Folk’s - I know it’s totally k to own a skil 100 -I almost bought a brand new skil 100 out of the box planer for $120.00 about thirty yrs ago. Sadly I didn’t bite the bullet. Anyway, I got me a -stock out of the box P20SB HITACHI POWER PLANER. Well, I just wanted to inform the pro’s or new guys that if you need a new planer, or your strapped on bucks - go with this unit and don’t look back! It’s a PHENOMENAL PLANER ! I’m not doin I thing to it. I’m just gonna use it “as is” as it works soo damn good there’s no reason to even modify it.Also, the stock round depth control knob actually helps the shaper !!! You have total ability to seat your hand navigating passes etc… Anyone else agree- it’s perfect as it comes? If anyone reads this buys one- let me know k. It would make me stoked to know someone else had the same stoke I have with it! FYI - I named my planer “the Animal” bcuz it kicks ass on foam !
I’m not sure if Sear’s is still running a sale on it? But mine was $106.00 otd! Note: I got it online and NOT in there stores - they don’t carry them there.
Update! I just checked Sears, but no sale, and price is $135.00 , sum other site I haven’t dealt with had one for $64-used at ebay. They might even have new ones there? One site had them for $214.00 a little high, but it is a good planer…Sears still looking reasonably priced.
I don’t want to shower your enthusiasm, but the Hitachi P20SB “out of the box” is just another wood planer that lacks power and, just like another planer, it will take some thickness out of your blank but don’t expect to do much more with it.
so what’s the other planer going to do that this thing can’t? Does this mean I’ll have to sand or surform what my planer cant do? Dunno, but my rig feels powerful enough. What else do these thing’s have to do? Can’t you manipulate your techniques to work for you or not?
I suggest you take a look at Jim Phillips’ video first.
Then you try to do the same with your Hitachi P20Sb “out of the box”.
Ever wonder why some guys took the time (and money) to modify that Hitachi planer specifically for shaping surfboards?
Or why many older guys wouldn’t use anything else than the old Skil 100? Or why the guys at Accurate designed a brand new planer along the lines of the Skil 100? Or why Pete Casica spent time and money modifying the Bosch planer?
Now, of course, you can shape a surfboard with some sandpaper and a block.
About “manipulating my techniques to work for me”, I tend to believe that guys who have spent their whole lives shaping surfboards may know a few things about techniques and which ones are good or not. And I tend to try and follow their path.
It means you’ll need to mod the stock Hitachi to make it work well for surfboards. I have one and have used it. Dead stock its terrible compared to a Skil or Rockwell. The main thing with the Hitachi is that you really can’t adjust depth on the fly without mods.
I think you probably have tons of dough - I dont. I can’t afford a skil 100 @ $500 bucks. Come on - Balsa you know it can work! If you can surform + sand -you SHOULD be able to shape a good board w any stock planer. What are you going to do wait 50 yrs for these experts to teach you? What if they don’t teach you? Aren’t you willing to try to make it work. So I can’t zero out because there’s no settings? Why do you think it’s so impossible to shape with a stock unit? Cant you improvise a way around it?? Nothin personal, but you sound like your afraid of your own techniques…did you ever think that some made up their own techniques - that your using?? Did it ever occur to you that any techniques had been discovered by accident etc… think about it.
Balsa, the only thing a skil 100 can do is maybe zero out…but when you think about it, someone made this technique up! Is it the ONLY technique outhere!!!
Did it ever occur to you that zeroing out whilst planing is not even a correct way to plane a flat plank of wood…zeroing out-say on rail etc., is improvising. Think about it.
It’s not that it can’t be done. Its just a big handicap. I would suggest you rip the shoe adjustment apart and modify it so you can easily go from 0 to full… I’ve shaped full boards with an unmodified hitachi but I wouldn’t recommend it. PS: I bought my Hitachi for $45 used on the web…if money is an issue save your money and buy used. There’s a half dozen on eBay right now.
Mako224 -thanks for the suggestion, but I’m zapping on funds right now. Anyway, I figured out a way to zero out, and adjust my depths…but it only takes one rest, and a turn of the knob.if I had the $ I would maybe modify it, but I just don’t see a need for it right now.
With a little creativity you should be able to modify the depth adjustment at little or no cost. There is probably a thread in the depths of the archives showing how its done.
Mako, mako, mako! You are aware that these computerized board builder’s think we’re all handicapped anyhow…I tell you what, I’ll make up my own way to zero out and save $400 and take my girlfriend out! but thanks - maybe I’ll save up and buy a skil if I can still find one???
