Delta Planer Problem??

[Tim K]

I'm planing a bunch of hard maple for my fireplace mantel and I'm finding that the material is incredibly jerky as it is getting fed thru the planer. I just cleaned the rollers with a scotch brite pad and a mild detergent and also rewaxed the tables. The planer is about 6 months old and has done this since new. You can imagine the quality of the finish after they go thru. I did face joint the reference side before running them thru.

Any ideas? Is the planer faulty

[Jamie in Brantford]

It would be really scary if it wasn't defective, and it did that. I'd give Delta a call. I'm sure you'll get a new one.

[Jim in Burlington]

If it's 6 months old is there still warranty? If so I'd be taking it in for service.

[Tim K]

Dropped it off at the Guelph Service depot this morning. Speculation is possible dirty rollers (even though I just cleaned them) or a gearing issue. They said it will take a couple of days. A fellow on another board said that he has noticed similar issues with planing maple and that the rollers have to be kept super clean. I hope that's not the case as I have a lot of maple and don't want a lot of maintenance. I would have thought there would be sufficient down pressure thst even a slightly dirty roller would still work well.

[Daniel Martin from St.Laz]

Tim, what Delta model is your planer ?

Daniel

[Tim K]

I have the 22-580, the 13 inch 2 speed.

[Wally in Calgary]

I've planed a whole lot of maple on mine without any cleaning and no problems.
Cheers Wally!!

[Pat Skanes]

Hi Tim,

I have the 15" Delta Planner and I have planed a lot of maple, oak and pine without any issues. Hopefully, the service shop fixes your issue.

If the shop does not fix the problem, as someone else suggested, call Delta and I sure they would help.

Pat

[Tim K]

Delta called me today to say that they found no problems with the planer. They had tested with a couple of boards and there was no jerkiness whatsoever. So I asked if they ran hard maple thru in which they said no. So i jumped in my car wioth a couple of maple boards and went into the shop with them. He was right, no issues...it planed as smooth as one would expect. I brought a couple of other boards to show the pattern on the boards from my planing the night before and they agreed it looked suspicious. We tried about 20 passes and everything was perfect. I am very confused but can't argue with the results. Then an older fellow came over and asked what the temp of the shop was, I was in. I told him it was my garage and that at best I get it up to 50 degrees. He looked at the rollers and came to the conclusion that the cold temp was hardening the rollers just enough that with the bit of dirt I had, it was probably my issue. Recommended I go home, clean the rollers with paint thinner, than hot soapy water and give it another try. So I go home, put the planer in the garage, go back to work. Come back 6 hrs later, get the heaters going, get the temp up to maybe 50 and try planing some maple...sure enough, jerky, jerky, jerky. So, I clean as per instructed and just for safety, rewax the tables.....planes like a charm now!

Jeepers, i would have never thought the temp could effect things like that.
Sorry for the length here but it was a valuable lesson for myself and hopefully others.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.
Tim

[Rob Stokes in North Vanco]

That's an excellent lesson Tim, and it draws a proven conclucsion that I never would have reached. Thanks for posting it.

Rob

[Kevin in Newmarket]

[Mike Harris, London]

Great tip Tim, I'm glad the planer is OK.

Mike

[Jim Muir]

Tim: Thanks for the tip: I printed it and now have a copy in my garage (shop)

[Doug in Burlington]

Fantastic Tip! I was using my Dewalt palnner a couple of weeks ago and the first couple of pieces seemed to slip then the rest went through OK. Could not understand it at the time as the planner is fairly new and the problem seemed to correct itself. Thinking back, the shop was very cold and the heater was just warming it up so that was probably the explanation. Never would have hit on that! Thanks for posting.
Doug

[matt]

Its funny that you mention this. I had an almost identical experience with my Ryobi planer on the weekend. Boards were not rolling through smoothly at all. I actually had to use a push stick to get the wood through. I'm not 100% sure, but at this point I chaulked it up to the extreme cold in the garage (5C)

Matt