[CHRIS_BOXMAKER]

I have been wood working for a long time, but have always used military base equipment and shops. I recently put together my own shop full of new tools and have some questions on maintaining the equipment. I am new to this process other than my own hand tools and blades. Now i have planners, jointers and such that need to be worked on. Although everything comes with a manual and somewhat vague instructions on how to maintain the stuff. Most are not very clear and detailed.

So to the actual question, is there a book or reference material that talks about this topic. A general guide and or tips and tricks. After many years in the Army I know how important it is to take care of your equipment. Any suggestions or thoughts on this would be great. I wish there was someone who was in the area that could walk me through the process once and I could learn that way.

Specific things I need to know.
Jointer/Planner Knives sharpening and replacement
Gear oil replacement
any regular maintenance that should be conducted as a preventative measure

Thanks
Chris

 

[Fred Hargis]

Chris, figure that the maintenance on home shop equipment is very different than what you are probably used to. It just doesn't get the hours and/or abuse that I'm guessing the shops you've used in the past have had. So maintenance in a home shop becomes a less strenuous task. Actually, one thing that may take more care than you suspect is rust prevention on the cast iron....but since it's easily seen it's a little less schedule driven. As for jointer/planer knives, they do seem to be in different qualities, and some get dull more quickly. You will learn (or already know) to recognize the machine is cutting less well or the cuts are less smooth. I would sometimes just check mine by running my thumbnail over the edge to see if I got a small curl of nail material. But those knives can be more dull in some spots than others, so the machine/cut performance can be a more useful judge of the condition. As for gear oil, I have one tool with a gearbox: my 15" planer. I've had it 12 years and changed the gear oil 3 times, though Delta recommends annually. You may have some machines that have chains that need oiled regularly...my planer has some, but otherwise I can't remember anything special I have to do. Belts will eventually be replaced, bandsaw tires go bad, and you may have some bearings to grease...but there is probably a lot less to do than you suspect. I don't know of any book that addresses this specifically, though it is mentioned in almost all the general tool usage books available. I'd say get your tools, check the owner's manual and plan around what it suggests. If you buy used tools, many manuals are available online, or from the manufacturers of the newer tools. Lastly, thanks for your service and get ready to enjoy using your own tools!

Edited in: Forgot to mention, I'm considering the tuning processes separate from maintenance, though they probably go hand in hand. But most of the big will need tuned from time to time. Some machines need more than others.

 

[CHRIS_BOXMAKER]

Fred,
Thanks for your help! I have done all the tuning and setup the best that I can. I had the most difficulty with my band saw and getting it to resaw correctly. My planner calls for changing the gearbox oil with in the first 20 hours of use, however the book that came with it have the incorrect diagrams to show the proper places to check and change the oil. I have pulled a number of bolts and such to check and or change it and have yet to find the correct combo. I have also noticed that my jointer is having difficulty with some curly hardwoods already. I have only had it a few months and only put a few hundred board feet through it. It seems a little early to be changing or sharpening the blades.

I have watch a lot of videos on these things and just want to make certain I am taking care of my stuff.

Thanks

Chris

 

[Fred Hargis]

I'll offer this on the planer: a lot of them have the fill/check hole in the most awkward of places to reach. I had to use one of these to put the oil in mine, I put a plastic tube on the end to extend the reach. As for the jointer knives, factory knives are of mixed quality, and it pays to have a backup set. Good after market knives are easy to find, and cheaper (besides being generally higher quality). One name brand I really like is Titan,thy are sold by several vendors but I got mine from Holbren's.

 

[CHRIS_BOXMAKER]

Thanks again, just checked my jointer out feed table and it was about a 32nd lower than the top of my blade. Not sure how much that has do with my problem? I also adjusted the indeed to make sure I was taking no more than a 16th on each pass is that to much? I figured with the heavy curl less is better so the knives don't have to work so hard. Also just watched a video done by Carter Products and they say to align the teeth and gullets of the bandsaw blade in the center of the top wheel not the blade it's self. So I'm going to try that and adjust everything accordingly hopefully that will improve the cut I am getting with the saw.

 

[WarnerConstInc.]

My our feed table on my jointer is always set a touch lower then the blades.

 

[fire65]

I clean all my big tools weekly. I spray with W-D40, buff with a scotch brite pad on my 5 inch RD sander. I then wax with car wax.

 

[GeorgeC]

Whatever you learned in the Army should stand you well for your home equipment. That and a little common sense in how to take care of it. Nothing mysterious.

