Somewhere back there somebody first replaced the drawknife and blockplane with the whirling blades
of the electric planer. Who did it first? How quickly did this innovation spread?
I have my suspicions but there are others on here who’d have a closer perspective, and this is for sure
the place to have a discussion like this. Maybe even get a few knowledgable lurkers to join the fun…
My best guess…Dale Velzy, or someone that worked with/for him. He was always seeking to increase production. A Skil 100 sure did that.
Mike,
before the Skil, there was a brand Mawl (sp) it had a chain drive, my buddy Dennis Kemp still has one of them, but once the Skil was found or developed, you know the rest, benchmark to the industry
I’ve heard that the Skil dates to 1936 (the tool itself, not it’s use on surfboards). I was wonderin’ also if
the Skil was the first planer used, but that’s kinda secondary to the more general question.
You and Thrailkill are two of the guys I was hoping would jump in here. But neither one of you has heard
any direct stories about who did it first?
Isn’t there an old movie of Greg Noll using a router and a jig to cut the rocker in a balsa board circa 1957 or so?
The first shaping machine?
My first exposure to the Skil was in 1958, in the hands of Wayne Land. It was ‘‘standard issue’’ for shaping, though sanding was being done with belt sanders. After some thought, others come to mind, Quigg, Kivlin, Simmons, even Carter Pyle, with his boat building experience! It’s a darn good question.
Now I want to know the answer too. I never heard any comment as to who was the first to use it to shape a surfboard. Perhaps someone at Pacific Homes, in the Plank Era.
Not sure of the date on this. From the haircut, though, I’d say early sixties? (Hobie Alter, off the Velzy site):
Found this on the web, thought it would be of interest.
HISTORY
We added this section because many people question why Clark Foam is in the power planer
business. We also think some history might be interesting to a person who uses power planers
to earn their living.
In 1988 the Skil Corporation suddenly announced they were discontinuing production of all
power planers. Since it was introduced in the 1930’s, the Skil 100 planer had been used for
almost all surfboard shaping. In 1988 a Rockwell planer was the only other power planer in
use by professional shapers.
While questioning a Skil Vice President in 1988 we were told the following: The planer was
selling well but their tooling was worn out. The tooling had been built in the 1930’s. It was
their prediction that the new plastic planers would be cheaper to produce and would eventually
capture the market. They felt it was not a good investment to retool. It turned out that
they were right. The market for surfboard planers is so tiny and specialized that they laughed
at our problem.
Immediately Clark Foam looked at and purchased every type planer then available in the
United States. We decided a modified Hitachi F-30 would be the best substitute for the Skil
a “beginners planer” or “small board” planer.
Much to our surprise the F-20 outsold the F-30 by a huge margin. Modifying the F-30 was
almost a waste of our time. Hitachi made the decision for us when they discontinued the F-
30 in the early 1990’s.
Looking back we attribute the success of the smaller planers to a combination of availability,
lower cost, and lightweight. Many believe the lightweight was the most significant factor.
Since the 1988 introduction of the modified F-20 several things have happened. We made a
few modifications such as the vacuum attachment and several minor design changes. We
improved our production technique. Hitachi’s production was moved from Japan to China
resulting in a slight decrease in quality and a decrease in price. The F-20 was replaced by the
P-20SB. (The changes were insignificant.) Computer controlled shaping machines appeared,
decreasing the demand for planers. And last, but probably most significant, it turned out
there was a large supply of Skill 100 planers around the world.
Despite rumors and some opinions to the contrary, there were no new planers developed
after 1988 that were better suited to shaping surfboards than the modified P-20SB series.
By 2003 four things had clearly changed. First the cost of the Skil 100 parts and planers had
increased dramatically. While they are incredibly durable they are slowly wearing out. Some
spare parts are being manufactured, but at a very high cost. Second it had became very clear
the P-20SB is durable and a good value rather than a “plastic toy”. Third some shapers had
gotten really good at using the modified P-20SB and evidently preferred it to the Skil 100 for
some or all of their shaping. One of the major factors was weight. Last some serious shapers
were identifying problems with the modified P-20SB and were making some pretty trick
modifications.
By 2003 we realized that Clark Foam had made some serious errors. First we did not include
a manual such as this one with all of our modified planers. A lot of shapers were really
struggling with the required maintenance and repairs. Furthermore, many shapers did not
know we carried parts, could offer phone help, and did repairs. Last, and most serious, we
had not made a commitment to the continued development of the planer.
The commitment was made to fix our errors. As a first step we again looked at all planers
available in the United States. We now have a very contemporary planer collection at our
factory. The Bosch 1594 clearly won the overall design, power, and RPM award for an out of
the box small planer. Our analysis showed the Bosch 1594 would be difficult to convert to a
surfboard planer so we stuck with the P-20SB. In our opinion it is still the easiest planer to
modify and it has some other significant advantages.
