[Crusader]

Hey guys! Some of you might remember when I went to the
Grizzly scratch and dent sale here in Wa. I picked up this planer,
http://www.grizzly.com/products/g0453z/images/
Anyway, it was a showroom display and I'm finally in between projects and other commitments, I now have time to get this beautiful piece up and running. Today I set about getting this thing cleaned and setup.
This thing is covered in grease! Insanely covered in grease. I started wiping this down with degreaser and the main body and infeed/outfeed tables were easy enough. I started working on the "guts" and I'm taking each of the 72 cutters out and cleaning them.
I took off the pulley cover and used the pulleys to rotate the head, but how do I rotate the powered infeed and outfeed rollers?
Is this a turn it on and off kind of deal?
If I spent the time getting this all setup and there's still grease on it, could I send a few sacrificial boards thru it to catch and cleanup
any of the remaining grease?
Any tips on this would be most appreciated.
Thanks, Eric

 

[Dave Paine]

That is not grease, but a film to protect the metal surfaces from rusting.

Normal method to remove is mineral spirits or kerosine. Just let the rags dry out before putting in the garbage, or you run the risk of spontaneous combustion.

I would not run test boards through to remove this stuff, more likely the dust will collect in the stuff and become a bigger problem to cleanup.

 

[Crusader]

Hi Dave, I'm hip to the solvent and the rags, I have a flammable
rag container :thumbsup: Thanks for keeping safety in mind though, can't be too careful!

Ya, this is grease, I know the film you're talking about and this ain't
it. Now the main beds were covered in that film, the kind of tacky,
sticky slightly green looking stuff.
No, the power rollers and the cutting head are covered in a orangish, blackish grease.
I think someone back in the motherland of Taiwan got really, really happy with a grease gun:furious:
I have a feeling I'm gonna have to tear this puppy down.

 

[Fred Hargis]

Sounds like a mess. You should be able to rotate the rollers by moving the drive belts....though they will turn slowly. It does need to be in gear, at least that's how I move the rollers on my Delta.

 

[WarnerConstInc.]

Kerosene cuts grease nice and easy.

 

[Crusader]

Thanks Fred! that was the ticket :thumbsup: As I was moving the pully's to rotate the cutter head I didn't notice the feed rollers were moving, but oh soo slowly.
Well anyway I got the dang grease all cleaned up and started to get the planer setup until I went to get my new Rotocator.
I bought this thing like 2 months ago and never messed with it.
The motherland of China sent me one of their finest pieces of crap
ever to ship across the high seas.
The stupid dial is loose:furious: So now I get to spend another vacation day messing with this. I'm off to Grizzly in the morning and getting a
replacement.

 

[Crusader]

Thought I pass on an update. I got that sucker clean!
My son and I made a hour road trip north to Grizzly to pickup
a replacement Rotocator. Couldn't help myself and picked up a few other odds and ends.
I did a thorough inspection of this machine as it was a floor model and who knew how many hands were on it. I'm glad I did as it needed gear oil and the pressure rollers were way out of adjustment.
Anyway after many hours of this and that I'm happy to report
I have chips!

 

[NetDoc]

Just send it to me for cleaning. I'll have it back to you in five/six years max or whenever I get another one in to clean up. After all, I'm a Scuba Instructor: you know I know what you think I'm talking about.