Planer vs lumber - lumber won

[Brian Tymchak]

Was planing some stock down Wednesday for another batch of childrens building blocks. Had run the stock thru twice already and was just taking off a final 32nd or so to get to finished thickness. At the tail end of a board there's a bang, some rattles in the dust duct, a rubber burning smell, and the planer motor ground to a halt, all in just a couple seconds. Realized I had a big problem and hit the power switch immediately. Thought the DC also sounded a bit odd, so I shut it down. Raised the carriage on the planer and found a chunk on the bed that had broken off the board. Apparently, there was a hidden fracture in the grain and it let loose on that last pass. Coming at the end of the day, I just did a quick triage of the situation. Found the cutter head, rollers, and motor all locked up. Checked the DC to make sure nothing was going to start burning in there. The DC seemed clear and worked OK so I decided to call it a day. I figured at that point the planer was toast. It's 18 years old and I had pushed a lot of stock thru it, so I was mentally preparing to replace or upgrade.

Started dissecting the planer (Dewalt dw735) Thursday afternoon, looking for damage. My first inclination was that something in the gear box had failed. Pulled a roller drive chain, then the V belt from motor to cutter head. Found the cutter head and front roller moving freely. Back roller and motor still locked up. Turned my attention to the motor since I had expected it to also free up with the belt off. Took a closer look all around and found something I had missed on the first inspection that didn't look quite right....

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Pulled the ejection chute apart. That chunk of wood had caught in the fan blades, spun around grinding and melting the housing, and evetually welding itself to the housing, stopping the motor entirely. Good news is the motor spins freely.

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Haven't powered it back up yet. Ordered a new chute from ereplacements. I think I can clean up the chute some to get the planer working for now. Not sure though if the rear roller should be freely rotating at this point. It seems locked up by the gear box. Would really like to avoid getting into that if I can. Will look at that a bit more later today.

[Dave VanDewerker]

If you have the planer hooked up to a good DC just remove the impeller, you don't need it. It will also save a bit on power.

[Richard Coers]

I'd sure power it up before spending money on outside parts. It may be cheaper to buy a new machine. Universal motors really don't take to being locked up with electricity still coming through. Really touch on the brushes and armature!

[Brian Tymchak]

I got an hour to look at that rear roller. After thinking for a few seconds I realized it locks with the cutter head lock. Released that lock and the rear roller moves freely. So I cleaned up the ejection chute. Had to slice out all the melted plastic that got thrown around the chute. Little bit of sanding and I think it will work until I get the new chute. Ran out of time. Will give the unit a thorough cleaning and lubrication when I reassemble.

If you have the planer hooked up to a good DC just remove the impeller, you don't need it. It will also save a bit on power.

That's interesting. The impeller appears to be OK, so I'll leave it on.

I'd sure power it up before spending money on outside parts. It may be cheaper to buy a new machine. Universal motors really don't take to being locked up with electricity still coming through. Really touch on the brushes and armature!

Yea, I should have done that. Hopefully I can return it if the motor is toast. Probably ought to change brushes anyway if the motor is good. Thanks for the tip.

[Richard Coers]

You would actually return it from no fault from anyone but you? You don't feel personally responsible? It was an accident, not a defect.

[Greg Quenneville]

I think he means the new dust chute, not the entire machine.

[Alex Zeller]

I thought the standard SMC response is "This is a great time to replace it with a much larger machine"? That said my 4 post planer has a plastic piece that deflects chips and shavings into the dust collection hose. Something fought with it and won sending broken plastic into the DC impeller. Luckily it's flat and I made a new one out of 1/4 plywood.

[Richard Coers]

I think he means the new dust chute, not the entire machine.

I apologize, I misunderstood.

[Brian Tymchak]

I thought the standard SMC response is "This is a great time to replace it with a much larger machine"? That said my 4 post planer has a plastic piece that deflects chips and shavings into the dust collection hose. Something fought with it and won sending broken plastic into the DC impeller. Luckily it's flat and I made a new one out of 1/4 plywood.

I had those thoughts, although it would be the jointer getting the upgrade as I was fantasizing about a 12" J/P combo....which would actually be downsizing the planer by an inch.

[Brian Tymchak]

You would actually return it from no fault from anyone but you? You don't feel personally responsible? It was an accident, not a defect.

I think he means the new dust chute, not the entire machine.

Sorry Richard. I could have been a lot clearer. The machine is 18 years old.. I wonder what they would say if I tried to return it??

[Alex Zeller]

I feel like I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that the Hammers are on sale. I've also toyed with the idea of going from my 20" 4 post down to a 16" combo machine. It mainly would be used for thicknessing with my 8" jointer doing most the work but having a larger jointer when the few times I need it is tempting.