Steve Lyde Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 I have just started the build of the Roubo bench. I am finding my 3 knife Ridgid planar to be ok for milling each board but, when I ran the front slab through the planar it was a different ball game, the thing would still be cutting fine it just can't pull the slab through, and that was at any depth of cut. Every time I would stop pushing or pulling it would just stop moving, never had that problem with the single boards. I have had my eye on a Grizzly 15" with the spiral cutter for a while now, this may just put me over the edge!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjorn rettig Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Steve, I have a fairly substantial planer (part of the MiniMax CU300) and it wasn't able to pull the slab through either. I had to push and pull. I even asked on the Minimax user forum and nobody was surprised given the weight of the slabs. I would toss out the planer just because it fails to do these huge slabs, because it's not often that you throw that kind of work at them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Lyde Posted March 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Bjorn, your correct it isn't every day I would load the planar this hard. I have recently upgraded several tools in my shop and I have been amazed at the difference really nice equipment makes so I think the large heavy planar would be a big improvement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cts1085 Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 For what it is worth - i was able to run the slabs through a Dewalt DW735 13" planner with no problems - just kept it to light cuts and it worked like a champ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMarshall Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 I also had no problems with a Dewalt DW735, and my slabs were LVL too. You guys might want to wax the bottom bed of the planer and see if that helps any. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim_WoodWarden Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Also make sure your feed rollers on the planer are clean. Clean them with mineral spirits. I run a lot of Southern Yellow Pine through mine and the rollers can build up with pitch after a while and they start to lose their grip. So occasionally I raise the cutter head all the way up and take a rag liberally soaked with mineral spirits and wipe down the rollers and that seems to help them get their grippiness (is that a word?!?!) back. Still though it will be interesting to see if my Delta 13" planer can handle the weight of the slabs when I get to doing that here in a couple of months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CessnaPilotBarry Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 As mentioned... Wax or Top Cote the bottom and in/outfeed tables of the planer. I'm not building a Roubo, but I don't remember my 1999 DeWalt 733 having issues moving two 12 1/2" x 3 3/4" x 8' ash slabs for the 21st Century bench I built a few years back. _I_ was the one struggling to move the slabs! BTW... Mustard really messes up the internals, so don't cut it with your planer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFPtrader Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 I'm working with an old 12" Delta planer and it managed to pull the slabs through with a little help here and there. As mentioned above, these slabs are pretty big and heavy which is not what these lunch box planers were built for on a daily basis, but they'll do it with a little help from their friends. I run a waxed 1"x12" x 10ft piece of pine through the planer and pull it down with countersunk bolts and nuts to a makeshift workbench. This keeps it flat and true to the planer bed as well as to keep the planer from moving around. When I plane thick stock I level the board using a lazer level and when I'm planing thinner stock I'll raise the ends of the board 1/4 - 1/2 of an inch above the center. I find this helps to reduce planer snipe, especially on shorter lengths of board. It's a makeshift setup, but it works. Saw this trick in Fine Woodworking and it has worked out pretty well. Recently I bought a Grizzly 6" jointer and I'm pretty happy with that, but I now wish I had looked into the combo Jointer/Planer machines. The Grizzly had some good reviews. A great concept for small workshops, Oh well. My suggestion is to plan your purchases upon your shop size, the type of work you normally do and what your pocket can afford. These machines can add up quickly. That's all I have to say about that. Happy decisions! Art K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 I have the DeWalt and had to push a bit, but found it was because I did not have my infeed and outfeed dead on. After I adjusted, it was a piece of cake and almost zero snipe. I love this little planer. Although someday, I will get a floor model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodcanuck Posted March 22, 2012 Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 I have a pretty cheap lunchbox planer and it managed the bench slabs without trouble. I'll reiterate the 'clean and wax' the planer bed and infeed/outfeed tables....this made a difference for me. I didn't clean the rollers, but I think that would have been a great idea too, if anything will slip and make a mess it'll be the rollers which are probably rubberized. I supported the infeed side manually, holding some of the weight as the slabs went into the planer. I also used tennis balls on the outfeed side on my existing bench to help with the weight of the slabs...this may have helped a lot with reducing friction. Had a quick blog post/pics here: http://woodcanuck.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/the-cheapest-outfeed-roller-ever/ Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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