With the planer off, I lowered the cutter assembly just low enough that the infeed roller exerted just a little bit of drag on the board as I manually pushed it in. I ensured that the board was not tilted upward as I pushed it through.
When I continued to push it through, it stopped when it reached the outfeed roller. I had to raise the assembly just under 1/32" to allow the board to go under the outfeed roller.
Is the outfeed roller supposed to be lower than the infeed roller since the assumption is that the board is thinner once the blades have removed some wood?
I verified that the bed is coplaner with both the infeed and outfeed tables. I then inserted my 6' planer sled and verified that it was flat and level. The inserted board did the same thing: stopped when it hit the outfeed roller.
It needs to be where it will pull the material on through after passing the cutterhead, yes, but not so low as to be a barrier.
I've never had one of the "lunchbox" small planers so I can't speak for their precise adjustment processes, but every planer I've ever had or used has detailed setup instructions that give precise measurements and steps for adjustments.
They also have the outfeed rollers spring-loaded so to account for the difference in thickness between taking off a thin shaving vis a vis a full cut.
But, the unloaded position has to be high enough the infeed rollers have enough "oomph" to get it under the outfeed roller so it can do its job; if it's too low or the infeed doesn't have enough grip, then you can have the issue.
I've been told these little guys don't have it, but it's also possible with a "real" planer that the pressure bar is too low and the board will hit or drag on it.
Another alternative on the cast iron machines I'm used to is that the rear bed rollers may be too high but I understand these guys don't have them, either???
Just to be clear, it's only a barrier with the planer off. When the board is fed into the planet with the power on, it does not stop at the back roller.
The only adjustment given is an adjustment to prevent tapered cuts by ensuring that the roller assembly is parallel to the bed in a side-to-side manner.
I will check that, but I don't think that that is what I am curious about. My question in more about front-to-back.
Again, with the power on, the infeed roller has no problem pushing the board hard enough for the outfeed roller to grab it. It's only with the power off that I notice the board stop when it reaches the outfeed roller.
Well, why would you do that???? Of COURSE it will hit the outfeed roller; how else could it possibly have enough friction applied to do any good when planing?
Most planer feed rollers are spring loaded and will have some vertical give to them. My guess is when you force the board under the front roller, it pushed the roller up into the spring. When the board meets the back roller, the difference in height is the amount of upward travel in the from roller.
If you continued to force the board under the back roller, it would likely raise up to the same height as the front.
Perhaps I'm not explaining my "test" very well. I am not forcing the board under the front roller in the normal "infeed" sense.
I placed the board on the bed and slid it back and forth under the infeed roller as I lowered the assembly. As soon as I felt the *slightest* amount of resistance from the front roller, I stopped lowering the assembly. Like zero resistance, then a 1/4" turn (1/64") and there's the tiniest bit of drag. So little drag that all up and down motion is eliminated but I can still push the board with my pinky.
Then when I push the board in farther, it come to a hard stop at the outfeed roller.
I don't think so. I think the difference in height is much more than that.
Sure, but should I have to *force* it? It no longer takes just a pinky to the get the board under the outfeed. It takes a considerable amount of full hand push, so much that if the wheels on the cart weren't locked, I could push it across the shop.
The outfeed roller is definitely lower than the infeed roller and that is what my question is. Should it be?
See my response above...how could it possibly function unless it is lower and by enough to still have sufficient friction force applied to pull the material on through the planer _EVEN AT THE THICKEST POSSIBLE CUT_???
I don't know what the limit stop is on these baby planers, it's 1/8" on my PM180 so the outfeed has to be roughly that much lower or you would have to adjust it on the fly for every significant cut thickness.
Even the little old Rockwell/Delta Model 13 is 3/32" to the stop bar...
Went and looked and I'd actually forgotten on the Model 13 both are set the same height, only the compression spring is adjustable.
shows how a planer is designed to work and has some very useful description of usage that is applicable for any.
Now I don't know about these little guys...well, gargle,gargle...oh! there actually is a manual! It says right there
"The planer is supplied with planing blades mounted in the cutterhead and infeed and outfeed rollers adjusted to the correct height."
