so we have this powermatic 20 inch planer and it has a 5 horse three phase motor on it , we are not sure of the feed motor yet, whether it is three phase or not , instead of getting a phase inverter for it and then getting the electric to where we want to put it near the mill , why couldnt we put a 5-7 or so gas motor on it and then just run the feed motor off the electric from the mill area lights , just trying out new ideas for dealing with the power drop on the phase inverter , and not having a huge power cord 100 ft or so long to run it , could move it closer but not that practical , could get 2 motors and convert to single phase but expensive , so maybe we are stuck getting a phase inverter , i have never delt with a phase converter soo, i just dont know the best route , and dont really want to build something, really trying not to spend a ton of money , i am sure i can find a 5 horse motor laying around somewhere in all my junk , and also wondering what someone would expect to pay per bd ft for planing , 50 cents a bd ft?
A 5 hp electric = about a 10 hp gas , should be nothing wrong with using gas or diesel besides the extra cost of running them. Steve
ladylake is right. I would use no less than a 10hp on a 20". I have an 11 hp on my 12". Probably a little more than I need.
planing wood 2 sided you might get .25 b.f. depends on your area. we are differant but, if we are just 2 siding we charge .10 b.f. if we are 4 siding it goes to .20 b.f. and if we are making a pattern the price goes up from there.having said that we can also plain over 2000 b.f per hour
Jim, very likely it would be hard to put an engine on the planer their quite compact. A rotary phase converter is cheap and easy to make, just google it. You will need a reasonably heavy single phase service to the building. Frank C.
We are like Red Oaks. 10 cents one side 17 cents if both sides and 25 cents S4S.
We can plane as fast as you can pick up boards and feed.
All shavings are sent to a granulator and made into a special particle sawdust that pays well.
It is extremely rare for us to plane someone else's wood. We send them to someone else.
So, if you are in an area where people can not get wood planed, then you should get more per board foot.
Put a pencil to what you are wanting to do and see if it makes sense. It is not so much the money you will have to spend, it is the money you will make because you spent it that is important.
Both motors are three-phase. Your problem will be getting enough amperage to the idler motor to run both motors under load. It is important that you use a large enough supply wire with an appropriately sized circuit breaker. A 20 HP idler should offer plenty of power for both load motors. Regards, Clark
Quote from: Cedarman on March 24, 2014, 08:27:19 PM
It is extremely rare for us to plane someone else's wood. We send them to someone else.
Very curious about this, is it because of the risk of damage to the planer due not knowing where the lumber originated, or it would cause a disturbance in your line and process or just don't have time for it?
I assume the policy is based on the school of hard nocks....
Thanks,
YH
I just recently built a 10hp phase converter for my 5hp jointer. It was fairly straight forward, except some of the information I found online contradicted other information. Really, just keep your eye out for a decent sized three phase motor for cheap and you are 90% there already. I took the "easy" way out and opted to buy an autogen static phase converter to start my 10hp idler. Autogen is the same brand Grizzly sells, but Amazon had it cheaper and free shipping. Autogen static phase converters also have a run circuit giving you true three wire power where as most static phase converters just use a start circuit and then run the motor off of the single phase coming in. Most homemade rotary converters need to be balanced, but with the autogen, mine came out under 5% difference on all three legs which aint bad at all. A 10hp idler should be all you would need. Once you have the 10hp idler started, the 5hp cutterhead motor should start on true three phase. once the 10hp and the 5hp motors are started it will actually act like a 15hp phase converter for your feed motor. The more motors that are running the cleaner the power becomes, you just have to remember you have a limited number of amps your service provides. Depending on the size of the feed motor it might make more sense to start the idler, then the feed motor, then the cutterhead.
We put a 20hp Koehler on an old crescent 24"plainer it had a 7.5 hp. Three phase. An used a single phase for feed. Works great I think you need 3 times the hp gas as compared to electric. Got the Koehler for Cooks saw years back. Think it a was about 1400. 250 cheaper than I could find one in southern New England for. Just some thing to think about.