Should a planer be able to operate continuously on boards at its capacity if the recommended maximum cut is used???
I may have done something stupid tonight. Well, maybe not stupid... ignorant at least. First time I tried running a 12 inch wide rough-sawn (red oak) board through my Delta planer. I started, like I always do, feeding it through with the depth set so it would feed through, but nothing being cut. Then crank it down a half turn with each pass. The first couple of passes where it actually cut, I noticed the motor was really bogged down, so I switched to 1/4 turn down each pass. The owner's manual says 1 turn is 3/32 inch. So a quarter turn should be about 3/128, or about .023 being cut.
Of course, taking smaller cuts means it takes longer to surface both sides. I was at this for about 30 minutes. Near the end I started lowering the depth by only 1/8 turn (.011 cut).
When I shut if off, there was smoke rising off the motor housing, and the gray plastic housing had discolored. :-( Son came out to the garage and said "smells like burnt chicken in here!"
Now, the manual reads: "For 10" and 12" wide hardwood, a maximum depth of cut of 3/64 is recommended". I was cutting less than that. Do the manufacturers (or Delta at least) exaggerate the capability of these machines? Should I have known better and cut for 10 minutes, then waited for 10-15 minutes before continuing?
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