Board shifts in planer

You just can never be totaly sure about what grain is going to do. However, the first thing I wojuld do is to wax the tables to be sure there is not an uneven drag there. A little spot of resin could make the wood turn.

-- Tom Hintz, www.newwoodworker.com

What Tom said. Also, I’m not sure but I would think uneven wear on the blades may cause this. Us being creatures of habit, maybe the person who had it before you fed through one side more than the other. I guess the rollers could be worn too. I would also check the height on each side when you move it up and down to ensure that they are dead on. I could be completely off base here, just throwing out what my simple mind could come up with. Good luck.

-- -Zeke- "I hate to rush off, but I gotta go see a man about a log"

I also think this has something to do with uneven wear on the blades. You’ve said that you need to replace the blades. I recommend you do that and see if the problem goes away.

FYI – When using the planer I like to move the pieces around and/or run them at an angle on the input side to get relatively even wear on the blades.

-- Rich, Cedar Rapids, IA - I'm a woodworker. I don't create beauty, I reveal it.

I have a 735 which I bought new. It does this from time to time. I think when it first grabs the board if the knives hit a hard spot in the wood, a knot, or some cross grain, it sometimes pulls it crooked. It still planes it ok so I dont worry about it. I have had it do this with a long board too sometimes.

-- Wayne - Plymouth MN

Mine does that, too. I’ve even fed it at an opposite angle. It just moves the board where it likes it, anyway.
Sharpening helps….for a while. Don’t worry too much. It’s still doing the job, albeit at an angle.

-- Gene 'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

The 735’s blades are double sided, remove the top and just flip your blades. If the other side of the blades are dull, they are not all THAT expensive to replace. Clean your rollers and wax your table….. should do the trick.

You need to ensure the bottom of the wood is truly flat, a planer cannot work correctly unless the wood base is true to the table. If you can’t get it flat, flip the wood over between planings and that will help.

-- Power tools put us ahead of the monkeys

Try cleaning the rollers. I just use a micro-fiber cloth ever so often. Makes a world of difference. Of course, unplug the thing first and then raise it up so you can get to the rollers. You may have to plug it back up and punch the button to get the rollers to turn so you can clean them all. This works, trust me.