Having a problem with my Ridgid 13" planer "sticking". It will not feed the boards through smoothly. They get stuck and I have to push or pull them through. This is a big hassle and it leaves a poor finish. It doesn't matter how much material I try to remove... same result. Anyone else have this problem? Thanks.
I have the same thickness planer and haven't had that problem. I keep my infeed, outfeed, and bottom plate waxed however. It might be your feed rollers need cleaning or replacement but I have never done this so I'm not sure if these are serviceable on this planer.
TWS
My rigid 13" planer started doing that when I last used it. Don't know what to do about it. mikey.
Try waxing the tables and cleaning the overhead feed rollers. If the feed rollers are rubber use Ronson's lighter fluid. IT rejuvenates the rubber and makes it a little more sticky. IF the rollers are metal, clean them with acetone or alcohol. Usually waxing the bed solves every thing. max
Wax on the bed, certainly. As to alcohol dissolving resin from conifers, you'd be better off using mineral spirits. Acetone is something to be avoided in areas where plastics are used. It does horrible things to some, and it might go places you hadn't anticipated. Pretty tough on you in close quarters, too. Not that mineral spirits is such a safe option.
I had a similar problem with a 12 inch Dewalt. Waxing, as noted by others makes a big difference. Cleaning the rollers with mineral sprits seems to help also. For me the problem was worst with rough sawn stock.
Had the exact same problem.
Changed the blades and it works good as new.
I wasn't intending to clean off resin with the suggestion of lighter fluid on the rubber rollers. Rubber dries out and work hardens. The lighter fluid semi rejuvenates the rubber making it softer. The solvent for the metal rollers is your choice. Mineral spirits leave an oily residue. Alcohol and acetone do not. max
I have the Ryobi 1300 planer, and had similar problems for some time.
2 suggestions based on my experience, Make sure you have adequate dust collectioni to help keep the roller wheels as clean as possible. I bought a small, realtively soft, wire brush, about the size of a toothbrush, and started scrubbing down the roller wheels on occasion, especially when the stickinig started to happen. Raise the cutting head mechanism up high enough to get the brush in there. Turn the machine on, and hold the brush to the wheels as they spin. Wear goggles, and obviously keep the brush far engough away from the spinning cutter. I've read that a little mineral spirits can also be used if you have buildup. In any case, it seems the key is to keep those things clean. Since then I've had very few boards hang up. I wouldn't scrub the wheels too hard, you don't want to mar them, but just lightly.
Take it back....tell them you cleaned it and you can not correct the problem....
Lifetime warranty....????
Just had to bring up that warranty....
Bob Griffiths
Well, you certainly could clean off the resin with it. Alcohol, of course, as a semi-polar solvent, wouldn't work well at all.
Mineral spirits contain _no_ oil
Acetone is a danger to so many varieties of paints and plastics, not to mention the high fire danger, that it would never be first choice for such an application. Stoddard solvent has a flashpoint of 60C, acetone at -20C, is much more dangerous.
UNPLUG the planer and wipe the rubber rollers with mineral spirits. While you're at it, wax the tables.
Barry
But it IS new. I've had it about eight months but I've only used it 4 times (~50 lf)...
I'm heading out right now to wax the table and clean the rollers. I'll let y'all know how it works. Thanks for the suggestions.
Hi there!
I have the same planer, and had the same trouble... also while the planer still had that "fresh new planer" smell... so... The type of wood you run through it also makes a difference - I got this info when I call Ridgid customer service (boy, you could have fun with that one...) Apparently, the rollers have a very low tolerance for redwood... the advice here is good... clean them well, keep them clean and wax the table.
John
Bingo. Thanks for the help. Works like it should now. All I did was wax the table and dry wipe the rollers good.
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