George

 

[CHRIS_BOXMAKER]

Thanks everyone for the help!

I have the cleaning and general upkeep down, I just wanted to make sure that I was not missing anything.

I still am still struggling with some of the tuning stuff I guess. It gets to be frustrating to say the least. I know my band saw should be performing better than it is. I have used many for resawing in the past and have had better results. Not sure where I am going wrong, I just posted another thread asking for some advice on that one too.

I would like to enjoy the work I am doing! Instead I am disappointed and frustrated again and again with the quality of cut that I am getting.

Knowing that it is my doing makes it even worse.... making a bunch of sawdust

Chris

 

[Paul W Gillespie]

I have been in the same boat as you Chris as far as trying to tune up my shop equipment. We are lucky to have the internet, Google and Youtube in this day and age. It pretty much has all been covered before. I learn a lot from the web. One of my favorite go to spots is The Wood Whisperer site. He has several great videos on tool set-up and maintenance. Here is a link to some. Plus check out his other stuff too. Plus Youtube is full of stuff.

I am currently struggling with setting replacement jointer knives.

Good luck.

Edit. I should have said "one of my go to spots other than here." This site and members are the best.

 

[Oneal-Woodworking]

My advice...

Be sure to have a good collection of bearing removal and insertion tools and KNOW the phone number and address of your local bearing store...

Bearings can and WILL eventually take a dump and you being able to replace them yourself 'could' get you back to work a LOT faster than having to wait while you send a part (or entire machine) off to be repaired by someone else...

Also helps to have a small pile of basic mechanics tools on hand with attention being paid also to circlip removal and installation tools, taps, dies, and easyouts in various sizes. A helicoil kit is a GREAT thing to have as well. :yes:

In our shop we keep 'spares' for ALL 'important' toolage and I can do most any repair myself without having to leave the shop for 'parts'... Spare tablesaw motors, spare bearings for shapers and such, spare belts for important tools, spare blades for important tools, spare electrical parts (replacement parts I should say)... :thumbsup:


Recent example: Not to long ago I went to do a blade swap on our planer... Everything went fine until I went to tighten the gib screws up with the fresh blades inserted. Damn chinese ass gib screws (bolts - whatever you want to call them) were pure GARBAGE! Threads on the screws had a taper to them (no clue how they screwed this one up at the factory) and the threads they were supposed to go into were garbage as well. Broke something like 5 or 6 gib screws before saying 'to hell with this garbage' and deciding to 'fix' the problem. :thumbsup:

I had to leave the shop to 'repair' this mess... Went home for the correct tap to fix all the inside threads + to get appropriate tools to remove broken off bolts - Then went to hardware store to get a better grade of replacements for ALL of the 'chinese' gib screws...

Blade changes are a lot faster/easier now and I fell 'safer' knowing that chinese garbage is not holding the bldes in place while the cutterhead is spinning them and I am standing there... :yes:

As a general rule in our shop - IF and when we have to do repairs on a tool that involves new bearings - We ALWAYS buy twice as many as we 'need' at the time for 'just in case' those bearings take another crap later on down the road... We might not be going through so many IF we had 5 different shapers and each one only got run for a few hours each week BUT when you have only a FEW tools that get run CONSTANTLY - You WILL be servicing them more frequently and stuff WILL break much sooner than what many may consider 'normal'. I can easily (and with NO assistance) do a complete bearing swap on a Powermatic shaper in less than 2 hours without ever having to leave the shop or pull out the machine schematics... I know I did it 'correctly' when I go to turn on the machine afterwards (with no blades installed) and you cant hear ANYTHING. The shaft is 'supposed' to spin freely and 'noise' generally means you got a problem brewing... :thumbsup:

 

[Fred Hargis]

Chris, the jointer's outfeed table is too far down if it's off by 1/32". Most recommends suggest it be flush with the highest point of the arc of the knives; others suggest just a shade lower like warnerconstruction suggested. Mine are lower by a few thousandths. !/16" is generally considered a big cut on a jointer, but you might try to lighten it up a little and see if it works better. If you have time, this article gets pretty good reviews on jointers. Have you found the oil port on your planer yet? My Delta has a hex head plug at the top of the gearbox (duh!) on the infeed side of the planer, right behind the rightmost post, tucked up under the frame casting.

 

[CHRIS_BOXMAKER]

Well the problem with the jointer and planner are solved, the grizzly website has some very helpful videos that I had not seen before on setup and maintaining the machines.

Thanks