In my old age thought I could do this again and have some fun.
In “the day” I bought a new SkiI 100 ($265.00) and cut the tail off at the handle right a way. I’ll spare you the troubles I’ve seen and the Clark foam Hitachi I adapted to, but I really missed the good old Skil.
Scored another Skil 100 about a year ago, only this time I didn’t cut the tail off.
Noticed both Rennie Yater and Matt Kazuma Kinoshita both use the long or stock Skil.
Skinned out a blank today (Mama was gone) and jezz my arms were burin’.
I shape more short boards was using the Clark foam plastic fantastic, however since I got the Skil the “little green” sits except maybe the nose, as the Skil is too long, so…
? How many have cut down their Skil 100’s
Haven’t done nothin’ yet, as I thought the added length helped, maybe I should workout.
Back in the day I bought my first Skil and a few years ago after it was rebuilt, I made it a grit planer without blades. It was converted to do double duty as a long shoe for longboards & eps boards. I bought a few clark/hitachis which have served me well for shortboards that I use daily. I have another skil (7.5amp) with blades that I use on pu longboards when I need to be agressive. I have a couple of older skils that I am considering to have Pete C. cut the base as the older I get I need more power/less base for anything under 7’. With all the young guys getting machine cuts and scrubbing blanks like they were a baby’s butt so you could see the machine passes after glassing, skils are getting cheaper by the day… My good friend surfding once said to me that you can never have enough shaping tools!! My feeling is that if you have a nice skil with a long base, don’t cut it, find a beater and let Pete do his magic and then cut it down as you are basically saving a lost tool. So many of my idols (who have passed) did both long & short boards with a stock skil that sometimes I think that I am being too picky. That’s just my 2c…
I have one of each. I’ve shaped many thousands of boards with the stock 5.5 amp Skil I bought new in 1964. My short Skil is a 7.5 amp, and I saved the original long bed, and PeteC mounted a short bed on it, that was a gift from Terry Martin. I’m happy with both of them. If I could have only one, I think I’d go with the 7.5 amp short bed. But, since you have both, I suggest that you work out! Keep both, and shape to your hearts content.
For some guys it is purely what you are used too. I suspect that is the case with Rennie and others who use a long base only. A lot of “collectors” think cutting the base demeans the value of a “classic” or “vintage” Skil. I’m not a collector. I bought mine to use. So I want all the adaptations and advantages. There’s a reason that 80- -90% of Pro shapers cut them off. But it does’t matter to me what you do with it… Leave it long. You might need to plane a bunch of 20 ft.2x6’s.
I had PeteC cut mine down behind the support - which removed it… I’d say cut it shorter if you do mostly short boards. I also had Pete set my otf adjustment to ‘semi click’ as I don’t want mine super loose. It seems to work exactly as I wanted it!
As for cutting in nose flip area a shorter bed just makes shaping easier. I vote cut it off.
Sheite! You got - Lowel, Bill, me and a few others giving you a knudge…I gotta thank - Lowel - THANK YOU! Man, I can’t even describe my whole exp…it’s just a dream to shape w it – it’s perfect. I wouldnt change a thing. In a nutshell, it’s got less in the way. I did think w long tail it felt kinda awkwards… if you do decide on cutting it, I think I wouldn’t cut it too much in at handle…just chop off at the support thingie… Like I said, mine is perfect.
+10 Lowel! Roflmao
Matt - I took the pic for you to give you an idea of it’s size… it’s probably less cumbersome w out the extra length. Some of the Folk’s who leave em on prob do mostly lb’s? Just a thought. Or they just got accustomed to it or whatever. Glad I lost it!
Use both, long for thickness / skinning and short for everything else. Long = flat and even. How short? Right under the back of the handle works well. Short bases turn sharper and make converging the deck bands at the nose/tail easier. Certain trick techniques can be done with very short bases by rocking/tilting up.
Here’s a short base taken to the extreme, about 2" of baseplate left. Shoe was said to have been Phil’s, notice that the front is cut away. The reason was to have the side of your hand resting directly on the blank so you could feel ahead of the cut and adjust the depth just before the blades passed over the section. Bill might know more than me about this. I used it and it definitely made you go slower.
Hi Matt, Burned ones are finished http://www.swaylocks.com/forums/post-pictures-your-latest-project-what-are-you-working-new-thread?page=4 - post 141. When you need blades for the Type 5, contact me and I’ll tell you how to adapt the Bosch blades to fit and also how to adjust (a lot easier than previous cutters). Use that long base on the cross-cuts for that blank, go slow where the stringers go out the rails though. For this reason it’s better to do all the thickness work first then cut the outline. The full width of the blank gives more surface to keep the planer flat on the cross-cuts at nose and tail.
The short base plate, that you mounted for me, is five inches long. In my ‘‘perfect world’’ it would be an inch longer. (sounds like a ‘‘that’s what she said’’ joke, eh?) But it works quite well as it is. I tend to use it more on the higher density foams, as it is the 7.5 amp motor. It has a hot knife through butter feeling. So smooth. While my shaping rack was next to Phil’s, I don’t recall observing any mod’s to his equipment. While I didn’t modify my front shoe, I would drop my little finger in front of the shoe riding on the foam, to get a feel for the approaching surface. Just a different path, to the same place.
Hi Mako224. There are 7 different Skil 100 models: No type number (the very first of the 100 series), Type 1 - 4, Type 4A, and Type 5. The very last Skil 100 models Type 4A and 5 have different cutter heads which accept blades similar to the modern reversible and disposable ones used on Bosch and Makita planers. However, the 100 has 3" blades and the Bosch/Makita are 3-1/4" so they have to be shortened. This must be done with care as they just a thin strip of brittle carbide which breaks real easy. The main advantage of this change to the 100 was the blades are in carriers which are secured and adjusted in the cutter, so you don’t have to adjust them unless the carrier is removed. Adjusting the carriers is very easy as they have setscrews on each side so no tapping on the blades to align like the solid ones. Aside from the blades, the Type 5 uses a different motor housing and rear armature bearing than all previous ones (including 4A). Those two parts are not interchangeable with any other Skil versions, but everything else is. You can also exchange a Type 4A / 5 cutter head on any Skil (incl. 676 and 190) and visa versa. And don’t be confused if you see belts that are printed Type 2, Type 3, etc. They’re all the same. In the photo below, the Type 4A/5 cutter + carrier and blades is on the left (there’s 2 each), regular cutter on right.