Whitney 32A Planer

[Glenn1]

Has anyone had an experience with the Whitney Planer.  It is a vintage 1940's planer which has a 15HP primary motor and a 3HP feeder. 

The information (manual) that I have found is limited although the Whitney company is still in business 45 minutes from my home near Greensboro.

I'd be interested in speaking with anyone who has used a unit similar to this one.

[scsmith42]

Those planers are a real workhorse.  If you buy one, if it does not have a spiral cutterhead upgrade be sure to find one with the built in knife sharpener.

Do you have 3 phase power at your place?

[YellowHammer]

That is hoss for sure.

[Den Socling]

Got to love it's looks. Massive!

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

This has been a commonly used planer over the years.  Newer planers have more hp, better feeds, helical cutterheads and harder bed plate.  Nevertheless, it served well for many years.  Chances are good that the bed plate is worn.  Bearings could be worn.  So, it would be hard to determine a value, because you do not know the condition.

The knives are long and so you do need to joint.  If one knife gets a nick, all need to be sharpened, full length, which is a lot of work compared to today's inserted teeth.  Even so, these have planed a lot of lumber very well, for many years.

[muggs]

I have a Buss 30 inch. Which looks very similar.
A planer that size can really keep you working. I see you have the blade sharpener, very good.    Muggs 8)

[Glenn1]

I have a Buss 30 inch. Which looks very similar.
A planer that size can really keep you working. I see you have the blade sharpener, very good.    Muggs 8)

Do you have a sharpener too?  According to what I read, I need to grind and joint.  Can you tell me what kind of stone is needed for grinding the knives?  Then it said to run the planer at regular speed and joint.  I can't imagine how you can joint the knives when it is running.  Can you share any information with me on what to pay attention to?  Also, the segmented infeed roller has some rust on it.  Should I remove the segments to check the viability of the springs or just run it and see what happens?

Thanks,

[muggs]

I don't have the sharpener for the Buss. I do have one on my Powermatic planer. You need a white wheel [aluminum oxide]. I never had much luck with jointing the knives. I finally gave up and resorted to just grinding and using a hand held stone to remove the wire edge on the knives. If you can find a mentor, it makes life a lot easier.   Good luck    Bob   
As far as your rollers, you can take a pry bar between the table and the roller and see if the springs are working.

[woodworker9]

I'm late to this discussion, but I have a Whitney #32 30" planer in my shop.  Mine is much older, dated to 1918-23.  I have the grinder bar and grinder motor for mine, which is a huge plus to have.

Yes, you joint the knives in the head with the head running.  The idea is that you are just barely knicking the tips of the knives, and advancing the grinding wheel in micro-adjustments.

There are youtube video's online that show the procedures of this on different planers.  You should watch a few of them.

[Glenn1]

I'm late to this discussion, but I have a Whitney #32 30" planer in my shop.  Mine is much older, dated to 1918-23.  I have the grinder bar and grinder motor for mine, which is a huge plus to have.

Yes, you joint the knives in the head with the head running.  The idea is that you are just barely knicking the tips of the knives, and advancing the grinding wheel in micro-adjustments.

There are youtube video's online that show the procedures of this on different planers.  You should watch a few of them.

Below is a very interesting video on sharpening planer blades on the planer.  It runs for 1 hour and 9 minutes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqjRdsxaf5Q