help w/rubber rollers on planer

[RP]

Howdy, I have a 2 man cabinet shop/finish carpenter business in central New York and I'm having issues with my planer. I have the larger 3 blade dewally planer with rubber rollers and after 1/2 an hour or so of planing they seem to slip on me and I get lots of burn marks. I've tried cleaning them with acetone, lacquer thinner and mineral spirits to no avail. Is there another cleaner I can try or am I stuck with rollers that suck? Do I just need to break out the wallet and get a planer with segmented rollers?

RP

[Phisherman]

Rubber rollers should be cleaned with methanol (wood alcohol) which will not harm the rubber. Wood alcohol should not be inhaled, injested, or absorbed through the skin.

Make certain your blades are sharp, clean, and aligned properly. It is very easy to get cut, handle blades with great care.

[Lew Hodgett]

--------------------------------- Time to call tech service, they have an 800#.

I've always found them to be very helpful.

Lew

[krw]

Really? Methanol is usually death on rubber (one reason it's not recommended in gasoline). Ethanol is generally preferred as a cleaner. Since ethanol is the drinkable stuff, it's heavily taxed, so they "denature" it with something for such uses.

[Leon]

Would "cold" be a problem? Hard rubber can slip.

[Phisherman]

Where did you hear "methanol is usually death on rubber?" Hopefully not from a polymer chemist with an advanced degree in chemistry. ;)

[RP]

The cold could have some effect as my shop isn't heated except when I'm in it. This rubber is pretty hard, but still somewhat pliable. It seems as though you can move it a little after its cleaned. A few thousandths maybe. I have also used denatured alcohol to clean the rollers and I wax my infeed and out feed tables as well as the platen when I clean the rollers. The blades are fairly sharp too. Maybe I should try some MEK on them... Of course it happens the most when I want to get something done right now and get on with business.

Thanks, RP

[Neal]

The Dewalt website recommends Mineral spirits or rubbing alcohol.

[krw]

That's the reason given for not using it as gasoline-helper and using ethanol, instead. OTOH, big-farming has a better lobby than bit-trees. ;-)

[Jerry - OHIO]

My kid ran painted lumber a dusty lumber through my planer and I used sand paper to clean my rollers. My shop now has a now lock.

Jerry

[Andy Dingley]

Maybe not "death", but it will cause many rubbers to swell. This may or may not be a problem, depending on application.

It's the active ingredient in "oilseal rejuvenator oil additive"

[J. Clarke]

Motor oil and transmission fluid swell seals too. They're intended to. Put the seal in dry, it goes in easily, soak it in oil for a bit and it tightens up. Cuts down on production costs.

Different substances swell rubber by different amounts--I can't see where it's really an issue for planer rollers though. Needs to be immersed for a while to get any significant swelling anyway.

[Leon]

The cold could have some effect as my shop isn't heated except when I'm in it. This rubber is pretty hard, but still somewhat pliable. It seems as though you can move it a little after its cleaned. A few thousandths maybe. I have also used denatured alcohol to clean the rollers and I wax my infeed and out feed tables as well as the platen when I clean the rollers. The blades are fairly sharp too. Maybe I should try some MEK on them... Of course it happens the most when I want to get something done right now and get on with business.

Thanks, RP

For what it is worth my old portable planer would show the same symptoms when cold and after cleaning the roller with acetone. Warm weather always restored the grip. But in answer to your question on upgrading, I now have a 15" stationary Delta with the seriated steel in feed roller. Those rollers introduce a unique problem all on their own however.