Yeah, it’s just a hundred bucks, but since I don’t have a planer, and have no wish to shape my next board with a block plane and shurform like I did last time, I think I’ll get the planer. Any suggestions? Also, how do I go about making calipers for measuring thickness is various parts of the blank? Or, do they happen to sell them at Home Depot? I want to make that gift card stretch out as far as possible, since the holidays, of course, have me left busted, flat-ass broke, and I still have to feed my board addiction.
Fairmont, Look in the photo archive under tools, there are some cool ideas there. I made some simple calipers out of 1/4" masonite. they work great. If you attach a kids wooden ruler to your light box all you have to do is turn around and lay the calipers on it to get your measurement. I have one right in front of my clipboard. As for a planer, my HD only carries the riobi and the dewalt. Dewalt has good shoe action but it is over $100…I don’t know about the riobi. You can get the Harbor freight for $39.00… and the recent sale had a 7" sander/polisher for $25! Cheap tools for sure but the planer is a Hitachi knock-off. I sharpened the blades and re-set them, filed the edges of the baseplate and shoe, put in a lighter spring & a dab of grease on the adjuster threads, filled the shoe groove and started mowing!. Any one will tell you it takes a while to get used to using the thing. I just got brave enough to start using it to true the outline and it works great! You could sell your gift card and buy the Harbor freight and have some cash left over!. Free shipping with orders over $50…But… If you post what brands you have available to you at your HD I’m sure someone can give you the low down on it. Eventually the bearings will go since they are not sealed, not sure if they can be replaced with the Hitachi sealed ones.MLC http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Category.taf?f=bylogo&logourl=ChicagoE%2Dwtag%2Egif&brand=Chicago%20Electric
i made my calibers in about 2 minutes with a scrap piece of masonite from a quarterpipe i made. works fine, a little croked. but it works. ive always thoguht about buying the nice one for $50 with the measurments on the side. but i dont want to blow $50. dj
I’ll second the recommendation on the thing - bought one myself when I needed a power plane quickly for boat work and didn’t have the $ for a nice Rockwell. Comes with - leastwise mine did - with a blade sharpening jig, extra brushes and a spare drive belt. Got it with an extra set of blades on the theory that if it lasted through two sets of blades I was ahead of the game. Well, it did that and more. Hogging off oak, not just foam. It took, and continues to take, quite a bit of abuse and it still works fine. The depth adjustment isn’t as nice and smooth as the Rockwell or the Skil, but it’s adequate. Far better than the Makitas. A little fine tuning as mentioned above and you’ll have a nice light, handy, inexpensive tool that’ll do what you want. Cash in the Home Depot gift certificate and get one of these and a spare set of blades, plus one of their $25 sander/polishers and you’ll be way ahead of the game. hope that’s of use doc… http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=32222
Doc, You should try making a lighter spring for your HF planer. I made one out of a 3/16"dia welding rod. I wrapped it around a piece of 3/8"pipe using the old spring as a guide. Then I ground the ends flat. I also smeared a little grease inside the shoe receiver tube and on the adjuster threads. I put a coupla washers under the adjuster knob after sanding the area under it flat (removed casting ridge). I know it sounds like a lot of work but it really isn’t. Mine adjusts smooth as silk. I would like to try changing the threads on the adjuster to coarse instead of fine. I tried retapping a trial fine thread to coarse but it was rough. With the right washers I actually got zero cut at the zero mark! Good idea to fill the groove. I used mine for awhile withthe groove and had some problems with it tracking on ridges of foam. On a different note: beware of the makita knock-off on E-bay. I got one and gave it to a woodworking friend. The adjuster knob is too close to the body and your hand won’t fit in there very easily to adjust while you cut!! MLC
Doc, I just got the HF for christmas. I already have the clark but I wanted a beater. It looks almost identical to the clark/hitachi. Do you know if the front plates are interchangable? I was also curious what you used to fill the groove. I think for someone on a budget this would be a great alternative to the clark and with the modifications that you suggest it would work just as well. Skip
