30" planer setup questions

Dave Shepard · January 03, 2007, 11:11:50 PM

We have a 30" Baxter-Whitney planer that was converted from square head to round head. However the blades are not in it. How do I set up the blades so they are square and parallel?
I also have to put motors on the head and the feed. What RPMs should the head run at, and how much hp should I put on it. If it's over 10 I'll have to go three-phase. Thanks for the input.

Dave

Larry · January 04, 2007, 07:14:41 AM

Many people use a gauge to measure blade projection from the head.

I have always used a dial indicator to measure blade projection from the bed. I feel like it eliminates one-step making for a more accurate set up.

Not familiar with your planer...does it have a built in sharpener? Big machines normally sharpen the blades still in the head, which eliminates the measuring.

HP would just be a guess for me...you might call Charles Schmidt Company. If they don't know, they could probably point you in the direction of somebody that does.

Kelvin · January 05, 2007, 08:56:09 AM

Howdy!
I just got a used 20" powermatic. it can come with either a 5hp or 7hp, but mine has a 10hp with 2hp feed and i'm glad. I would think you could run with just about anything you choose, bigger just allows you to take more off in one hog. You can look at the costs of going 3 phase. Do you have it already? will you have to buy or build a converter and constantly be running that as well? Thats what i chose to do. You should be able to get big 3 phase motors real cheap off ebay. I just bought 3 big ones for $125. One 15 hp baldor was brand new! Look at motor repair shops and big factories aways have them laying around. Phase converter is easy to build and im in the middle of that now. I'd probably want a 15hp on a 30" so you can feed lots of boards at once. Use that 30"
On the blade height you can make a little gauge to sit on the cutter head that touches the blades kinda like the magnetic ones they sell (which are worth the money, cause properly alligned blades run so much better!) They are like a little saddle that sits on top of the cutter head. Also how are the knives adjusted? Jack bolts in the bottom? Springs in the bottom? Both? Carefull to tension the head incrementally and loosen them the same way. also check the head to the bed by putting a hardwood block on the bed and slowly turning (by hand) the cutter head and make sure its coplaner on each end.
Good luck!
KP

Dave Shepard · January 06, 2007, 12:21:28 AM

Thanks for the replies. We are getting a 60 HP rotary phase converter, used, real cheap. We won't use all of it, but we may have a 20 and a 10 running at the same time. I'll have to find the knives to see how they are adjusted, it appears to have four knives.

Dave

Ironwood · January 17, 2007, 03:55:59 AM

You better think in the 20 HP range at least. You could go smaller but it might reallly stall the cutting at times. As for knives, Work up from the table with blocks that set the knives parallel to the table, then check for out of he head protrusion. This will give you insight into the degree that the head remains parallel to the table ( tables can usually be adjusted ). Reid

scsmith42 · January 17, 2007, 06:41:44 AM

The only comment I would add is to wire your phase converters into a 3-phase load center, rather than directly to a piece of equipment. That way you can expand your shop with more 3-phase equipment, simply wiring the new stuff to the existing load center.

As long as your converter is sized large enough for your largest motor, you'll be in good shape (as long as you don't run multiple machines at the same time).

Dave Shepard · January 17, 2007, 03:53:14 PM

Thank you for the replies. I think it is going to be 10hp single phase for now. That is what it had on it. It will probably be 20hp 3phase when we get the converter in. The converter is a 60HP totatl load and will start a 20hp motor. I'd hate to have to buy that one new.

Dave

Dave Shepard · February 18, 2007, 07:16:17 PM

Baxter D. Whitney is alive and well! Well, his planer is anyway. Thanks to everybody who gave advice. We ended up with 10 HP head and 3HP feed motors, the same as our edger, so we could use the same starter panel. We ran a bunch of pine, and misc hardwoods through it and it works very well. The 10 HP seems to be more than enough. We have it set up to run 20FPM so we aren't pushing too hard.

Dave