What has to be done to convert a wood power plane to be used on foam?
Or do I have to just buy one made to cut foam?
fubar,
You can use a power planer that you use for wood on foam without FUBAR the new board. mike
A good and easy thing to do is grind all shoe edges round: this way, the planer won’t “catch” when slipping sideways. Also filling the “V” groove(s) in the shoe with epoxy (loaded with aluminum powder is great, looks just like the actual shoe). You may add a 20 foot cable that will let you turn around the blank easier. Other improvements may be done when you get good enough to really use them: modify the depth adjustment knob so it turns freely from 0 to max depth within a quarter or half a turn, modify the angle of the handle to make it more vertical (many planers are actually better for ironing than for planing…), and so on…
But you may use it “stock” for your first board(s), just to get the feel of it.
Cool, thanks for the advice.
Would you recommend changing the barrel?
Does a higher RPM make a smoother cut? Or is there a specific RPM I should look for?
Most planers seem to run around 15000 rpms. Power makes the real difference, especially if you shape multi-stringered or heavy-stringered longboards . Helical blades cut smoother and are less noisy, but they are not found on many planers.
Some shapers use grinding barrels instead of blades. I didn’t try one yet but they say it avoids stringer splintering when planing sideways.
And, just like hand-planers, perfect honing of blades is the key. As a matter of preference, I have my blades slightly rounded at the tips, which makes for less abrupt cuts on the sides.