Knowing little about electrical, currents, HZ’s etc; I find the half the Amps or 2.8 amazing and interesting at the same time. With my limited knowledge, a “light bulb” went off when I read your explanation. Construction related electrical and the fact that I have wired a few Shaping Bays over the last several years has taught me a lot. But I got to say that my conversations with you and your contributions to Sways have taught me more about “Why things electrical work”than anything I have encountered. Thank you Pete.
This one is the Ryobi L22. I shaped a few hundreds of boards with this model, unmodified. Very similar in look to the Skil 100, except for the depth device.
Unlike the Skil’s, the depth adjustment relies on a wheel situated on the front of the shoe (right where the Skil’s lever is) and it takes at least one and a half turn to reach the max depth (about 3mm if I remember well). This can be modified, for sure (I know at least one guy who had done it by grinding a groove in the shoe and installing the very same system (lever) as the Skil’s, but I never had the courage or time to do it.) This planer has been discontinued for years.
I wouldn’tbe Afraid to open it up. I took a short stubby Skil that I bought at Lowe’s apart and found that the adjustment was dependent on a small ball bearing. When I took that out it free flowed without a stiff click. Can’t remember the model of that planer, but it Is a Skil. I’ve got it in storage on Maui. It was real short, probably 4 or 5 inches shorter than a modified Clark Hitachi. I used it in the Nose of Shortboard and Gun blanks. Little bitty thing. Didn’t even have a knob on the front, just a dial. When you open up a planer, it’s all there. You can see immediately whether or not you can do anything with the depth adjustment. And; Whether or not it’s going to be easy or a complicated process.
When you cut that handle off and move it back, you’ll have an opening that could be used for a Vac port. Most guys use an “L” shaped bracket to secure the handle.
That old Bosch has a sliding shoe which may be cam-driven. It appears to be at 45 degrees so the shoe moves upwards equally as forward when the depth is increased. If it is a cam, it’ll be not be viable cost-wise to modify. Another thing to check is if any part of the body or shoe will interfere if you were to cut a straight groove into foam. Also the depth scale is max’d at 25mm (about 3/32") which is not a very deep cut. There are “real” shaping planers available in all EU voltages, PM me for further info.
Pete, I didn´t mean to offend you or disesteem your planers.
Of course I knew your modified Makita planers and I admire your work. Great tools.
I see and understand the details, where dedicated shaping planers / your planers differ from other planers and why that makes them so good for the job they are intended for.
(I´m an engineer and tinkerer. I take apart, repair and modify things for my whole life. I have a lathe, a milling machine, welding tools and such.)
And it´s no question. The cheap Skill or the old Bosch simply won´t provide a working experience like a dedicated shaping planer does.
It´s just that I´m only scrapping out boards for myself. I hotwire my blanks to very close tolerance and don´t mow a lot of foam with the planer.
That´s why I just can´t justify buying myself a dedicated planer from you or others.
(For the same reason I´m to lazy to do a heavy modification by myself. To many projects and not enough time to modify every tool I use.)
The stock planers have their limitations and will cause some struggeling every now and then. I´m conscious of that. But for now I´m alright with it.
At $210 tho; pretty hard to beat what Pete has done with that Wen for Shapers Supply. And among the Aussies and their love of the Makita; a conversion kit for a shaper who already owns a Makita improves it greatly.
