I recently got my planer back from Pacific Tool Repair here in Hawaii. The motor was rebuilt in the mainland and the brushes, bearings, cord were replaced and the blades were sharpen. Plus a little body work and a paint job. It cost me about $300+ but it was money well spent. The fiberglass turbo blower is from Charlie Wong. Pacific Tool Repair (David Garcia) is the go to guy in Hawaii for Skil planer repair!
Now I need to learn how to use it and to improve on my hacker status.