I was just at a pawnshop and they have a Powerhouse 75100 planer… It looks sorta old, its somewhat heavy… never heard of this kind before. Anyone here tried one of these?
They’re asking $25 and I have two fresh blanks in my garage so its really tempting to buy it/try it.
115 volt, 14000 RPM…
does it look anything like this:
yes, but that thing that threads on… its smaller. and its not as clean as that one.
Keith…I just bought one of those "powercraft"planers on ebay.It is brand new and came with a pile of new blades and belts.It was some sort of deal where the seller found a bunch in a warehouse unused.It runs real sweet but I don’t see any great uses for boards unless you know something about modification??I don’t really want it so if you huys need one give me shout.
Ha. Was this it? (see photo?) You outbid me you dog. I was going to buy that thing on Ebay & see if it could be converted to a cam-action for shaping, but I didn’t want to pay much to experiment with it. They said they sell a lot of them to woodworkers, shoulda known you’d end up with it.
I bought mine on a “buy now” for $59.95.They sold around 10 of them.THey told me they had a bunch more.Believe it or not I got 100 blades with the darn thing.They are actually really nice tools.Just not my cup of tea I guess. RB
Well, for $25 you could buy it and just use it to skin the blanks. Really what you want is something that you can adjust the depth-of-cut on the fly, and most stock planers can’t do that.
my buddy just got the boshe cordless planer…nice tool…has 1/2 turn full adjustment loads of power…a dust bag that works and its got a good feel…18 volt…i will use it on my next board and let you all know how she works…yea i always get slanted ridges in my planing adventures but they seem to shape out real easy?
Looking at it, I find myself wondering if you could do something to fit it with a faster depth changing setup, say like the Rockwell 653.
Not having seen an exploded drawing on the thing, does it have a simple threaded shaft on that knob, leading back to a threaded ear off the shoe, like a jointer? If so, all kinds of possibilities come to mind- especially if the ear on the shoe has a threaded insert rather than just being drilled and tapped.
interestin’…
doc…
yup it was the fact they had spare parts that got me interested. I still think that with some effort the front shoe arrangment could be modified to work (like Doc says) like the 653… only question is, how much work. OR maybe with a side-mounted lever action.
Dang, 100 spare blades! that would last a while…
THe depth adjustment knob seems like it takes too many turns to go from “0” to open.You may have to change that somehow.THe dust exhaust port is not reversable like the SKil.If Doc or Kieth want to fiddle around with it I will be glad to send it to you.All it will do in my shop is collect dust.I don’t care about the money deal…I just won $37.00 on the lottery so I am a wealthy man. RB
that’s a mighty nice offer RB. I’ll be glad to mess around with it if Doc doesn’t want to… whaddayasay Doc?
Go for it, Keith. I have sooo much on my plate just now, another project will just get even dustier on my shelves.
Be happy to kibitz a little, might have an idea or three on how to make the depth adjustment move a little faster. They made those, I think, for a bunch of different brand names, and I think I saw a powerkraft parts link a while back, see if I can find it. yep- www.toolkraft.com, though they may only have parts, etc, for the powerkraft stationary shop tools: table saws, etc, sold my Monkey-Wards under the Toolkraft name.
The side mounted lever- yes indeedie! Assuming those are dovetailed ways on it or something else similar, that’d work quick and slick! Remove the threaded shaft setup, two tapped holes and some fiddling with it and you’d have a really nice, fast adjustment, best mounted on the right side of the planer for a right-handed guy to work with his thumb while holding onto that forward knob?
Or maybe something with a kind of rack and pinion, driven by a gear connected to a lever. Seems like I have seen some rig like that on a plunge router that could be salvaged and adapted.
More info at http://www.owwm.com/ - Keith, I’ll warn ya, that site is dangerous. You will start to ‘covet’ and look in dusty garage corners for heavy old iron.
