Myself I have no use for on-the-fly depth adjustment.
Please explain why?
"Cord should be easily detached from the motor for replacement.
At
the motor housing exit the cord should be well reinforced so that it
does not fail there by excessive flexing, and so it “stands off” like a
legrope from the tool(less likely to become entangled and cut)."
I agree with that. Actually, all surfboard shaping planers should be fitted with a plug on top of the handle where the cord would plug in. This would allow the same cord (running along the dust vacuum tube) to be plugged into different planers. (I.E. you may have one fitted with blades and another with a grit barrel…)
Hi Todd,
This thing goes many years back for me, before the Clark-Hitachi design. I have a completed design of a Skil copy (it actually uses most parts from a current model) with metal housings and 99% of everything that everyone has recommended. The cost of the design work and all the CAD drawings was around $30K (market value). Start-up costs with tooling and related equipment ran in the neighborhood of $45-50K. The aluminum housings were sand cast then CNC machined. After amortizing the initial costs + the part costs, the planer would have to priced at over $500; more like $800 to make it worthwhile. Nobody would pay that when there’s still Skil’s around for that price and regular planers for less than $150, or even a HF for $30. The “customer” who wanted this design actually was going to give most of them away if you bought his other products in volume. They also expected me to cover the start-up expenses. So, I walked away (just like the avatar), no fingers just a little hand wave. Spoke to several Chinese factories about the project; they’d be happy to do it so that the retail would be around $250; except the minimum order was 1 million. I don’t think that Skil even made that many 100’s, or there’s even 1/4 that number of shapers who would care to spend $250. This is why you go through the design and feasibility in a real engineering project, so that you don’t get any surprises after investing. I’ve discussed this at length in other threads; I even had conversations with the President of Festool USA, who came out here, visited some shops and made a prototype. They like niche markets, and wanted to become involved with the surfboard industry. However, they reached the same conclusions as I did with my own project.
It’s great to discuss this stuff, make wish-lists and so on. But when the rubber hits the road, that’s all it is. If you want a planer with custom features, build one from something that is already there. Many on Sway’s have done just this, and there are lots of examples in the archives.
For Plankwalker’s original post, creating an industrial concept design for market acceptance is great. This what industrial designers do, but market acceptance today is more about cost than features. What happens next when it goes into formal engineering is another story dealing with sometimes harsh economic reality. This can crush creativity (I know that all too well). Keep in mind that a successful design is also a function of manufacturing processes and economics.
Thanks Pete for sharing your experience. Our small french study pretty much came to the same conclusions. Also, let’s not forget that a few years from now only a handful of shapers will still shape with a planer… Sad, but probably true…
“…et s’il n’en reste qu’un, je serai celui-là.” Providing God keeps me alive…
Hi Pete
I appreciate your insight and input as I have certainly encountered this with other projects (not having to do with planers). The good news is that as a design student these issues do not apply for the time being as I am only satisfying requirements for a school project. Honestly, The professors will like to have final projects that would be feasibly marketed to the customer but after this thread I am on a mission. That mission is the create the most absolute badass conceptual planer for you guys I can possibly concieve in the next 14 days. THE FAIRY TALE planer is what well call it. I will post it somewhere for everyone to critique.
Thank you all for your input and feedback and if you think of anything else please let us know. I can’t tell you all how thankful I am for your help.
There are a lot of great idea I may have missed this if it was previously mentioned but how about a trigger lock to keep the planer running
This is a great thread, plankwalker, and the first one I’m checking back on in my watched threads…
I have to tell you though, everytime I see your username I read it as “plankwanker” at first.
I’m sorry.
Carry on.