Hopefully some of you can give me some advice. I inherited a 15' Craftsman Planer/Molder. I don't know what I am doing wrong, but boards won't feed. According to the Operator's Manual, the Rollercase Assembly has rollers, but I don't see any rollers, only a set of teeth on the feed side and a brush on the discharge side. I know that my uncle used the planer regularly, but I never watched him closely.
If anybody can give me any hints, I would greatly appreciate any help.
Paul
Paul, In what condition is the planer bed? A little rust on the bed will keep a planer from feeding. Buff it to a shine with sandpaper or hardware cloth. After it is good and clean, apply a coat of paste furniture wax and let that dry. Apply more wax as needed. That is just sorta general info, as I haven't used a Craftsman, but the principal should be the same.
Paul,
Welcome to the forum! I do not have any experience with your particular planer so I cannot give you any solid advice but I definately wanted to welcome you aboard.
I am sure some of our members will be able to help you out.
Make yourself at home here and stay awhile. Fill out your bio and plant a tree on the map. I think you are our first member from Nevada. 8)
Paul,
Do you have the model number of this machine?
Kind had the same problem with a small (12 1/2") table top Craftsman planer.
Did some Red Oak with it last spring without any trouble. Tried to do a piece of cypress with it this past fall, and it wouldn't feed.
I don't think anyone used it in between, but I still don't know why it don't feed. :-/
Furby
My little DeWalt planer is fussy about feeding cypress too. And guess what 90% of my timber stash is? ::)
I have to keep the bottom plate and feed in / out tables real clean and polished for it to feed reliably. But I can feed hard as rock Eucalyptus thu it no worries ???
Like Faron says.. the bed has to be super clean and slippery. Some wood just seems to be more attracted to the bed than the rollers?
Ian
Paul,
And anybody else who has feed problems with their planer :P maybe this will help. It's worked very well for me.
scroll to >>>>>Reply #21 on
https://forestryforum.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl?board=sawmill;action=display;num=1079782283;start=20
pappy
Thanks for the info thus far...The model number is 351.217450. The tray is rust free, but I will try lubricant on the tray. I'll let you know the results.
Paul
Paul,
If I remember correctly, the Craftman planer uses rubber feed rolls to feed the lumber. There are two of them located by the cutter head, they must also be clean. Check them for condition, when they get old, they crack. I don't know if your planer has a chip breaker, if it does, it is located just in front of the cutter head. If it is too low, it will stop boards from feeding.
See if you can get operation instructions from Sears and align this planer and see what happens.
Go to http://www3.sears.com/ type in you model no. and check out the diagram. It looks like your suppose to have 2 rollers to feed the stock through from wwhat I'm seein in their diagram.
Hey Termite,
That link was great! I bookmarked that one for when I need to tweak my planer/molder. It's amazing the info's that's buried here in the forum--thanks for bringing that back to the light of day! :)
I think it might be beneficial to have a section in the Knowledge Base regarding machine maintenance--I'd definitely vote to have Termite's comments added about tweaking planer/molders to the knowledge base, fwiw.
Paul,
Your planer should have a feed roller and an exit roller. They should both be a semi hard cushion roller. They should be just over the feed tray. First things first, verify that they are turning when the unit is running. You may have a drive chain off, a broken key, or a missing roll pin.
Paul
I have a RBI 20" planer molder that came with a 1/2" plastic top to go over the bed. Without the plastic top I had lots of trouble getting wood though, with it no problem. Maybe you find a piece of slippery plastic for yours. Steve
After getting all the help found by Termite's link, we bought a 12" wide piece of Melboard. That's the white coated stuff used for quick assembly cabinets. It is REAL slick, and hard. We screwed a cleat to the bottom, so it won't feed into the planer and out the other side. Cheap, slick and lays flat. 1" thick will just make your scale read 1" high . ;D ;D
Welcome to the forum, Paul. ;) ;D
I run a 15" delta, every now and then I need to clean, polish, and coat the feed surfaces with silicon. works well.
Careful with that silicone, Ranger, if it gets on the wood and doesn't get sanded off, it will wreak havoc with finishes.
Pure paste wax (no silicone added) is a safer bet.
