mcmaster parts for hitachi

General Discussion
1

hey guys. i’m modifying my hitachi and i bought some parts off from mcmaster to try and match it up with some of what clark used on their modded planers. got the parts today and nothing fits! bummer. so here’s my question…

i used the pdf that foamEZ has on their site that lists the specifics to the planer, and ordered accordingly. for instance, the knob is a 1/2-13 thread, and i ordered a ball knob with that thread but it’s too large. also ordered a 1/2" collar.

,and some pins that didn’t quite fit either. everything looks good, but doesn’t fit. any idea what could’ve gone wrong here? if someone has used mcmaster before for their own planer mods to the hitachi, that’d be great if you’d post the correct part numbers. here’s the ones i ordered for the knobs: 6046K61, 6185K47, 9946K15, 98381A554, 60865K72.

any help would be appreciated. also, if you know of any places like HD or lowes carry similar parts what section they’d be in so i don’t have to go through the hassle of returning these and paying shipping 3 times to get the right ones from mcmaster :slight_smile:

thanks guys

2

Just buy the Clark Hitachi Planer? They are still being made.

3

Hey 207:

The problem is that 1/2 inch is not 12mm although it is close. The Hitachi is

metric so you need to refer to metric measurements. That is true of the sizes

of the bolts (handle shaft) and the threads per cm/inch. Call a rep at McMaster

and they should help you with the translation. It wouldn’t hurt to get a die/tap

set in metrics and check out exactly what they are. Good luck and let us all know

what the real specs are, FoamEZ just repeated what Clark gave them…

BKB

4

i’ve thought about just getting a clark, but i already had the unmodified hitachi, and a bosch, and i’m only at a couple boards a year so it doesn’t seem feasible to plop down a couple hundred just to get some of the mods i can do on my own with a little inginuity.

i’ll check with mcmaster on the translation to metric, thanks! i’ll post the part numbers when i find out…

also, if someone has some closer up photos of the clark mods (knob system, doughnut, etc.) that’d be great. would help me a little in fnding the closest thing. i’ve never seen one in person and the photos available online aren’t closeups

-brandon

5

You can make mods like the handle, rounding the front plate, etc… But you’ll have to get a screw mechanism that adjusts the depth in full in about a 1/3 of a turn and adapt that to the front plate. With all the effort that you’ll be going through it would be better to just buy one of the Shapers Edge (formerly Clark) planers http://www.shapersedge.com/ . Unless you think you’ll be selling them to the public and want to compete with Shapers Edge then it still would probably not be worth it. Better to spend you time making boards.

6

oceanrider, good point. to be honest i’m not setting out to really match the real thing, let alone trying to compete with them in the marketplace. the real reason behind this is my stock adjusting handle actually cracked off, so i figured while i was at replacing it, might as well try to put in some of the mods that clark came up with.

i’m definetly not putting much effort into this, sorta just trying to repair the handle and see what i can do while i’m at it. after all i have a bosch anyways and i only shape a few boards a year as it is…

thanks guys!

7

ahhhh, standard vs metric strikes again…didn’t we crash a space shuttle because of that?

I wish the US used metric, but noooo, gotta come up with our own system that pretty much makes no logical sense.