Yes, the front shoes are interchangible, the hole the shaft goes through is slightly smaller, just a quick rat tail filing fixes that. I did the same as Doc, bought one to knock down gluey stringers, added the front shoe from a dead Hitachi, it’s still alive
Well, I use mine, stock, for boat work, though I think the next rainy day might be a good time to do a little tuneup on the beast. Orrr… what the hell, why not… What to fill the groove with? Epoxy and the filler of your choice would be my suggestion. What does it look like they used in the Clark? I’d fill, then set the front shoe even with the back shoe ( use a steel straightedge ) and lap it on a sheet of silicon carbide sandpaper on top of a very flat surface, say a thick piece of glass, a tablesaw table or mebbe a good sized piece of Corian scrap. Will the front shoes interchange? Dunno - if you have both then try it and see. I don’t, you see, so you’re one up on me. ( later, reading Jim Phillips’ answer - aha! so they do!) Ok - this got my curiousity fired up and out to the workshop to get the little devil. Mine is green and pretty much indistinguishable from the SB20 Hitachi ( http://www.toolsforless.com/cgi-bin/ToolBig.pl?SKU=P20SB ) . Oh, and I have no idea what planer that is at http://www.fiberglasssupply.com/Product_Catalog/ShapingTools/shapingtools.html all I know is it sure ain’t a SB20. Some things right off the bat - Grease does wonders. I used white lithium grease, a tube of which I happened to have in the living room on the coffee table. There is also a sail repair sewing machine and a mig welder in there… some people have art in their living rooms, I have tools. It’s, like, a personal problem. A good dab under the knob, some on the threads and on the hollow shaft that encloses the springs and it’s much, much smoother and easier. Grease is Good Stuff. So many people give things a shot of WD-40 and then it rusts and freezes up again… grease is there for good. The little casting ridge under the knob has been worn away by now - makes life easier. Bear in mind that my tools have to spend a lot of their lives on draggers, as I tend to make boat calls, so the tools get kinda munged up and worn before their times. The spring definitely has more zing than it really needs. I haven’t tried it, but I’ll bet that putting it in a hot oven ( around 450 degrees F ) for an hour followed by slow cooling in air would anneal it some and take some of the pressure out of it all. Or, just grind off a quarter inch of it by placing the spring in a vise and having at it with a grinder. I think I’ll try annealing it first if I really get tired of fighting the spring. Option B - check the hardware store - you never know - or substitute a section of the funny spring from your junk box. You do have a shop junk box, right, where all those odd parts wind up? From a quick looksee, the spring you find on a screen door chain will work, cut off some of it and give it a try. I’d imagine the cam-type depth adjustment on the Clark/Hitachi could be retrofitted to the HF. Though that would definitely need a spring with less oomph and maybe grinding down the top of the sleeve. That nice round knob? http://www.carrlane.com/Catalog/index.cfm where they have all kinds of cool stuff for jigs and fixtures. I better stop now before I start thinking up gizmos… Ok, now that I have got my hands dirty again and I can now have my evening coffee with a certain sense of satisfaction… hope that’s of use doc…
If you really want to get industrious you can cut off the handle and mount it like the new Hitachi/Clark mod also!. I earlier said I used a 3/16" welding rod for a new spring…it was an 1/8" 316 stainless! Sorry about that. You can use dev con epoxy or just some poly resin with fibers to fill the groove, just rough up the groove good first! MLC
…I HAVE BOTH: the 03 and the older clark pro model.I prefer the rear handle position of the old style best.I can control the pressure of the cut better as well as the glide.The 03s are nice ,maybe after I get the motor re-wired for more hp I’ll like it better.I used my old model today and due to the hoped-up motor and carbide blades, I can’t out move the cut.It’s faster than me!Herb
All, Thanks for the info and wisdom. I am gonna rework my HF this week and I will let you guys know how I make out. I was going to use bondo to fill the groove instead of epoxy, does anyone know of any compatability issues?
bondo will get along with aluminum just fine, though as mentioned you should rough up the groove some. 80 grit paper would be good for that. Marine-tex ( if you have some kicking around your workshop ) might be a little better. The same paper will work for taking the sharp edges off the shoes. hope that’s of use doc…
bondo is heavyand soaks water like a sponge.I refinished the owner of harbor freight"s yacht it is a 57’ hatteras.He has 50 of those stores-kanda the costco of tools