I THINK you are serious, as your recent enthusiastic post history accross the board doesnt seem like trolling… But I’ll bite:
You absolutely CAN shape a board with a stock hitachi. I’ve done several. Instead of adjusting on the fly, you have to spend twice as much time planning out EXACTLY where you will stagger, overlap and then blend cuts to approximate an adjustable shoe. This poses challenges when doing rail bands and such, but it can be done. Instead of mowing through material with confidence, you have to take care so as not to tear the foam with a slightly less powerdul motor, but again, it can be done. Ditto for the stringer- be sure to hit it at a 45. I believe Gene Cooper stated he shapes this style, thinking in facets rather than flows (my words, not his).
What it all comes down to is an economy of time. Using a more apprpriate, powerful planer to confidently take care of 90% of the shaping separates a precise 3 hr board from a sloppy 3 day board. When its a hobby time doesnt matter as much, but let me tell you: hobby or not, after your 15th board the stock hitachi’s max 1/16’’ depth gets old FAST. And if you’re patient and know where to look, the cost of a servicable skil is not much more than double what you paid for your bargain hitachi (both of my skils were had for ~250).
I know you’re stoked on your stock planer now, because looking back from your vantage point the pace of hand shaping seems like a mile away. I was the same way. But trust me, from one newb to another, the moment you get a more appropriate planer and the skills to use it, the distance between the stock hitachi and planers like the skil is just as dramatic as what youre experiencing now. All the other posters are talking with this same clarity. So work with the tools you have available now. Slow and steady and meticulous with any tool combo will get you great results. But realize that there are better ways of doing things, regardless of your current stoke.
Being a former carpenter, I know a few things about wood-working. That’s the reason why I told you that the Hitachi “out of the box” is designed to plane wood at a given thickness; that’s why all wood planers come equipped with a clicking depth of cut adjustment device so that you can select, say, 1/16" and consistently take 1/16" of wood everywhere; Even the Skil 100 came with that device but it also was the easier to by-pass by just inserting a screwdriver through the bottom and pushing up the clicking device so that the shoe could move back and forth freely. And, yes, this “on the fly” adjustment will take your shaping skills much higher but if you don’t want to learn the basics, that’s up to you. In which case you paid too much for a planer that will just be useful for skinning and thickness planing; This could be done with a $10 chinese planer.
Granted, you can shape a board using many different techniques but some seem to work better than others. I can say that because I learnt everything by trial and error. France in the '70s was shaping’s third world actually. Experienced shapers would not fight to teach you how to shape. So, yes, my first planer ever was a Towa (a brand that was later bought by Ryobi) and, just like your Hitachi, it wasn’t designed specifically to shape surfboards; But I was very proud to have it because I thought that if you had a power planer, you automatically became a shaper… Since nobody was there to tell me what to do (and, most importantly, what NOT to do), I did all that was possibly wrong. Then it took me years to discover MUCH BETTER TECHNIQUES and it just kills me that, nowadays, when these techniques, materials and tools are easily available to everybody through videos or a forum like Swaylock’s, people will still want to do it the hard way.
Nothing personal, I’m just trying to help you not make the same mistakes I did so that you can make better boards much faster than I did.
But, as the saying goes: “By the time it takes a man to realize that his father maybe was right after all, he usually has a son who thinks that he is wrong.”
Gentleman thanks for the advice, but I honestly believe I’m going to be able to remove the damn foam w out issue…I figured out a “hands on” methodology to adjust depth cuts w out a knob! I geuss it’s personal. I might see if I can get a skil. But have a little faith ! I am going to make the best board possible with what I got ! And I’m going to let you try it if you want to. Good Shaping.
yep it is a great little tool. the mods (and add a grit drum) make it so that you can shape much more accurately and can take the shape farther with power planer. also better ergonomics and dust diversion. i have shaped with a few different planers. only shaped a whole board with a stock planer once - it took me a while but i learned some staggering techniques that i brought over to a modified planer. i think it was a makita. it was in australia at a guys shop that built boards for a living - that is what he used. the good thing about the stock version is that if you want to keep a certain depth, it is easier. with a modified shoe, the depth can easily wander. i do the best of both and have a modified depth adjustment that is set really tight, so it will not move on its own but i can still adjust it on the fly. some guys like their depth super loose so it comes down to what you like. also the stock hitachi bearings can get crudded up pretty fast but if you dont make many boards, should last you a while…
but thanks - maybe I’ll save up and buy a skil if I can still find one???