Looking at the drivetrain diagram, it could be a stripped feed roller drive gear, ya might have to take it apart a litte to check.
Paul, Did you ever get her running?
thanks, Scott, haven't had any problems, yet. How about turtle wax?
I know a guy up in NY who puts good ole DUCK TAPE on the feed rollers of his planer molder. He swears by it and runs alot of custom mouldings commercially. has two or three of these planer moulders and they all have duct tape replacing the worn rubber feed rollers as he wears out the original material. Reid
Duct tape sounds like a good idea for rubber rollers. I might try that. :)
The best wax I've found for lubricating the surfaces of a planer or Table Saw is Johnson's Paste Floor Wax. The one in the short round yellow can.
It is recommended that waxes called tru wax be used because many waxes have silicon and other additives in them. They are death on wood finishes. Tru Wax, according to what I can find out, was developed from "tree" wax. Basically, I think, the recommendation is for waxes produced by vegetation rather than animal or mineral sources.
http://www.cyberlipid.org/wax/wax0001.htm
Waxes have been recommended to me for lubrication of the moving parts of the planer as well as the bed. Gob it on the threads of the acme threads or threaded rods that control the height of the head. It won't hurt anything but it does create a slick surface that won't rust or collect sawdust.
Termite,
Is that the scientific name for teflon? Farmers here use it to line metal on potato harvesters and rollers and elevator (speed) beds on harvestors. Keeps from wearing the metal. Also, teflon is used in the meat shops as cutting boards or at home as cutting boards. They manufacture the stuff not far from here, in Grand Falls. It comes as powder in sealed tubs and they add some chemicals to make it into the teflon product.
Good tip on the planer. :)
As stated ealier your planer has a feed and exit roller and sometimes the rubber on these feed rollers wear and may need replacing. Sometimes I just give the board a hand by pushing it along. ;D
Donk,
Don't know if it's the "scientific name" for this stuff but this is what these folks call it.
QuoteLONG WEARING, SLIPPERY UHMW MAKES GREAT JIGS AND FIXTURES...MACHINES LIKE WOOD
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ultra High Molecular Weight (UHMW) plastic is dense, very slippery and tremendously durable - available in sizes and shapes to fit your specific needs:
1/8", 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2" thick pieces make great auxiliary fences.
3/4" material works well for making fixture and jig runners and cutouts.
3/8" x 3/4" piece can be used as a miter gauge slot runner (might require final fitting).
813-784 - Self adhesive UHMW wearstrip can be applied to machine fences, tool bottom plates or base plates.
UHMW machines just like wood, except it has a tendency to clog fine countersinks.
USA.
http://woodworker.com/cgi-bin/FULLPRES.exe?PARTNUM=836-990&LARGEVIEW=ON
It's the same material pastry and butcher shops use. When it's time to change their work surface you can usually get it for a good deal. Also makes good skis for ya tote sled :P
Wax is fine if you run 100 lin ft of lumber but it don't last. When ya gotta run a couple 1000 lin ft or more and your shutting down the planer to wax while ya customer is standing there watching the clock ... well I had to find something better and the local farm machinery manufacture turned me onto this stuff and :o :o BRILLIANT !!! JUST BRILLIANT !!!
I'm pretty sure its teflon, maybe make casual mention of the name and maybe they can confirm it. Teflon is pretty slick too, it lines most new frying pans and is added in some windshield washer fluid. ;)
Question of waxes and silicon. If silicon gets on wood surfaces and cause finish problems if not sanded off, would not any wax do the same? Canauba are any of the vegie waxes are slick, and effect the surface finish.
Is it 6 of one and a half dozen of the other?
Thanks for all your help, I got it working last weekend.
Paul
Are ya gonna give us a hint as to what was wrong? ???
Quote from: Chet on February 02, 2005, 08:37:54 PM
Are ya gonna give us a hint as to what was wrong? ???
ya Paul what ya find out???
I have a 15" craftsman planer/molder model 351.217450. The chain broke in the gearbox and when it did, it come off all the sprockets. I would like to know if anyone has one and could take a pic of it and send it to me.
I found your question, but you tagged it to an over 13 year old posting. Making a new post in the woodworking section might yield better results. Sorry I can't help, nothing easy to find on Google.