Planer Won't Maintain Thickness

[Doug Dawson]

Doug I’ve put them put down I’ve put them up.
Adjusted every single thing one can be adjusted on my planer.
Ive come to the conclusion that the bed has a dip between the rollers and have found the whole carriage assembly flexes when wood goes thru.
Someday I’m going to replace it with a proper machine.

On the Powermatic 15HH? Someday you're "going to replace it with a proper machine"? Sounds like something is a bit off somewhere.

[Matt Day]

On the Powermatic 15HH? Someday you're "going to replace it with a proper machine"? Sounds like something is a bit off somewhere.

Agreed. I had snipe on my 4-poster but adjusted it out. The first thing to do is lower those pesky bed rollers below the bed and apply some wax or other lubricant to the bed. Bed rollers are only used for hogging material during rough milking, if at all.

[Julie Moriarty]

Thanks for the tips on dealing with the dropping head. Randy, I was surprised to see your toggle clamp fix, primarily because it speaks loudly on how real the problem is. But it's a great fix! Too bad Dewalt R&D couldn't prevent the problem in the first place.

As far as dull blades goes, I just changed them before beginning this project. If they are already dull, that's pretty pathetic performance.

After getting the 4/4 boards down to 1.05", I decided to resaw the boards to just over 3/4" and plane it the rest of the way. That's better than running the boards through the planer 25 times.

[Julie Moriarty]

Now I'm finding myself checking out Infinity carbide knives and comparing them to the Shelix... and wondering how that old Delta planer would be standing up to the Bolivian walnut.

[Julie Moriarty]

Just to make sure my memory was accurate, I went back to look at the time I had resawed 8/4 sapele into 1/2" boards. I ran this stack, ranging in widths from 6"-9", through a 15 year old Delta lunchbox planer with no breaks, no tripped overloads, no bogging down, no tripped circuit breakers.



I was just planing the walnut boards I resawed, 1/100" at a time. I just got started and the overload tripped again. I wish I had just refurbished the Delta planer. I never had these kinds of problems with that. It didn't plane as smoothly but at least it worked.

[Andrew Hughes]

Does the wood you are planing now seem harder then the Sapele. If not then it could be that the knifes in you old lunch box delta were better hss. The Dewalt knifes have a reputation for not lasting.
There could be several reasons why your planer is having a hard time.
Take the top off and look at the edge is all chipped up?
I don’t think it’s a good idea to refurbish a lunch box planer.

[Julie Moriarty]

Does the wood you are planing now seem harder then the Sapele. If not then it could be that the knifes in you old lunch box delta were better hss. The Dewalt knifes have a reputation for not lasting.
There could be several reasons why your planer is having a hard time.
Take the top off and look at the edge is all chipped up?

Without any accurate means to compare the hardness of the two, I took a piece of the sapele in my hand and did the same with the pecky Bolivian walnut. The pBw did seem harder. But the worst part about this now is the overload tripping while planing. The fact is is tripping more frequently now tells me it's breaking down and close to complete failure.

The year warranty is up in October so tomorrow I'm calling Dewalt to see what they are willing to do about all this.

[Andrew Hughes]

What does the B Walnut look like. Are there lots of dark streaks or colors the wood.
Some Woods ( from the rain forest esp) will have alot of minerals in them. Very beautiful to look at but really difficult to machine or hand plane.
Once again check to see if the knifes are completely worn dull.
Wood with a high silica will take 5 seconds to dull Hss.

[Julie Moriarty]

I just changed the knives the other day. Maybe they are already shot. Dewalt knives don't have much of a reputation for staying sharp. But the planed wood is still silky smooth.

This is the pecky Bolivian walnut

The moment it goes into the planer I can see little black dots dancing on the surface. I'm guessing hardened tree gum.

I've got a lot more of this wood so there's more planing to do. Maybe carbide is needed. But I'll still discuss it with Dewalt tomorrow.

[Andrew Hughes]

Well that’s some very interesting looking wood I see why you bought it. Very unique
It does remind me alot like mesquite, maybe someone from Texas or Arizona will agree.
Mesquite is very dense but every bit worth the trouble because of its unique beauty and it’s super stable.
I think your going to have a great looking project.
Good luck

[David Utterback]

Julie, Have you tried milling a different species that you have experience with?

[Greg Parrish]

What are the lighter horizontal lines running across the boards? Almost looks like where the wood stopped movement and the blade cut deeper like snipe. My drum sander does that from time to time on some materials.

[Bill Orbine]

What are the lighter horizontal lines running across the boards? Almost looks like where the wood stopped movement and the blade cut deeper like snipe. My drum sander does that from time to time on some materials.

Looks like sticker marks.

[Greg Parrish]

Looks like sticker marks.

Bet that’s it. Was thinking it could be a clue to issue but you’re prob right.

[Julie Moriarty]

Julie, Have you tried milling a different species that you have experience with?

Not since the overload started tripping. But I have run sipo, Florida pine, figured cherry and maple through the planer recently. All that was done with the first edge of the factory knives.

What are the lighter horizontal lines running across the boards? Almost looks like where the wood stopped movement and the blade cut deeper like snipe. My drum sander does that from time to time on some materials.

None of those boards have been planed by me. That's how they came from the yard.

I spoke with Dewalt today. They sent me a UPS label so I can send it to the service center in Tampa. Tampa is a 2 hour drive from here. I called Tampa and asked them if they had had complaints about dropping heads and tripping overloads. The guy there said he hadn't seen anything come in with those problems. He just said send it in with a note on the problems I'm having.

Last night I was all set to bite the bullet on a Shelix, seeing how fast the HSS knives dull. I might still do that, depending on what the service guys say.