I got a Shark in the shop today.

[Chris in Pickering]

I recieved my shark guard today for my General 650.
The unit is well put together. Fit and finish is good (for something that is built out of a 400 sq' home shop)
I had to grind .100" off one of the guide bushings and shim via washers the other side by .100" to match. It was a quick fix, and not a big enough problem IMO to mention it to Lee Styron.
First test cuts showed stock being pulled away from the fence. I will have to shim the splitter .015-.020" towards the fence in order to get it to line up perfactly with the blade.
Anyone else have this problem with the splitter not lining up on a General 350/650?
Dust collection is great.

[Chris in Pickering]

Disregard my question about shimming. I descovered that the splitter connection on the General was adjustable.... Couple of very hard to see, and hard to loosen hex cap screws.

Chris

[John In Waterdown]

Hey Chris,

I had a hard time getting the shark splitter to line up to my 350, and then tighten those hex bolts without the position shifting. The blade makes loosening and tightening the bolts very awkward. Then one day I had an idea... and, for once, it worked!

With the bolts just loose enough to allow movement, I use the magnetic base from a dial indicator to hold the splitter. Using 2 straight edges against either side of the blade, tweak the position of the splitter and then turn on the magnet. It holds the splitter quite firmly while you remove the blade and tighten the hex bolts.

This works on the 350, so it should work on your 650. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
John

[Kevin in Keswick]

You know Mr. Pickeringwoodworker

I am gettin' real sick and tired of all this talk of you with all your stinkin' POITRAS & GENERAL & LIE NIELSON & VERITAS & SHARKS & 12" JOINTERS & SELLING POITRAS PLANERS & 8" JOINTERS CAUSE "I WANT TO UPGRADE" HOOEY! Why, if I had your stuff I don't believe I would be able be a member of this forum because I would be drooling all over the keyboard while looking at the equipment in my shop. I really mean this when I undoubtedly must say (and you are well deserving I might add)...

YOU SUCK!!!

Seriously though, congrats on the shark and I am just kidding obviously. Also, good luck with your planer for sale, and I am still waiting for that review of that beautiful innocent little guy that hasn't seen the light of day yet, hint hint.

I guess all in all I should just say that I am envious. Can't you tell?

Cheers and Beers,
Kevin

[Chris in Pickering]

You know Mr. Pickeringwoodworker

I am gettin' real sick and tired of all this talk of you with all your stinkin' POITRAS & GENERAL & LIE NIELSON & VERITAS & SHARKS & 12" JOINTERS & SELLING POITRAS PLANERS & 8" JOINTERS CAUSE "I WANT TO UPGRADE" HOOEY! Why, if I had your stuff I don't believe I would be able be a member of this forum because I would be drooling all over the keyboard while looking at the equipment in my shop. I really mean this when I undoubtedly must say (and you are well deserving I might add)...

YOU SUCK!!!

Seriously though, congrats on the shark and I am just kidding obviously. Also, good luck with your planer for sale, and I am still waiting for that review of that beautiful innocent little guy that hasn't seen the light of day yet, hint hint.

I guess all in all I should just say that I am envious. Can't you tell?

Cheers and Beers,
Kevin

Kevin,

Think of all the tools you could buy with all that money you are spending on a personal nanny..... :mrgreen:
The Poitras is no longer for sale. I had a wicked deal lined up on a General 130 brand new in crate but it fell thru.... Its the only planer I would consider replacing my Poitras with....
The Shark is a cool addition to my DC system.... But I am still not a fan of guards. They are such a pain in the A$$. So many limitations.

Chris

[Mack C. in Brooklin ON]

With a Shark & a Gorilla, it sounds more like a zoo than a workshop!:lol:

[Ken in Regina]

Disregard my question about shimming. I descovered that the splitter connection on the General was adjustable.... Couple of very hard to see, and hard to loosen hex cap screws.

Yeah, my Delta adjusts the same way. A real pain in the butt to get at those two hex screws. And even bigger pain in the butt getting them retightened without messing up the setting.

The splitters on my Shark aligned bang on out of the box but I had to file the rear inside corner out a touch on one to get it to clear the table at the back of the insert opening. As with your mod, not a big enough issue to squawk about.

...ken...

[Ken in Regina]

The Shark is a cool addition to my DC system.... But I am still not a fan of guards. They are such a pain in the A$$. So many limitations.

Chris,

I don't much like guards either. But the thing I love about the Shark is that it's so quick and easy to remove and install whenever you have cuts that the guard gets in the way of. That means that I use it for all the ones that it's good for. That's a big safety step forward for me.

...ken...