As a first step in the development process we got a lot of input from shapers. We also checked
out numerous modifications made by shapers. We carefully studied the Skill 100. During
our development work we concluded that the original 1930’s Skil 100 designer went on to
design the first atomic bomb. What a design!
During testing and information gathering we noticed the majority of shapers were running
their planers on dull blades. This is the equivalent of reducing a planer’s power. It also limits
the amount of the final shaping that can be done using a power planer. This is how we came
up with the idea of a blade exchange and a blade sharpening service.
Once we had the power planer sharpening service in place we extended the service to the
hand planers we sell.
"Mike,
before the Skil, there was a brand Mawl (sp) it had a chain drive, my buddy Dennis Kemp still has one of them, but once the Skil was found or developed, you know the rest, benchmark to the industry"
Jim, one of my friends once sent me this photo of a Holzher planer which featured the chain drive mechanism, too. He said the noise was just unbelievable…:
Some good responses, thanks all.
Quigg, Kivlin, Simmons, Pyle… That’s the list of my suspects also; or at least I was wondering if planer use went
that far back. If you get back into the '40s there aren’t that many possibities. Or was it an outgrowth of ‘‘production’’
work, which came a little later (and hence opens up more possible names)?
Any chance that someone outside of SoCal pre-dated the aforementioned? Input from the international set would be welcome.
I think we should get to the bottom of this for the sake of history.
It seems relatively safe to say that the power planer was first used on wooden boards, be it balsa or, before that, redwood. Many shapers have had a carpenter’s background and the use of this tool looks quite logical when it comes to planing large surfaces. Much less logical with foam when you think of it, although it turned out to be quite effective.
Interesting thread. In 1959 the first check I ever wrote was for a Skil 100 planer. I bought it from M & W Electric in Torrance California. I had to tear up the first two checks because I wrote in the wrong spaces. The third check was perfect and I went home with a brand spanking new planer. In fact I still have it.
Bing
Aloha Bing
How much did you write the check for in 1959? I was 4 years old at the time.
I just came across a 10amp Rockwellfrom a retired builder who had hardly used it for $200.
==ep
I wish I could remember . I would guess around $100.
Aloha Bing
How much did you write the check for in 1959? I was 4 years old at the time.Quote:
Great story, Bing. It’s guys like you that might know a little about this subject, or know the people the people
that know (or something like that).
I hope that the passage of time will not make us unable to get real first-hand info from those that were there,
although that might (sadly) be the case.
" I hope that the passage of time will not make us unable to get real first-hand info from those that were there,
although that might (sadly) be the case."
Jeez don’t write him off yet. I saw Bing the other day he looked pretty good. Hopefully he will be around for awhile, i am sure he hopes so.
When I wrote that I was referring to Quigg and Kivlin and Simmons,et al. I’m sorry you took it to mean
I was talking about Bing. It appears we’re going to have to go back to the early '50s (at least), and the
guys who were paying attention at that time are not great in number.
When I wrote that I was referring to Quigg and Kivlin and Simmons,et al. I’m sorry you took it to mean
I was talking about Bing. It appears we’re going to have to go back to the early '50s (at least), and the
guys who were paying attention at that time are not great in number.
Mike,
Quigg and Kivlin are still around (Velzy and Simmons sadly are not) Joe Quigg and Matt Kivlin may have some answers to the question. I remember when Simmons shaped my 9’6" balsa (concave, twin fin) he used an adz and hand plane to shape it. That would have been in 51 or 52. I know he didn’t have a planer at that time. Velzy and Hobie most likely were the first to use a Skil commercially
Talking about old timers leaving the planet. After talking with Greg Noll at the Sacred Craft I thought to myself " I should have asked him if he’s planned his Paddle out yet". That would have got a laugh. Then I got to thinking someone should start a service called “P.O.P.S” (paddle out planning services) just like wedding planners. They could take care of all the details like flower and lei’s, press releases, beach approval, loaner boards for out of towners etc.
Now don’t anyone rip me a new one for saying that. It’s just my 72 year old sense of humor and I don’t mean any harm to anyone.
Bing
" “P.O.P.S” (paddle out planning services) just like wedding planners. They could take care of all the details like flower and lei’s, press releases, beach approval, loaner boards for out of towners etc."
Unfortunately not a bad idea. Too many of the originals are leaving us.
Bing, let your 72yr. old sense of humor loose.
ps, we can get Ekstrom to paint all the boards grey
Bing,
What a genius idea.
Have you run that by Duke yet?