I have a Skil 100 Type 5, 7.5 amp I picked up from a yardsale. I am missing the mechanism that holds the blades into the drum. It is different on a type 5 than any of the prior types. If anyone has these parts or an entire drum from an earlier type Skil 100 let me know. Below is a picture of the drum I have and you will see that the drum on this type has a square insert that holds the blades in place. It is these two pieces I need or a complete drum from and older unit. I’d even entertain a grit drum.
Pulled this one out this afternoon and gave everything a good cleaning. It cleaned up much better than expected. Motor ohms out and sounds great. Only piece of the puzzle missing is my drum situation mentioned above and a set of blades. I’m ordering a new boot for the power cord which is brittle and cracking.
I may have come up with a solution thanks to Pete C. My plan for this planer is to shorten the base and modify it a bit. My other Skil is too pristine to do any modifications to. At that point I will probably sell my modified green planer and my Porter Cable 653.
Mako,
If it were mine, I’d track down a type 3 or type 4 cutting head, that takes the older slotted blades. It’s the ‘‘Devil I Know.’’ PeteC would be the most likely source.
While I wait for the cutter to arrive from Hawaii I am contemplating next steps for this planer. I am definitely going to cut the base on this one. The original cord is like new but the boot is dried out and cracked. I am ordering the boot and haven’t made up my mind if I will re-use the original cord, put on a 25’ cord or go with a stubby cord set to come out the top of the planer like Mike Stewart uses.
The other thing I am starting to think about is the dust chute. I don’t connect to a vacume. I’ve tried it and don’t like being tethered and don’t have a space to set up a proper system so I will always be using a chute. This planer is missing the chute. I’d really like to make something like the chutes I’ve seen that take advantage of the coolant air to boost the dust out of the chute. Way Way back I remember a thread where someone made one of these but so far haven’t found the thread and pics I was looking for. Something similar to the one pictured below…the pic below is what my end goal is for this planer.
Christmas just came early for me. 9am the mailman showed up with a Priority Mail package with lots of Aloha from Hawaii. I am shocked that this arrived so quickly from so far away. Put in the mail on Wednesday afternoon in Hawaii and arrived at my door in New Jersey 9am Saturday morning. Amazing on several levels…that through this website I found someone so far away that had one they were willing to part with just blows me away. Many thanks Uncled!!! Stoked!!!
The cutter head was sitting in my drawer for a long time collecting dust. I have one last Skil 100 left with a shaper’s barrel that works great for me. Anything to help a fellow hobbyist!
The blades that were in the cutter looked pretty rough but after taking my time at the bench grinder I was able to work the nicks out. Yesterday I ordered new bearings, brushes and a belt. I’ve got a new boot on the way for the cord as well.
UncleD-
Good on you and Mako for making the connection.
Do you know if the molded fiberglass ‘turbo chute’ for the Skil 100 is still being made or available?
I am not looking personally but am curious.
Mako,
Skil blades MUST be exactly the same size, to keep the cutting head in balance @ 15,000 RPM’s ! Send the blades off to PeteC, if you’re not dead sure about the precission of your grind. Just sayin’.
I have the sharpening jig for sharpening them and a really nice antique bench grinder with a fine wheel. The blades were each chipped exactly the same and required the same amount of grinding on each and believe me great care was taken to keep things even and to not heat up the steel. I took great care setting up the fence on the grinder to get the blade angle perfect. I probably spent 45 minutes working on them.
My buddy has a mold for the turbo chute blower. I am not sure if he is still making them but I can ask if you are interested. I think he sells them for $45-$50 each.
