Walker Turner disk sander??

[John Grossbohlin]

Just posted a photo to ABPW... never saw one before and am curious.

[John Grossbohlin]

Never mind on the ID, I found out it was mismarked... it's a Rockwell Uniplane. What's a Uniplane?? LOL

[joeljcarver]

They don't make them anymore. It's a jointer allows the board to lie horizontally as you joint the edge. A series of carbide teeth are set in a rotating disc that is surrounded by a fence and the edge is fed past that disc. I had one for a short time and didn't like it. I couldn't get it adjusted well enough to give me a smooth edge. Instead I got rows of fine grooves similar to the surface of a vinyl phonograph record.

In theory, it seemed like a good idea. In practice ....

Joel

[John Grossbohlin]

They don't make them anymore. It's a jointer allows the board to lie horizontally as you joint the edge. A series of carbide teeth are set in a rotating disc that is surrounded by a fence and the edge is fed past that disc. I had one for a short time and didn't like it. I couldn't get it adjusted well enough to give me a smooth edge. Instead I got rows of fine grooves similar to the surface of a vinyl phonograph record.

In theory, it seemed like a good idea. In practice ....

Joel

Interesting... I saw one sold recently for $750 at a tool dealer. The one I saw locally has an asking price of $200... has a semi-transparent orange blade guard on it and appears to be in good shape. I assume it came out of a school. Sounds like the machine would work on end grain??

[joeljcarver]

saw locally has an asking price of $200...

In my opinion, not worth it even if it was free. (Unless you can cannibalize the motor and trash the rest ....)

shape. I assume it came out of a school. ...

I would not be surprised. The one I had did come from a school.

Yikes! No way - that's asking for trouble. Why joint the end of a board when you have a chop saw, a sliding miter saw, or a radial arm saw? Or even crosscut it on a table saw if it's not ungainly.

[Morris Dovey]

Where is the machine? (I'm interested.)

[lenhow]

I remember those. If you can find an old copy of " The Complete Book Of Woodworking" by Rosario Capotosto it has a section on this very machine. With it, it's possible to work with very small pieces quite safely as there is no danger of kickbacks. Very accurate depth of cut adjustments as well as I recall. I think it's more than just a conversation piece .... it's useful too !

Lenny

[John Grossbohlin]

I saw the Rockwell Uniplane on Craig's list, one of the upstate NY lists.

[John Grossbohlin]

I use hand tools for that... planes and shooting boards!

[Morris Dovey]

Thanks - not in a good place for me. I'd wanted one of these critters since they were introduced, but by the time I could afford one they were gone. I suspect that they do take real care to get set up properly, but I really did (and still do) like the concept.