I have been sawing lumber for 20 + years and have finally decided to go to the next step and start planning....I have bought a custom made planer that can plane 8"x10" .I finally have the building built to house it 38'x44'.
My first question is where can I buy additional heads or knives with profiles that I may need down the road....???
Also where to get knives sharpened ?
I saw mostly White Cedar and most of what I will plane will be eased edge decking and v-match possibly down the road log cabin stock
I may possibly do some custom planning also...
At some point I will put some pics on here for all to see !!
I know a while back the old man had a real hard time finding any one who would plane the ship lap profile (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiplap). He used in place of plywood, in his new house (entire exterior and all subfloors).
I know some the more "GREEN" or environment individuals are looking at it as an alternative to plywood/partical board. Plus it makes a nice finished look for insides of work shops or garages
https://woodworkerstoolworks.com/ and ask to speak with Bobby.
Another place is www.cggschmidt.com I had them make planer blades for an antique machine years ago. Now if they deem your machine to be the least bit unsafe they won't make blades.
i would call paul at river valley machine, they are located in maine. he can make some crazy parts also do any grinding you need
Dewey, I have been fairly successful at making my own knives. Buy the pre-hardened bar stock from MSC. It's available in various thickness and widths. I use a homemade setup made from an old skill saw with an abrasive cutoff wheel and scrap wood. Works sorta like a key making cutter., using a sheet metal template as a guide. There's a post with pics in the planing and processing section. Just finished a set of 3 knives for making 8 inch log style siding. Having that capability opens up a market for producing antique and specialty moldings.
Piney I looked for the post of you making knives but can't find it ????
Red I have talked to Paul....going to meet with him next week or so
Dewey, here's a link..
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,30815.msg444391.html#msg444391
thank you Piney...
my biggest concern is weight balanace between the set of knives. if they arent balanced within half of a gram the probablity of taking a bearing out or wrecking a spindle is a real .
Red Oaks, you raise a valid concern. Especially on the lighter machines, balance could be a problem. Not much of a problem for me. I run an 18 inch woodmaster. The molding head only has one slot for a single knife, it's milled out of 4 inch diameter 6 inch long solid steel mounted on a 2 inch solid steel shaft. Takes a lot of imbalance to shake the thing ;D
I spent ten years grinding knives on a set-up very much like the one piney woods shows except we used an old table saw. Worked great. You will also need to make sure you have a very accurate balance scale.
I have an old powermatic beast and have kicked around the idea of getting Byrd to make a custom spiral head for it as I saw they offer it as a custom job. I wonder if they could make one for you? The price can be shocking (~$1000) but the inserts are carbide and last much longer, they have four sides per insert, and changing blades will take no time compared to the hours required for setting up a standard knife set each time. They also are much less noisy and handle wild grain better without tearout. The main driver for myself would be the setup time. Setting up planers requires patience, focus, time and special tools. The only one of the four I routinely have is the last one!
Quote from: Dewey on April 07, 2014, 10:47:28 AM
Also where to get knives sharpened ?
I'm late to the
party thread but I'd try Quality Saw and Supply in West Enfield for sharpening. They retip my Lucas blades and have done the blades for my delta planer once years ago. They cover the whole state and likely pick up/drop off somewhere near you. I've been pretty happy with them so far. 2 cents. On a sidenote, I'd like to stop in some day Dewey and see your operation if that's ok? Never been to Liberty Tool either, so two birds and all that. ;) :)
US blades in Hamden will sharpen the straight blades and balance. they send out profile blades to a place in NH stay away from millmark in ellsworth. I used to grind chipper blades ay US they do carbide saw blades too. and your circle saws