Carl's Planer

General Discussion
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I thought you guys might like to check out my new planer. I just finished it up. Those you that know me will notice that it isn’t setup for a vacuum system. I seem to be finding myself traveling around to different shaping rooms these days, and it seems that most don’t usually have vacuums installed. :frowning: I built this planer up to for this purpose. It uses the front shoe adustment out of a Clark foam hitachi. I usually collect those units and do all the other modifications on a stock green machine myself when it comes time for a new tool. Perhaps next time I’ll do a build thread if you guys are interested. I generally make them for myself when the need arises. My mind is always turning with tweaks that can be made to make it a better tool. Alot of guys ask why I don’t use the Skil, and the simple answer is the weight. But the motor spins faster on a Hitachi too, and I can also modify them to get a tad bit more depth than a drilled out Skil. 

A quick breakdown of the planer. I fabricate the handle out of steel, it’s just 1" tubing. The dust chute and front end are all one piece, I have a mould that I layup with fiberglass and epoxy. The chute mod allows the big chunks to clear out easy, I have a constant problem with plugging on the big passes that I’m constantly trying to resolve. The front end is pretty close to the skil, it’s much nicer to hang onto. I don’t hold onto the knob like many do with the Hitachis, but hold it like you would a Skil, with the edge of my hand on the board. So I reduce the knob to be that little nub that I wrap my thumb around, it’s all you need. I find when I drop my planer- it happens… they always seem to fall right on the knob, so I make it as low profile as possible. Nothing like a busted knob to slow down your day. I also replace the trigger with a toggle, a 5 dollar switch that is a simple solution to those damn switches wearing out. I generally leave my planer on for the duration of the board, as I usually rough the whole deal out in one stage. 

Edit: I accidentally posted while previewing to see if the images worked. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do making them. -Carl 

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Carl,  Your planer is awesome!  Would love to see some more pics.

regards,  Dave D

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That thing is awesome!

Your right, the weight of the Skill is taxing.  But everytime I go back to my hitachi, I just don’t like it as much as my Skill.  Mainly because of how accurate the depth control is on the Skill, with your hand touching the foam and controlling depth at the same time.  But you’ve got that figured out, with your front end mold.   

You’ve inspired me.  

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Cool! Frankenplaner! It’s alive…

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Very nice … that is really cool

 

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impressive. Looks great. You obviously put a lot of thought into it.  If thats your gig you could probably make a fair amount on refurbing stock p20sb’s into your design.

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carl!

 

nice work,

sorry i almost missed this one.

i gotta custom g-10 m-16 pistol grip made for clark hits.

i made about 30 ..........sold some,gave some away.............

i have one left .

gives the planer that,double handle block planer feel.

let me know and it's yours if you want it.

herb

 

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Very cool Hitachi, very creative with the custom fabrication. I like it. In 1994 or 95   I bought a Clark mod F20-A Hitachi, used it for a while on short boards. But I learned with the skil and never really took to the Hitachi. I liked the weight and feel of the skil. never could bring my self to cut the tail off so I would use the Clark mod. for turning rails down on short boards. Then I saw the Accurate planer. I saved my money for six months and bought the JN2 shorty. So now I have the feel I’ve always liked and a short bed planer I can use for high performance short boards with rocker. The Accurate is awsome. Ya it was expensive but I’m glad I bought it.

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My planers: Skil 100 Super Duty 7.5 amp Type 5 with Accurate dust chute.  /  Accurate JN-2 Short Bed searial# 00022

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