Ergo, while there's no cross-sectional drawing as in the other manual, it appears like with the Model 13 the position of the rollers is fixed and you may/may not have an adjustable pressure spring or it may be these are fixed, too...
Inspection of the way the thing is constructed should answer the question, but I'm guessing there is no adjustment provided to change the position.
It doesn't show the outfeed rollers; you're on your on to adjust as see fit! I'm almost certain I remember they do have both compression spring and height adjustment but I'll have go look to be certain; I've not had to adjust it in years...one advantage of the mass--nothing flimsy to it...
That's exactly what the manual for my planer says.
The thing is, they might as well have added the words "are supposed to be", as in "infeed and outfeed rollers *are supposed to be* adjusted to the correct height".
That is basically the whole point of my question. I know what the manual says but I don't if the guy/gal who put mine together did it right. Since I don't know squat about planers, I have no idea if the engineer's idea of "the correct height" is what my planer is actually set at. What does "correct height" mean - both rollers the same distance from the bed or the outfeed lower then the infeed roller by 1/32"?
In other words, just because mine came out the box the way it did doesn't mean that it's set up correctly.
There is no adjustment on mine, so either uneven is right or it's screwed up. That's what I'm trying to determine.
I figured that anyone who had a planer similar to mine (e.g. lunchbox) could try my simple test and let me know what theirs does.
Is the thing constructed so you _could_ adjust them if you wanted to, or are they in a solidly-mounted assembly? For these little guys, I'd not be terribly surprised if the latter were the case...there's only one place they _can_ be. Then again, they may be mounted in a bearing/sleeve holder on a threaded rod so they can be moved but if so would expect would be part of the maintenance/setup info.
I thought maybe the manual would have a picture of the actual machine.
I still think the real answer is "If it works, it's OK!" How it acts dead is pretty-much totally immaterial; go make chips!
Your supposition only holds true if the answer to your question is "yes".
The issue is that I don't know if "it works" or not.
Let's start from the beginning.
This is my first planer and my first use of a planer. I jumped right into it. I built a planing sled so that I could flatten some twisted boards. The sled is flat and level, my board is supported so that it doesn't rock.
(The end closest to the planer touching the sled, the far end shimmed and secured.)
I marked the full length of the board so that I would know when the entire length had been planed flat. Supposedly, once all the marks are gone, I should be able to flip the board over and it should lay completely flat on the sled. The problem is that when I flip it over, the "far end", the end that was shimmed, does not touch the sled. There is a gap between the sled and that end of the board. (It's not the result of snipe. The gap extends beyond the little area of snipe at the end of the board.)
This happened on 2 different boards, so it's either my technique, my sled, or my planer. OK, so I made a smaller sled, tried a shorter board and got the same results. That leaves my technique or the planer. My technique matches what I've seen on youtube and read about, so I think that leaves my planer.
That's when the I started looking at the planer and seeing what I could find out. That's when I tried my push test. That's when I found that the back roller was presenting an obstacle. That's when I posted my question.
Short, already flat boards seem to plane down evenly, but to be honest I haven't spent a lot of time doing that since I'm trying to flatten the long twisted boards first and use the thinnest of the resulting boards as my final thickness. Since one end keeps coming out screwed up, I'm simply trying to determine what is causing the problem.
Having nothing to compare my planer/technique to, I came here looking for some answers.
That's what a planer does. Period. If it does that, it works.
I recommend to get some scrap stock of decent thickness, joint one face flat and then run it through the planer several times.
It should subsequently measure identically the same thickness at all four corners.
If that test works, then there's nothing wrong with the planer itself at all, everything has to be in the other part of the equation.
But trying to determine if the planer functions correctly with all that in the mix without knowing it a priori is too many variables to control to ever come to a conclusion as to the root cause of a problem.
As for whether the design has the outfeed rollers lower than the infeed; chasing that is a pointless errand if it functions correctly; they will have been shown to be immaterial.
So a straight egde on the flattened side of the reveal it is not flat? Maybe flip the board end for end, maybe just the sled with the board while planing. I have not used my planer to flatten twisted stock, I start out on my jointer.
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