Wood Planer Restoration - Zapins

There's a thought. Use black pipe of the appropriate diameter, and slice it. Should be able to get two usable 1/4 rounds from one length. Cut a rabit along both edges for the sheet thickness, and weld it all together to make a side. Grind and finish to your satisfaction.
You won't have the weld through the centers of opposing sides, unless you run a cosmetic bead down them.

Roger

 

Won't the sheet steel warp if I run a bead down the entire length?

Also holy f I checked prices on a 4x8 ft sheet of 11 gauge and they quoted me $270 before tax. Madness! I may need to wait for steel to come down out of the sky or get lucky and buy a second hand premade stand from another parks machine. Maybe make a wood stand from scrap for now and upgrade when I luck out in the future. Fricken 300 bucks for metal before any labor costs to bend it....

 

A generous radius on the corner requires less power to bend than a sharp angle which is probably why the original stand had half inch radius corners. You can buy "cold formed angle" steel with the same rounded corner which would let you fabricate the rigid frame of the stand and let you add sides later on down the track. I made a stand out of hot rolled angle for my drill press stand and added the metalwork frame for a shelf at the same time which would give you an idea about what I'm describing.

 

If you run a continous bead, yes. You'll put too much heat in the edge and cause the sheet to warp. However, if you spot it, and let the welds cool, you'll keep the warpage to a minimum.
It's all kind of moot, anyway. With those prices, I'd wait for awhile, too.

Roger

 

Zaps,
Steel is stupid still. If you want to feel better about the steel price. Get a quote on a 4'x8' sheet of 11 ga aluminum! You'll think the Steel is a bargain.

 

I may have found a decent stand for it until I can find an original stand match. I'll be buying it Friday if its decent in person. He says its about 1/8" thick. And its $60. Better than a wood stand.

 

That looks like an old powermatic stand it would be a good period correct replacement stand for your planner. IT looks like it's well built and in good shape for the age.

 

I got it and will start refurbishing it soon. I went to Sam's club for food today and stocked up on stuff so I'll have for the next 3 weeks

What do you think about adding wheels for it? Handy? Or a good way to break something?

 

Will it be too top-heavy for the wheelbase?
Are you sure you want wheels on a machine that you're trying to feed lumber into?
I get the idea of being able to roll it out and back into a corner, but for sure, it's going to need locking casters at all four corners.

Roger

 

I positively think it is dangerously top-heavy for the given wheelbase as it is. But, the steel cabinet could be safely used if wheels were applied to a subbase made of simple angle iron that allowed the wheels to be on a much wider pattern. My planer, that differs from this only in its name badge, is on a sturdy plywood base that raises the planer base 23 inches from the floor and is 24 inches deep and 30 inches wide. It is on robust 4" diameter casters so the wood box is actually only 19- inches high. Two of the casters are locking though I practically never lock them.

Since the planer power feeds the material into itself the operator is not actually pushing against the machine. The machine pulls the boards in. The machine, motor, and base are heavy enough to cause it to be not inclined to roll around unexpectedly. And it is not inclined to tip even when being rolled and it "trips" over a power cord or wood scrap.

I have never felt any inclination to modify this base---it works nicely and looks good to my eye. It has a few coats of oil-based enamel on it and the corners are protected by aluminum angle. It has louvered access doors on the front and both sides to allow easy access to the motor and to allow storage of a few items as well. The motor is on a hinged base and its weight tensions the belt.

As an active member of a power tool forum I will tell you there are countless sad stories of tipped and damaged power tools (and the occasional injury) recounted on that forum as cautionary tales.

I looked again at the pictures of the base and suspect the steel cabinet shown is substantially more than 19" high. Therefore the subbase should have proportionately greater dimensions than my base.

Denis

 

Hmm good points. Maybe I'll keep it on the ground for now. No need to tempt fate. Plus I do like my toes the way they are. Maybe if it becomes a problem later I'll build a large frame for the stand to sit inside with wheels on the side like you mentioned.