Hell, I start looking around there and mentally equipping my 1965 dream shop. Sad, isn’t it?
doc…
Doc,
Man, I hear you on that 1965 dream shop. Let’s co-op one! Like you, and many others, I have a lot of “Can’t believe I sold that tool”, or “Sure wish I’d bought that tool back then” stories. The only “old” tool I have left that gets used regularly is a 30’s vintage Delta drill press. I’m unable to put the right words together to explain the difference you feel when using an old beefy quality tool. Do you think they have a soul? Back to the point…this is, afterall, a surfboard forum. Suffice to say I get enjoyment (certainly no profit) from crafting balsa boards with the old #100 and especially the #653.
PS: I still look for ways to sneak over and pull out a beautiful auger bit from the wooden storage box and chuck it in my old Stanley brace when no one’s around to see. How about the old Record and Stanley multi-plane…now there’s a … STOP! Think I’ll take a break and go check out the waves.
Aloha,
richard
Hey Doc - yup, might be worth a try, the side leverage I mean.
Yes, owwm.com is where I found that picture with the green background… great site for that kind of stuff, no?
I prefer the 653 to the Skil 100 myself… whaddatool…
Yo Keith…send me a private message and I will ship the planer to you on Monday via USPS.Post us some photos of your progress(or screw-ups). RB
Yes indeed, Richard - the old heavy iron is just…right, somehow. That and maybe some ways of taking on a project that ain’t quite ‘modern’. Adzes, broadaxes, that sort of thing. Both for messing with wood and for messing with metal or whatever. The old iron can be had cheap or free, if you’re not afraid of taking off a little rust and the like. And I must confess to a distinct liking for putting old tools back together, getting 'em humming. The newer stuff ( high speed ^%$# router-motor powered %$#@ ) just can’t hold up or do the same work.
Just thinking that I wish I had a milling machine just now, I’d be able to put, say, a piece of aluminum bar stock in it and crank put a rack and pinion rig for Keith - or chuck up something in a lathe and make a fast threaded depth adjustment shaft and nut that’d go right in where the old fine-thread setup was.
Ah well… the good news is that in the next few years I am gonna be able to set up a second workshop. And I’m most definitely looking forward to that.
Lets see - Keith, shoot me an email if you like, a few ideas kicking around that mebbe might be of use
doc…
Hi Doc, do you have any suggestion as to a simple and effective device for this “fly-touch” depth adjustment on my old Ryobi? Here’s what it looks like. I’ve shortened the base plate and front shoe but never had time to think about the depth adjustment modification… Any diagram would be welcome if you have one. Thanks a lot.
Well- here’s an immediate thought - bear in mind I am not very familiar with Ryobi planers, so some of this is just a guess as to how they are made -
Lets say that black whatsit is a stirrup or inverted U shaped bit of aluminum bar stock, attached by a screw on either side. A pin is fitted, both sides or all the way through, down low where the existing hole is. If there is a return spring inside , around the depth adjusting shaft, and if you can push the shoe upwards and forwards agains the spring with relatively light pressure, then that’s all you’d need to do. If not, you’ll have to futz with it some, perhaps removing a threaded insert in the shoe or substituting a long stove bolt or machine screw for the knob and threaded shaft assembly, swapping in a lighter spring, etc. The shoe would need to travel freely along the ways, returned by a spring to a ‘cut depth = 0’ position, and modifications to do that would be needed.
Leastwise, that’s a rough idea of one way to take it on. I’d try to keep the knob and some way of setting a minimum depth so that you could add cutting depth when you want to but will always be cutting at least a little, though again I think it’d depend a lot on your style.
This looks to be another interesting project… this give you any ideas?
doc…
Doc, thanks heaps! I had actually been thinking of a similar set-up, but seeing it helps a lot. I will look inside the “beast” tonight and see what can be done. And I’ll try and fix something so it can either move freely or be fixed at a given depth. Thanks again! If I do the modification, I’ll engrave “Doc’s modified” in the shoe… Cheers!