New planer - advice before I use it?

[mac davis]

Just got a Ridgid planer.. pretty basic and looks a bit like the pictures of a Delta...

I've never had or used one before but since I got a real table saw recently, this seemed like the next step...

Being too old and lazy to reinvent the wheel, I'd appreciate and tips, warnings, "don't do's", etc. from you in the group that use them.

I think a few of you were born using them (-;

Ridgid tp1300 13" planer...

So far, I've put the stand together, put BIG casters on it, (it goes in the carport on a packed dirt floor), adjusted the infeed/outfeed tables, the cutter head and such, as called for in the manual...

I haven't turned it on yet... waiting for advice and a project the requires it.... I sure wish I had it last month when I made the wife 3 sets of book shelves!

TIA for any suggestions, warnings, DAMHIKT, etc..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[Stoutman]

Never plane to much off of one face at a time. The board will begin to bow in the direction of the face being planed. DAMHIKT!

NEVER plane a board that is to short. It can kick throw the board back at you into your fingers that are pushing the board. DAMHIKT!

Don't feed your fingers into the planer knives!

Learn how to sharpen your own knives. See my web page below:

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Dust collector Small bites each pass Be sure there are no nails in the board. Not that I'd ever do that, but I've heard of it happening to others :)

[The Davenport's]

"> Just got a Ridgid planer.. pretty basic and looks a bit like the pictures of a

Now wouldn't THAT be a sight???

....10 pounds, 24" long and he's already building his own crib and changing table. Wonder if he'll use poly of BLO for the finish...

No clue as to if the Ridgid has any "special" tips, but for planers in general...

1) Cut stock a few inches long...there is no such thing as totally snip free planing. 2) If possible, run boards end to end thru the machine..this will go a long way to giving you snipe free planing. 3) Watch the grain direction. If you get little chips that pull out of the face as you plane, flip the board end for end and run it thru that way...sometimes it just moves the chipping to the other direction, but often it'll work. If not, take lighter cuts and lightly mist with plain water before each cut. read again LIGHTLY MIST...you do NOT want a wet board, just a slightly damp surface. 4) When starting the board, slightly lift the out board end until the starting end is under the outfeed roller...then again, lightly lift the end just as it's coming thru. This can help reduce the amount of snipe on the start and end of the board. 5) NEVER try to plane a short board. I never try to plane a board shorter the half again what the book says is the minimum....my delta book says 12" so I never go under 18" long. I go to the drum sander under that. Same thing with the thickness...I never go under 3/8". Am I being a chicken about it? Yes, and I don't care...I've had my share on cuts and bruises over the years from things that were avoidable, I see no reason to open myself up to more now that I've finally gotten a little smarter.

Are there other things to know??? Oh god, yes...and I'm sure that there are others out there that'll helpp fill in the blanks.

Luck

Mike

[Frank Boettcher]

You've gotten good advice, but I'll ditto the short board ban. Tried to "cheat" a short board through once. Bruise hand healed fairly well in about ten days.

Frank

[Leon]

"IF" during use you ever loose power to the planer, "turn the planer off" and remove the wood before the power comes back on or before you plug it back in. If the blades comes to a stop against the wood they may not spin when the motor comes back on and the blade drive belt will burn up. DAKMHIKT

[S]

What? The first thing to do is turn it on.

- S

[Morris Dovey]

| Being too old and lazy to reinvent the wheel, I'd appreciate and | tips, warnings, "don't do's", etc. from you in the group that use | them.

Bolt the planer to the stand. Lock the casters. Turn the power on...

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

[Lew Hodgett]

Repeating what others have said, take light cuts and start with boards that are longer than are required.

SNIPE HAPPENS.

Lew

[J T]

Sat, Jun 23, 2007, 9:20am (EDT-3) [e-mail] (mac=A0davis) doth sayeth Being too old and lazy to reinvent the wheel, I'd appreciate and tips, warnings, "don't do's", etc. from you in the group that use them.

Questions like this still continue to amaze me. I don't know if it's because of he way I was brought up, my Army time, or different generations. When I got my planer I already knew to keep my fingers out of it, and to not plane nails. So i just started using it.

OK, here's your adice. Read the manual. Keep your fingers out of it. Don''t plane anything wth metal in it. After that, you're on your own.

JOAT If a man does his best, what else is there?

- General George S. Patton

[mac davis]

The manual says min. 14"...

My brother is supposed to be posting a picture for me of a sled that he uses???

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[mac davis]

Thanks, Ed...

No DC in this case, (unless it helps to clear chips from inside planer?), the messy tools are outside with a nice desert breeze blowing..

small bites meaning cutting depth, right?

(note to self: check battery in stud finder)

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[mac davis]

hmm... good idea... the manual says to cut the "depressed ends" off.... sort of makes you change all your plans & drawings if you have to do that!

AHA! It says "with the grain" in several places... I sort of figured end to end, but nice to be sure...

Cool... might also fit in with "with the grain"..

I can see that I'll be trying that with some scraps... and from the SIDE... *g*

thanks, Mike..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[mac davis]

Damn good point, Leon... I hadn't even thought that it would go back on with the power...

Last night, the power went off 3 times within a few hours... usually for maybe a min. or so, but enough to really think about your tip!

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[mac davis]

well, 2 outta 3 aren't bad... lol

I guess I should at least make sure it runs..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

[Larry Kraus]

Without DC, the rollers on some planers can press the shavings into the wood, causing dents. Also, planers create very large amounts of shavings, so you may find a snow shovel useful...

[The Davenport's]

Only a little, as you shouldn't be using the planer much except at the very begining of a project. An we're only talking about 1 1/2 to 2". What I'll do when I've got a large project strarting up is joint the plane all my stock and I"ll have 2 extra pieces of stock 18-24 inches long and those are the first and last pieces thru the planer before I change the cut depth. Mark them or use a different material so that you know which is what.

One thing to bear in mind that I missed before and I don't think anyone caught...you didn't mention a jointer, so that should be your next purchase, I think. A planer will not flatten nor straighten lumber...a jointer will.

Mike

[Patriarch]

Larry Kraus wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Without a DC, at least use a shop vac, preferably with a drop box, to pull out the shavings. And there will be a LOT of shavings on most wood. We did a bunch of redwood for one of my son's projects last month, and got perhaps 5 garbage bags of shavings, which now mulch under the roses in the back yard.

These are supposed to be replaceable, two-sided blades, and they are. But I've taken to honing them with 600 grit wet/dry, wrapped around a block of maple, and reinstalling them. Works pretty well. I've been cycling 3 sets of blades on mine for 6 or 7 years, working mostly in oak and maple.

It's a good machine, but it will have a problem if it runs into a temporarily stupid operator. Then you have to wait three days for the $3 part to get FedExed in from Ridgid Central. Could be more of a problem if you've run away to rural Mexico... ;-)

I've used the similar Delta a lot, and certainly wouldn't trade my Ridgid for one. Money well spent.

Enjoy yours, Mac!

Patriarch

[Mortimer Schnerd, RN]

Be prepared to deal with a LOT of shavings. The best thing I did for my Delta was get a plastic fitting that allowed me to channel the shavings into my dust collector. What used to be a huge PITA is no longer a big deal at all.

[J T]

Sun, Jun 24, 2007, 4:44am mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com (Mortimer=A0Schnerd,=A0RN) doth sayeth: Be prepared to deal with a LOT of shavings.

That's a good thing. Cushions the floor. At one point after I first got my wood lathe my floor got almost knee deep in shavings. Didn't actually make anything doing that, just practice, but loads of fun.

JOAT If a man does his best, what else is there?

- General George S. Patton