Planner Thickness Technique Advise

[diyfiesta]

Hello,

I've got myself a planner/thicknesser (the AH106PT from Axminster), its second hand but really light use (and only a few years old). I think its setup correctly, the beds are level when adjusted to "0" and look coplanner to me and my straight edge. Blades are reasonable and setup OK (they catch a straight edge and move about 10mm across the blades when rotated by hand - as per the instructions).

The trouble is my technique must be poor as pretty much every time I try to plan something flat, it ends up as a taper. I take more of the front of the wood and little to none at the end.

I apply light pressure downwards on the infeed table as it enters the cut then as soon as I can I transfer pressure to the outfeed table (never putting pressure on the infeed side again). I think what's happening is that the initial cut takes the difference between beds off and as the wood moves onto the outfeed table, the back edge of the wood lifts a little from the infeed. This seems to mean I take a cut for the first half of the wood but not really from the back. The more I take it over the cutter, the more pronounced it becomes until I end up with a banana.

I've based my technique on Matt Estlea's video

Any advice or thoughts?

 

[rogxwhit]

Are you setting the knives to the outfeed table ...?

If the wood's bowed, are you planing it with the concave face down?

 

[diyfiesta]

Yep and yep

 

[deema]

There are usually two reasons for a taped cut, the knives are not projecting sufficiently or the tables ard not coplanar.
It could be that as you add say 1mm of cut, the tables move out of coplanar.

 

[recipio]

10 mm movement means the knives are very high. I have found it better to ignore this and set the blades until they just touch a batten on the outfeed table. No movement needed. I was getting a lot of snipe and this fixed the problem. Worth a try ?

 

[Spectric]

Sounds like one of the problems I had with my Record PT107, I brought a decent straight edge to set the tables from Straight Edges | FINE TOOLS and checked them after lifting the tables several times to see if anything moved. These fabricated steel machines do not have the rigidity of the old cast iron machines and need some nursing. I also fitted disposable blade holders that removed the need to set the knives which solved many other issues and these knives are also cheaper once you have invested in the carriers. Also a decent dial gauge helps in setting the outfeed table in relation to the blades, MULTI-GAUGE

 

[Spectric]

Another idea, something that helped me a lot was buying the videos from Peter Sefton on the use and setup of the P/T

https://woodworkersworkshop.co.uk/peter-sefton-a-z-of-thickness-planer-set-up-maintenance-dvd/

 

[deema]

Blades are set to around 7 thou (0.18mm) above the table, if you set them too low you end up with a taper. The old timers check of the blades dragging a batting around 10mm is a hood check.

 

[rogxwhit]

Table setup - I would by preference use a 1m straightedge. That's not a ruler - I mean a straightedge. Every workshop needs one, it saves piffling about.

Knife projection - in my experience a travel of the reference slip of 8 or 9mm is good with a 100mm cutterblock. This with the knives provisionally adjusted but before being fully clamped. If your cutterblock is 75mm then I'd reduce that in proportion. It's a perfectly valid and quick method of setting - using it, I've done years of planing with no taper or snipe or anything else. And I don't like to hang about.

Your feeding technique seems sound. Personally I might keep one hand on the infeed a bit longer, but never mind.

So the mystery continues ... pity I can't just pop round.

 

[clogs]

I prefer 2-4mm for my planer....10 is too much.....
my planer has a steel box frame with ally tables.....it's a DeWalt 27-300.....

 

[Ollie78]

10 mm movement is loads. 3mm of drag is what I aim for certainly no more than 5mm.

Spend the time setting it up right once, make certain the tables are flat and coplanar.


Ollie

 

[deema]

@Ollie78 is correct, my bad, the drag should be circa 5~6mm when I do the calcs rather than just relying on memory!!

 

[Inspector]

On my machine the blades work best when there is about 3mm of advance when the blades are hand rotated on a straight piece of wood when tightened.

I apply the pressure to the in feed table and transfer to the out feed when most of the wood is through. You are only holding it down and not trying to force it unless it is a large and long heavy board. I would suggest practicing with some cheap but clear wood to see what works and what doesn't. Takes a while to get the hang of it and "read" the wood to avoid the tear out etc. One of those instances that and hour or two with someone knowledgeable will help you learn a lot faster.

Pete

 

[Mrs C]

Stupid question but how long are your bits of wood? Short bits are really difficult compared to longer bits and if the piece is short and concave side down you will get the symptoms you describe by transferring pressure to the out feed. I think I eventually got the hang of it using the technique described by Inspector above.

 

[Mikebart]

I have found that if even pressure applied when planing and you are getting snipe on the end raising the outfeed table progressively will eventually remove it assuming the tables are co-planer .
I purchased a Veritas straight edge from Axminster quite a few years ago which has been invaluable when needed along with a magnetic dial indicator gauge and a digital angle gauge.
Three of the most important tools I have.

 

[johnnyb]

I can only think your machine must be significantly out of whack. when there right they just work. I can usually feel when it's working right. it takes cuts just where you expect. check your coplaner with the cut on. just put a half million cut and span from the out to the end of the in. make sure the gap looks equal. look for drooping at the infeed end.