DIY on the fly knob. The Dutch way

General Discussion
1

Hey guys,

I’m new here on swaylocks and this is going to be my first post. Hope my English isn’t to bad for you guys cause I’m a dutchmen.

My name is Otto and I just openend a little board repairshop here in holland. I love to repair boards and shaped a few of them so far.
In my new shop I build a shapingroom and got tons of info from here so thanks! I looked into the Hitachi planers. The P20SB models are not really common here so I couldn’t get one but I found a Hitachi P20SA2 model wich is quite simular for about 75 dollars. I followed the Video’s from Brian Pavlic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPj78R5WqLo&t=159s
But like almost everything I can’t quite get the materials you have in the US (shaping tools are a pain in the ass to). But after alooooooooooot of searching i found a nice and cheap way to rebuild the depth knob. I will give you some update on the steps I followed.

First I redid the handle and gave my Hitachi some new cutting knives. Still looking for a way to do the exhaust but that’s for later.

https://www.swaylocks.com/sites/default/files/hitachi.jpg

Then I was looking for something to replace the Hot&cold water stem you guys use for this. I found this piece in China. It’s for a 3d printer and the price was about 4 dollars. It turns about 4mm with half a turn.

https://www.swaylocks.com/sites/default/files/3d%20printer%20piece.jpg

The local hardware stores here aren’t that big but I found a 22x22mm coper tube called a “soldeer sok” this fits nice into the frontbase plate after drilling the bolt out. I just grinded the inside a little to fit the 3d printer piece into it and the placed normal PVC tubing into it with the following result.

https://www.swaylocks.com/sites/default/files/20180222_163716.jpg
https://www.swaylocks.com/sites/default/files/20180222_170030.jpg
https://www.swaylocks.com/sites/default/files/20180222_172031.jpg

Epoxy it all together. After this I taped off the Leadscrew and filled up the remaining gap with epoxy so it would by as tight as possible.

Next time I will place this piece into the front plate of the Hitachi. Just waiting on a lock collar which will get delivered soon. Then I can test It all out. Keep you updated.

Otto


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2

Welcome!

Pretty cool.

Post up your final product.

Ohh and your English is spot on!

3

The threading needs to go 3.18 mm (1/8 inch) in one-quarter turn (90 degrees) to be similar to most shaping planers. From what you described you have to turn the knob about 150 degrees to get 3.18 mm. Your nut and stud are a way better thread than the faucet type, much less play since it’s intended for very precise movement of the nut. The main problem with depth control mechanisms is how you design the stops for zero depth and full depth. If you want to limit your knob to 90 degrees, you will only get 2mm maximum cut. This isn’t a big problem if you don’t mind doing additional passes. It is almost impossible to turn the knob past 90 degrees without letting go and regripping unless you’re got a double-jointed wrist. Defeats the purpose of making smooth tapering cuts on the fly for railbands and bottom contours. For skinning and thickness work, you’re just setting the cut at a fixed depth and knob rotation isn’t an issue (except for holding at a specific cut depth). I suggest that you limit the knob rotation to only 90 degrees which will give you a better feel for shaping in general since that is the hand movement for normal shaping planers.
When you’re ready, real shaping planers are available in Nederland, please visit https://www.guethary-distribution.com/de/home.