The rollers on my Makita 2030 planer/jointer were in unusable condition and needed to be replaced. My internet search found where I could get the roller redone for $100 per roller + shipping. This beat the replacement cost of $200+ per roller but I am just too cheap and always enjoy coming up with ways to save money. My solution was to glue two progressively bigger rubber hoses to the shaft and turn them down to the proper diameter. I started with 1-1/8 heater hose purchased from a auto supply house. I pushed the hose over the shaft using two hour epoxy as the adhesive/ lubricant. I then chucked the assembly into my drill press and turned down the hose to 1.5" OD using a sanding belt I had cut in half (I was surprised how quickly it cut). I then slipped a 1.5" ID piece of water hose over the turned down heater hose and again used two hour epoxy. As the final touch I chucked the thing into the drill press again and turned it down to a final OD of 1.9" This is a little bigger that the 1.75" that is specified for this machine but I couldn't get any smaller without getting into the nylon plys of the hose. Now the feed rate of the plane is 9% faster than I started. The rollers work just like new and the price tag for everything was under $35.
- posted
17 years ago