feet that sat on the cutterhead and spanned the knife. By moving the indicator back and forth, you could get a reference point to adjust all of the knives to. The plans for the base were in an article at OWWM (old woodworking machines forum).

Here's a tip. The gib screws under tension can distort the head slightly, so it is best to go round and replace one knife at a time while the others remain in the head. Otherwise, you may have to make a second trip around.

[Paul Canaris]

Thanks for the responses Mike and JR.

[Mike Heidrick]

What model planer do you have. I will try and find your exact instructions.

Looks like 3 planer Pals to help with setting bblades but Shopnotes may have another solution.

[Paul Canaris]

Hi Mike, thanks. It is a Griggio PSA 630. It has a 120 mm (4.75") diameter cutterhead which is why I am not sure it will work with off the shelf items like planer Pals which I thought were limited to 4".

[Rick Lizek]

I've been adjusting machinery professionally and use something similar to this... http://www.northfieldwoodworking.com/gauges/gauges.htm
Another option is to go to Wood Tech Tooling and click on the accessory page
https://woodtechtooling.com/

I've never cared for the planer pals and have tried many other gauges over the years.