# New Surface planer problems



## Scpygt (27 Sep 2021)

Hi, my planer thicknesser combi has started to play up, or maybe it’s me 

I’m jointing up two boards. The surface planer is not planing true, at all now. It comes out bowed, planing only the two ends. See attached pics.

I have adjusted the out feed table height (to just below the planer blade height) , been playing around with this all day actually, and it does not make any difference.

It has been working fine for a couple of months since I bought it, no issues. So, I’m at a total loss to why this would suddenly happen. Is it the blades need sharpening, but I can’t get my head round why that would cause this?
Has anyone had a similar thing happen, and know the solution  






k


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## dzj (27 Sep 2021)

Check whether your in/out feed tables are coplaner. Looks like their ends might be higher.


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## NickM (27 Sep 2021)

I might be wrong, but I could see that if you start with a convex arc then the planer will just keep producing that. The same thing happens with a hand plane because you can take a continuous shaving over the whole length following the arc. The planer is effectively an upside down plane over which you pass the wood so I can see you’d get the same outcome. 

I think you need to plane it slightly hollow (concave) and then back to flat.

I’m not sure how you do that on a planer machine but you need to remove some material just from the centre of the edge gradually working out to the ends.

Hopefully others who know what they’re talking about will be along to correct me/confirm what I’m saying.


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## TheTiddles (27 Sep 2021)

I’ve never understood the idea of having the blade above the out-feed table personally, I set mine flush and never get this problem.


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## RobinBHM (27 Sep 2021)

Scpygt said:


> Hi, my planer thicknesser combi has started to play up, or maybe it’s me
> 
> I’m jointing up two boards. The surface planer is not planing true, at all now. It comes out bowed, planing only the two ends. See attached pics.
> 
> ...



It is either:

1) outfeed table too low or too high

2) outfeed orinfeed table has moved and they are no longer parallel….convex or concave would create your problem

3) bow going wrong way or technique - although I’m sure these won’t be the problem as you’ve not had the issue before.


if it a combi planer thicknesser, do you have to remove the outfeed table when thicknessing - if so have you put it back correctly and not got a bit of crud in it.

blunt blades don’t really cause that issue unless they are so blunt the wood is bouncing - with a diamond you can hone the blades in situ


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## RobinBHM (27 Sep 2021)

TheTiddles said:


> I’ve never understood the idea of having the blade above the out-feed table personally, I set mine flush and never get this problem.



its because top dead centre of the blade is not the effective face of the wood. Each cut is an arc, so the blades have to be a gnats nudger higher.


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## Scpygt (27 Sep 2021)

RobinBHM said:


> It is either:
> 
> 1) outfeed table too low or too high
> 
> ...


Thanks, will look into these points


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## clogs (27 Sep 2021)

gnats nudger........
is that similar to a tad to much..... or smaller....lol....


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## TheTiddles (27 Sep 2021)

RobinBHM said:


> its because top dead centre of the blade is not the effective face of the wood. Each cut is an arc, so the blades have to be a gnats nudger higher.


Do you have a diagram for that? I’m still none the wiser, but if I had my blades set higher than the table I’d expect the start and end of the cut to snipe as the cut would be above the reference plane.


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## Doug71 (27 Sep 2021)

If it's a PT where you lift the tables to thickness I would guess as Robin suggests that the tables are not seated back down properly.

Regarding the outfeed table height if I'm getting snipe I wind it up, if the wood is riding up on the table I wind it down, I can't imagine using a planer with a fixed outfeed table.


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## Sandyn (27 Sep 2021)

Welcome to the forum
+1 for checking the level of the out-feed table, also check all blades are at the same height and parallel to the cutter block. This ensures more consistent setting of the out-feed table relative to all blades across the blade width. 
I set my blade slightly above the out-feed table and check by seeing how far the blade drags a bit of wood.


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## Jacob (27 Sep 2021)

Should be able to fiddle about and adjust things to do better than that. Not sure exactly what.
But I find you can't always rely on your planer for joining boards and I end up doing a bit of hand planing to get them to fit perfectly - matching one board edge to another and marking them so you don't mix them up.


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## Cabinetman (27 Sep 2021)

Can’t imagine how you have managed it on a p/t sorry.
But on the second photo I do think you shouldn’t glue those Oak boards up with that stripe of softwood in the middle, sorry if that was just for demonstration. Ian


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## Richard S (27 Sep 2021)

Before you do anything else, just quickly check that the beds are locked down securely, I’ve had similar issues after inadvertently neglecting to lock the beds down correctly after swapping from thicknessing to surface planing.


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## deema (27 Sep 2021)

Looking at the boards, I’m fairly sure it’s technique. There are two possibilities, the first has already been mentioned. If the boards are convex, you have to take this out to get the stuff slightly concave before taking full length cuts. The other thing that can cause this is putting pressure downwards during the cut on the infeed table, rather than all the downward pressure being placed on the outfeed table. Both create a banana board.


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## Sachakins (28 Sep 2021)

Which style/type you using A or B

Type A




Or B


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## Fergie 307 (28 Sep 2021)

One thing I would check if it's a fairly new machine and this problem has just arisen, are the blades tight and correctly aligned. Especially if you didn't check this before starting to use the machine when new, it's possible they might not have been tightened sufficiently and have moved.


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## Fergie 307 (28 Sep 2021)

clogs said:


> gnats nudger........
> is that similar to a tad to much..... or smaller....lol....


Depends on how well hung your gnat is !  
Used to work with a guy who would often say " that's within a (reference to female genitalia) hair". Similar problem, too much variation to be a reliable reference for measurement.


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## Stevedimebag (28 Sep 2021)

I’d suggest it’s most likely your technique. I had similar issues and realised I wasn’t quite doing it right!
Watch Matt estlea’s video on YouTube. That helped me out.
And it also goes without ur saying, make sure your set up is as spot on as you can get it. 
blade height etc etc etc


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## Jacob (28 Sep 2021)

Scpygt said:


> Hi, my planer thicknesser combi has started to play up, or maybe it’s me
> 
> I’m jointing up two boards. The surface planer is not planing true, at all now. It comes out bowed, planing only the two ends. See attached pics.
> 
> ...


Might improve the board if you take a stopped cut from the middle. Pass the board in the normal way but put your weight on the back end so that the front end lifts up and doesn't hit the cutters at first. When about half way put pressure on the front half so that the back end lifts. In principle anyway!
Nice machines look so reliable but in fact there's sometimes a bit of technique involved in getting them to do what you want


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