I am wondering:
1. how to modify a planer
2. if there are pre fabricated modification kits?
3. what are you using and what did you modify/how did you modify?
4. what is the best planer?
5. clark foam hitachi?
If you are a beginner Just go down to Harbor Freight and pick up one of their cheapos. Alot of guys use them or have used them. You'll be able to use the HF planer until you master a few skills and if you stick with it; You can get something better later on. To answer one of your questions though; #4. Skil 100 at $500 plus. As opposed to HF at $29 on sale( $39 everyday price.)
Heard from reliable source Greenlight is going to be carrying “mod kits” for Hitachi planers so DIY types can make their own “Clark Hitachis”. Should be substantially cheaper than buying a Clark Hitachi (which I just did, and it is great).
I’ve only shaped 11 boards and found the Clark Hitachi definitely improved my game (used a stock Bosch for the previous boards).
All you do is change bushings to free up the adjustment, extend the handle, round off all edges of the sole plate and if it has a chamfer groove fill with Bondo or epoxy and sand flush.
The only problem with the Hitachi is; They are becoming increasingly harder to get. They are a discontinued item at Lowes. That adjustment cam is damned near impossible to find unless you buy a Clark modified. There are no parts(Clark cams) to be had unless you have got an old one. I bought a box full of planer parts a few years ago and was able to modify a couple of Lowes planers($99). If you get a cam out of an old Clark, have fun getting the knob off of the cam. Damned hard to do without a torch and a press.
what or who is greenlight and do you think you can post a link.... ive shaped 7 boards wit a makita and its about time i upgrade jsut looking for the most bang for my buck but dont want to buy a cheap planer.
Ok, Here it goes -everything else while it may serve the purpose is amateur hour.
Get a Skil 100 preferably a type 4, 7.5 amp motor. If your electrical supply sucks, get one with a 5.5 amp motor. Cut the tail off about where the electrical chord comes out. This way you’ll have more overall planer control, especially toward the nose. Who cares about its virginity, now it will perform better; besides collecting planers just to say you have one is gay… Take off cutter head, and either install carbide blades, or an abrasive cutter, and having both is the best option. That means having at least two planers.
Now, while the planer cutter head is off take out the screw that holds the front shoe and slide it off, and then take off the clicker mechanism so the shoe slides freely, might even want to sand it lightly so the thing does not trap foam dust while your mowing- that sucks when you do.
Next, take about a 3/8 drill and drill a hole just to the left of the 1/8 opening, that way you can open it up a little bit more, increasing the depth you can cut and blow the thing out when it clogs with dust. Almost there, finish by sanding the base edges so not to crease the foam when gunning them out.
That is the basics, then take your clark hitachi and put it in the trash where it belongs… I welcome all replies to the contrary, unless your your using a 653.
I can get by with an Hitachi when I need to and for some, that green plastic planer is all they have ever known. You have to check a planer if you fly with it, No carry on. Since I will not let my Skil out of my site (unless I turn it over to PeteC) when I travel I use a Clark Hitachi. I think it was Pat Rawson that lost a Skil a couple of years ago in flight. That ain't gonna happen to me I followed John Mel's instructions and carefully bent the clicking device back with a large screwdriver. No need to take off the shoe. Worked for me..
I did not say that there are not other ways to do it. You can “get by” as you say so surely with your hitachi, it is still a piece of crap. And furthermore with all respect to John Mel, when just bending the “clicker” at some point, if your using it in the type of application I am referring to- it will clog, like maybe on a rail band at just the wrong time, or setting the rocker, and then when trying to clean it out it takes longer to get the dust out. I’m talking about PROduction, some people have been eating crap for so long that they are used to it and even defend it!
I know lots of shapers who have used those hitachi’s and i’ve seen boxes filled with unfixable plastic crap also. I know your scared that the skil is too heavy, I was too about forty years ago.
As a point of interest, in 1964 a new Skil 100 cost $150 dollars, and gasoline was thirty cents per gallon. Today with gas at $3.00 per gallon, the cost of a NEW Skil 100 should be $1,500 dollars! Little wonder that used ones, in decent shape sell for $600 to $1,200 dollars. I still have my 1964 Skil 100, many cords, brushes, triggers, and surfboards later.
Have got alot of good use out of my Skil. I let the planer do the work. No it's not too heavy. I've owned it for eleven years . I spend about two hours on a longboard. So I'm average for production. It has never "plugged" as you call it. I bought a box of junk Clarks once at an auction and made two new ones out of the misc. parts. If there was anything wrong with the way I neutralized the clicker Pete would have told me as I had him go thru the planer a few years ago. Everyone is entitled to there own preferance and opinion. My opinion is Skil is the best and nothing else really compares. But there are other alternatives to the high price of a Skil that can get the job done. A Clark Hitachi is one of those.
If you are deft enough to make a planer out of spare parts, why would you have Pete go through your planer? Pete may know how to fix a planer, but he has never done production shaping. I have done both.
If you are deft enough to make a planer out of spare parts, why would you have Pete go through your planer? Pete may know how to fix a planer, but he has never done production shaping. I have done both.
Ghetto, I agree with you but you gotta realize that there are at least two different worlds here. Guys making a living as in PROduction must operate under different parameters than guys like me and others that do it as a hobby or as a side line. We have the luxury of TIME. Our planers aren’t running ALL DAY. If it was my livelyhood I’d feel the same. My Hitachi gets me there with no complaints. I love making boards as you probably do but I earn my money woodworking. When I’m at work I adopt the same attitude as you…Balls out. The shaping bay for me is a way to have fun and let off steam as opposed to the pressure cooker of piece work. If it were my life, i’d be in constant search mode for Skils and their parts. I don’t have to so, I’ll leave them to the pros to use.
tblank, I am not mad at you, or anyone, just trying to help. It might sound at bit harsh, but trying to help nonetheless. The 653 is the rockwell/pc with the spiral cutterhead by the way. You can cut a half inch with it modified!
In ''full production mode'', when boards were in the 7' 6'' to 9' 0'' range, I was shaping ten boards per day, using a Skil 100, and never experienced ''clogging'' in the front shoe that hampered work. Sure, foam would get in there, but at the end of the day when cleaning up the shaping room, I would blow off the tools, and shelves, so that the next day was always a ''fresh'' room and clean tools. I sanded and radiused all sharp corners and edges, and lengthened the lead in ramp on the front shoe. Never did anything to the ''clicker'', and would routinly adjust depth ''on the fly.'' Also made a fiberglass, smooth radiused, high volume exhaust chute that has never clogged. Longer cord, of course, but that is the extent of modifications that I've done.
Modified…
That aint purdy, but she knows how hummm -ace. Bill, it works better without the clicker for me, but in the old days when I was a kid people like you were a lot tougher, so I know you can do it without the clicker removed or pushed. I myself hated having the callous on my middle finger from adjusting it. You probably did not drill out the adjustment to get a deeper cut- did you? I did it both of the other ways, this works better.
will anyone sell a skil 100 to a poor college student aspiring to become a pro, trying to shape his way through school for a good price?