Planer out of parallel

[Rob Ritch]

I discovered while building my latest project that my planer is out of parallel. It is a Delta 12 1/2" if that makes a difference. It is out by about 3/100th over a 4" wide piece which I guess would be 9/100th over the width of the planer. I checked the table extensions and it looks like they may not be parallel with the planer bed. Is it possible that this is causing the problem, or is it most likely the head is out of parallel. If it is the head I have 3 questions

1. Can I adjust the head back to parallel
2. Can I send it to a Delta repair center and have it fixed
3. Is it worth fixing or am I ahead to just replace it (2 1/2 years old)

If anyone has any other suggestions I would appreciate it.

[Minorite]

check your blade alignment bob

[Theo Veenstra]

Last time I experienced 'irregularities' on the output of my planer, the knives were worn/blunt. Got them sharpened, which fixed my problem then..

Theo

[George]

I wouldn't let the bed extensions stress the board. That one's a gimme.

Second is the blade exposure, and be sure to use the locks on the final passes.

Beyond the generic planer answers - you have no bed rollers - can't be more specific other than to say check your manual. Would not be surprised at all to find an adjustment procedure there, but I'd make damn sure - as in touch gage either side of bed to head - I had a problem of that nature before working beyond.

[Leon]

I had the exact same problem with my old Ryobi AP10 about 6 years ago. As other have suggested, make sure all of your blades are mounted properly. Mine had a loose cutter head and the adjustment screws on either side of the cutter head had slop. As a result, one side started up or down before the other side. I took it to Ryobi and had it all adjusted and tightened up. IIRC it cost me $14. CHEAP. Nothing was broken, they simply had to adjust and tighten things up. YES have it fixed. The repair should be inexpensive unless something is actually broken.

[mp]

You can adjust it yourself. Some planers have right-angle gears under the bed. Loosen the horizontal gearshaft, lift it away from the vertical gear (do not move the vertical gear). Rotate the horizontal gear to make the adjustment. One tooth adjusts the parallelism by about .003 or so. If your planer has gear and chains, the process is similar. You'd remove the chain and turn one of the gears to make the adjustment. If your planer is the Delta 22-560 you can make the adjustment via a nut on the underside of the cutterhead.