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Planer not making everything equal

1K views 16 replies 11 participants last post by  rwe2156 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
The other day I was milling up some wood to make some serving trays. I had two different boards I was using, ran them through my porter cable planer one right after the other until they were cleaned up. Put them together before applying glue and they were off in thickness probably 1/32". Ran them through again trying to get them the same thickness but just couldn't get it perfect. The head doesn't lock like the dewalts, tried holding the lever to see if that would work perhaps but didn't, not sure what to do or how to fix it. Really want to make a table next but not being able to get the boards the same thickness would make that a no go. Just had a great craft show this weekend, kind of want to just buy a nice new one. Any idea how to fix this problem before I drop money on a new one.
 
#2 ·
Hmm…. I'll take a shot at this.
When I bought my Rigid 4331 13" lunchbox planer, I used it right out of the box with no fine tuning. Somehow by luck or ignorance, all thickness came out identical. When I refurbished my 15" Jet planer, I then learned how to fine tune with a dial indicator all parts necessary for the planer to do it's job down to 0.001 or so.
I have little experience in planer woes, but my guess would be something is out of alignment: The cutter head to the bed, bed to the infeed roller, bed to the outfeed roller, table rollers as well (my Rigid doesnt have these, but my Jet does). Do you have dial indicators to check that everything is in alignment?
 
#5 ·
Yea I have a dial indicator. I ran them through right in the middle butting them up end to end. The knives just sit in their spots, not sure if they're adjustable or not. I bought it used a couple years ago so I didn't set it up and I don't have the manual, could always get it online I'd say. I usually don't do wide glue ups, so not sure if this is a new problem or not.
 
#11 ·
Just a baseline question… did you joint all of the lumber for a flat face before planing? I see some guys trying to plane rough cut or warped lumber, without going through the proper steps.

I'm guessing Porter Cable knives are non-adjustable.
 
#14 ·
You probably have play in the lead screw(s) which control the up/down movement of the cutter head. I had a similar problem on my old Ryobi A-12. There was about 0.025" of play between the lead screws and the frame. One way to check this is to move the cutter head in one direction(up) place your dial indicator between the head and the base and then push down on the cutter head.
 
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