Question for Delta 22-580 planer owners

Hi Tom,

I have had mine for about three years and run several hundred feet of cherry and maple through it without any problem other than a minor nick in one of the knives. It always makes a clicking sound as the threaded rods raise and lower the cutterhead. But the handle rotates smoothly without any catching. You might want to check to make sure the depth stop has not been inadvertently set. Just rotate it counterclockwise. Other than that I can’t imagine what, if any, problem there is as this has been a very reliable tool for me.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

The clicking noise is normal. The “catch and release” sounds like you’ve got the “cutterhead lock” set too firmly still. It should hang down and easily swing when loose. Once you find your cutting height, then tighten the cutterhead lock.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

You know, Dadoo, I thought about that but I checked the cutterhead release and it swung loosely so I didn’t think that that was it. Since you brought it up, I thought I’d double check. I loosened it by a couple more revolutions and it does seem to go down more smoothly though. It really seems like the chain that connects the cutterhead adjustment posts is looser than it needs to be. It makes a lot of noise scrapping against the sides of the plastic housing.

-- Tom, Southwest Florida

I always hear a clickity, clackity type of noice when I lower/raise the head but that’s just mechanical noise that is normal.

Since it is happening more going down the catching feel will probably go away once it’s broken in a bit.
It’s probably tight and moving down in “pulses”. Try putting downward pressure by hand on the part
that moves down as you turn the handle. You shouldn’t feel the “catching” then.

Gary

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Tom, there’s three chains in there. Two short ones drive the rollers and on long one turns both height adjustment screws at the same time. It’s located in the base. It’s loose, but not supposed to touch any of the plastic shroud. Soooo, maybe the unit was dropped during shipment. You might need to take it back to the store and exchange it for another.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

Got it from amazon. Really, really don’t want to return it. sigh Is there any hope that if I call them up there is a simple solution?

-- Tom, Southwest Florida

Calling Delta would probably help.

Calling Amazon will get you less than nothing as far as a solution goes, unless you want to return it.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Oh, yeah, it didn’t even occur to me to specify Delta as the thought of calling Amazon for tech support is utterly ridiculous. I’ll give them a call tomorrow.

-- Tom, Southwest Florida

I have this machine too – I do get what Gary described in the way of a normal ratcheting noise when going up and down – sound of the chain…

Let us know what Delta has to say -

Let’s hope it’s just gravity pulling the cutterhead unit down that’s making it feel the way it is to you…my experience is that it’s smoother going up because of the resistance that you encounter…

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

I guess I didn’t describe what I meant correctly. When moving down it might be tight until broken in.

This means it will not overcome gravity until it’s pushed down. There is some slop in most drive mechanisms.
This is called backlash. For example the steering wheel in your car can move a little to the left and
right without moving the wheels. That slop is the backlash.

That catch and release feeling is the cutterhead being pushed down and once in motion will fall until the
slop is taken up and then stays there until pushed down again.

When moving up the slop is taken up when you start to turn the handle and from that point on it’s under constant tension so it feels smooth.

I hope I made it clearer this time. It’s kind of hard to describe.

Gary

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

I think we’re saying similar things…I may not have been so eloquent in how I said it, but I think our “up” description is close…and I get what you’re saying about putting even pressure on the cutterhead when going down to see if Tom can get it to smooth out to help determine if the mechanism is “sticky” and needs to be “broken in.”

Everything I own has slop – I know backlash all too well…Cheers

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Exactly!

I started out life as a machinist and backlash is a big part of the job. Then later as a automation engineer I have spent a lot of time getting rid of it.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

What bugs me guys is that he stated that the chain “makes a lot of noise scrapping against the sides of the plastic housing.” That shouldn’t be.

So Tom, since returning it is out of the question…kinda, let’s look at that chain. First though I want you to check the “left and right elevating screws” for mangled threads or rust, etc. Also it rides on 4 shiny silver columns. Lubricate them all with a light weight machine oil and run the cutterhead up and down a couple of times. If this frees it then you’re good to go.

The bottom chain is under the base and enclosed in a chain guard. You can easily take the cover off for inspection and lubrication (Delta suggests lubing with Lithium grease). It should be a little loose but not so much that you can lift the links off the gear teeth. Where is it rubbing? Why is it rubbing? Also check the tightness of the “shiny silver” column bolts. If one is loose, it may be binding.

Do these first, then I’d suggest taking it to a Delta service center…or call the seller and get another. Let me know what you find though…I’m following this.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

I did take the bottom cover off and I didn’t see anything obviously wrong. There isn’t enough play in the chain for it to come loose but it is definitely making contact with the shroud. I have to go with my wife to a Dr. appt in a couple of minutes but when I get back I’ll try the downward pressure and check and oil the screws and columns. Thanks guys!!!

-- Tom, Southwest Florida

Cool…We’re getting someplace here. For the chain to contact the shroud means the elevating screws mustv’e dropped. What would cause then to drop down? The only thing I can think of Tom, is mis-handling during shipping. The cutterhead is heavy and is solely supported by these elevating screws. The other 4 shiny rods only provide a positioning fixture. So if someone dropped the box and it landed on it’s base hard enough, the cutterhead would drive the elevating screws downward.

This planer would be FUBAR in my shop. I couldn’t ever trust that the thickness or blade angle would ever be true if it was dropped. I could not guarantee even that the cutterhead was level. This planer is a “precision” machine…your’s cannot be. I’d just take it back to the seller. Email them first and see what they offer. There’s no reason you’d have to pay the shipping again. Sorry Dude.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

I should have been more specific, it isn’t rubbing on the bottom of the shroud. The “excess” chain is brushing the sides of the shroud. It isn’t loose enough to slip a sprocket but there is enough play for it to come in contact with the side when there is tension on one side and it makes it bulge out on the other.

-- Tom, Southwest Florida

Alright Bud, then you should be able to fire it up then. Get a scrap of pine and plane it down to exactly 1” thick. Now take your ruler and make sure it is 1” thick. If the gauge and measurement both coincide, then you’re good to gold.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

Fun. I finally got a few minutes to clean up the shipping goop and wax the table. Then I turned it on and…. well, not much. The motor was running and air coming out of the dc adapter but no blade movement and the rollers weren’t budging. The last part was what really tipped me off… never having run a planer before I wasn’t really all that sure what to expect when I turned it on but I was pretty sure that when I feed the wood in it was supposed to do something. ;) Anyway, it turned out that the drive belt was pretty much as loose as it could get. When I finally figured out that it had a drive belt, it wasn’t too hard to figure out how to get at it and tension it.

When I finally got it all back together, I ran a really ratty piece of 3/4” pine through it and planned it down to 1/2”. I don’t really have anything to compare it with but it looks great to me. I made a small adjustment to the height adjustment line and it seems right on the button now.

Now I just need to go get me some rough hardwood and have some fun. :) Thanks again for all your help!

-- Tom, Southwest Florida

Good news!

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Phew!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Have fun.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!