Paint stripping seems to be going slowly on the stand which is irritating. I started fixing up the extruder project again. I put it aside for several years but finishing it up is more fun than watching the paint stripper work...

 

Quick question, the manual says to use ep1 grease in the gearbox which makes no sense to me since there is a drain hole and tight screw cap. Could I use gearbox oil like the stuff I used for my band saw gearbox with a worm gear? Any downsides?

 

If it's not tight enough to hold oil, it's gonna piss all over your floor. Worse you can do is fill it and try! I filled the vice on my surface grinder with vactra. What a mistake! It pissed everywhere!
It too had a drain screw... SO I greased it and closed it back up. Sure wish I was grinding something cool instead of digging my grave!

 

Not to answer a question with a question, but what upside would there be to not following the design recommendation? A tube of EP-1 is widely available for about 10 dollars. The gear enclosure for this planer is pretty loose with no gaskets and plenty of gaps. The shafts have no o-rings where they penetrate the housing. So, it would constantly be leaking oil. How well oil would be carried up to the chain is unknown.

My 40-year-old Parks of identical design is still running sweetly on the grease it was factory lubed with.

Hint: keep the blades razor-sharp.

Denis

 

Fair enough point. Part of it is the grease the manual recommended isn't made anymore and I wasn't sure of a substitute and part of it was thinking why on earth is there a drain hole if we are using grease? It won't drain out the drain hole. Whats the point? But you're right. I'm better off following the specs in the manual.

I'd love to see your blade sharpening jig/process?

 

Here are couple pics of my sharpening jig. I sharpen the blades as they sit in the cutter head. That saves the work of removal and especially resting them at their proper height---a time-consuming process.



In the jig as shown is a black hard Akansas stone----extremely (too?) fine and on the planer is a Norton synthetic Coarse/Fine. The hard Arkansas is overkill.


What I do is quite simple. Remove the cutter head guard---two screws hold it. Place a block of wood on the table---something like a 1 foot chunk of 4X4 will work. Put a coarse stone in the jig and secure it using the two screws shown. Flip the jig upside down so that the stone is riding on the blade and the other end of the jig can slide to and fro on the 4X4. Use a wedge or clamp to lock the head in the desired rotating position so that the stone is making contact at a low tangent angle. Raise and lower the planer table for fine adjustment. Put some Sharpie on the blade edge to reveal where the stone is cutting. Make a new edge on the blade. After the edge is roughly cut switch to a fine stone. Finish the edge. Repeat for the other two blades. This is quick and effective.

Does it make a "perfectly" straight cutting edge? Maybe not as precisely straight as a sharpening shop might do on a surface grinder (I could use my surface grinder). But, perfection is not required. You can be as fussy as you want as time allows if perfection is your goal. For me, I just do a quick touch up and get on with it.

If you have the misfortune of hitting a nail (UGGGGHHH), then you will need to take the blades to a shop for regrinding. But, for the day-to-day sharpening this will do and is simple enough that you are not likely to put it off when you know you really should sharpen the blades.

Denis

 

I am trying to figure out step by step what you're procedure is. It looks genius but I'm not understanding something. Gonna read it a few more times. You happen to have a video of it?

Luckily the blades look sharp. No chips or nicks. But the jointer has nail damage. So I'll probably need to get new blades for it.

 

Sorry, I have no video. I think my description of the process is accurate. Perhaps mocking it up a 20” or so piece of 2x4 marked with “stone” and “bearing” on one side corresponding to my photo and walking out to your machine could help visualization. It is a useful technique.

Denis

 

I got around to the motor restoration today. Got it all apart and ordered new bearings which are on the way. I want to replace the carbon brushes since they are noticeably worn. But they don't have numbers on them. Anyone know how to look up the right brushes ?

Its an old leland 1.5 hp motor. Its from 1953 and it says "Type RA" "form BOW JH" "NO. 7271 TR 20314" "FR 204"

 

Just measure them. Are they 1/4” square? That’s what they look like. Lots of brushes on Amazon.

Denis