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Planer problems


krazyderek

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I'm trying to plan a fingerboard down to 3/16" but my planer is having some troubles, it's done it before with no probs, but now it seems like something's binding up or getting in the way, think it's the bolts that hold the rollers on the top part, so i'm going to try grinding the heads down, it's just odd. (and no there isn't any saw dust in the way)

How low can your planer go? mine is crappying out at 7/32, is that already rediculusly low??

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althought that does happen sometimes (you're supposed to buy lubricant for the metal plate, wipe the rolllers off with a rubber cleaner, and try to keep te wood wiped down form sticking dust)....

that wasn't what i was refering to, the acutal unit that moves up and down on 2 theaded posts won't go down low enough to let me plane 3/16" the lowest it will go is 7/32", which is odd because i have another fingerboard blank that is 3/16", so it must have gone down that far before, and i don't remember ever having any problems with it :D

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didn't the 2 boards slip apart? i don't really want to use double stick tape cause it would affect the thickness in those areas, and i'm not using 4 feet of tape cause then i'll never get the 2 peices apart..

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Mine goes down to 1/8" without any trouble. So you are saying that the cutter isn't lowering down? You don't have any depth stops engaged, right (I know, stupid question but you never know). Have you tried lifting it all the way up and shining a flashlight in there? Is something stuck in there preventing it from lowering? What brand is it?

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yes, the cutter just won't go any lower, i can't see any kind of depth stop, the only thing i see that may be hitting are some screws that hold the rollers, and the screws that hold the flat plate down, but i'm not sure, i think what i'll try is buying some replacement bolts, and grind the heads down as small as i can, and see what happens...

it's just REALLy annoying cause i have a zircote fingerboard sitting over in the corner that's EXACTLY 3/16".... so what happened to my planer?? i never made any changes, i've just been using like normal since i got it a couple of months ago

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Use a slave board like Lex suggests. I very much doubt that you'll get any problem with the board being thinner by the thickness of a single layer of doublesided tape, and if you do you'll remove that all when you radius and level the board. Besides, planing boards much thinner than 1/4 without slave board is asking for heartbreak when you shred an expensive piece...

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k, well i still wasn't comfortable with the slave board idea, so i took the 2 screws that i suspected where touching the base of the planer, grinded the heads a bit and rounded them a bit, then put them on with some thinner washers, and i was just able to get down to 3/16" although i was ready to use some CA glue to pin glue it to another ebony board that came from the same chunck of ebony, i think that would have worked better then tape....

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I know you're no into using the tape but if you're using the stewmac double stick tape, that stuff is incredibly strong if you clamp or do something to force the pieces together. In fact, with fretboards, I try not to use too much to avoid cracking the fretboard when peeling it apart.

Do you have any specs/info on your planer? Mine is designed to go to 1/8" but if yours isn't, you're a brave person to be playing around with it. Having that 3/16 board does make you wonder though - pretty strange.

Oh, mine does have depth stops at 1/4 or 1/8 increments, that's why I was wondering if yours was engaged either purposely or by mistake or is broken in place, ...

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actually i love double stick tape, i have that black fabric stuff... it actually took me 5 minutes just to seperate a fingerboard from the stew mac fretting template, and i only used 3 little peices of it,

I didn't want to use it in the planer cause A) if i only use a bit at the ends then the center of the board would be thicker then the ends, :D if i used enough tape to prevent this it would be a waste and the rollers would compress the tape so much that i'd never get the boards apart without ruining one.

@wes, ya, not ryobi, craftex (china import).... i've been taking things apart all my life, and the planer was only 325$ so i was more then comfortable taking 2 little screws off,

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Try the 3M doublesided - It's good and thin, yet still sticks like sh!t to a blanket with a little pressure on it... Three little tabs at beginning, middle and end and you'll be set. I really don't see how the thickness of one strip of tape can cause problems on an unprofiled fingerboard - like I said before, radiusing will remove any tiny imperfections unless your tape is 1/16" thick!

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i'd never get the boards apart without ruining one

Your probably don't care but there is a trick to getting them apart without damaging anything. Don't try to force it apart quickly (it shouldn't take 5 minutes either though) - just separate them enough until you hear the tape making a hissing sound (that's the best description I can come up with now) and then hold it there and let it continue to separate on it's own. I usually add a bit more pressure at that point and it comes apart pretty quickly. Also, I learned the hard way to never completely cover the piece with tape. Always use sections and try to minimize the amount.

In your case, I'd use three pieces - one at each end and one in the middle. Another possibility would be thin strips (cut each piece lengthwise ~ 1/4") to make it easier to pull them apart later.

I'm only saying this because I hate to see people shy away from something that is actually very useful. I'm constantly using that stuff for something. I go through about 1 roll a month. I keep forgetting to try to find a cheaper source for the same stuff. If anyone knows where I can buy that same tape for less, please let me know.

Anyway, I hope you get the planer working the way it should. Have you checked to see if it can go that low (product specs)?

Dave

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I GOT IT TO WORK!!!! lol, THE PLANER NOW GOES DOWN THAT FAR!!!!

THE BOARD IS DONE!

again i didn't want to use tape because the rollers would sandwich the sections that didn't have tape, and leave low spots in the board, enough to add work when i'm leveling the board IMO.

I do use tape in the same manner, i know it takes a while of just holding the board, and letting the tape just come apart.

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