Spotted a local seller on ebay with a Skil 100 that looked like it had been lightly used for some woodworking for a few years and put away. Made him a cash offer and he took. Picked her up last night and she looks sexy and runs great. By the look of her I’m guessing she’s from the 70’s. Maybe she’s as old as me or older. That’s ok, an older woman can teach me a few things. Up until now I’ve been using a Bosch 1594k.
So I opened her up last night to look at the goods and both the blades have small nicks and are pretty dull. So I know I have to sharpen those, but should I buy new blades? How much do these run? I saw a set on ebay for $90. Luckily she came with the tool to level the blades so that should make it easier to re-install them after sharpening. I’d like to replace the allen key screws that hold the blades. Does anyone know if these are a standard size available anywhere.
I was also thinking of picking up a spare belt and brushes. Is this a good idea? The belt looks good, no cracks or dryness.
The front shoe still has the clicker in it and it’s tight. I pulled out the screw from the bottom of the shoe to see if I could get the shoe off and loosen or remove the clicker, but I can’t seem to figure out how to get the shoe off. Any suggestions?
Oh and one other thing I noticed. The front shoe is lowered all the way, there is still about 1/16 inch clearance under it when i place the planer on a flat surface. Is this normal?
Any other suggestions for getting my new girl in shape to shape or back up parts to keep around just in case?
Picked her up last night and she looks sexy . By the look of her I’m guessing she’s from the 70’s. That’s ok, an older woman can teach me a few things. So I opened her up last night to look at the goods . Luckily she came . Does anyone know if these are a standard size ?it’s tight. I Any suggestions?
Any other suggestions for getting my new girl in shape to shape or back up ?
That one is definitely a great find. I’m seeing more like this one appearing lately, maybe it’s the economy. Do what Rand recommends on the blades and clicker. Remember that once you disengage the clicker, the cut depth is controlled only by your hand position. Bill Barnfield has a nice post on the techniques for using the Skil in the archives. On the cord, get one that is soft and flexible. Those hard orange PVC extension cords will kink up like crazy.
I’ve used a Skil 100, since 1958, and have never had a problem with the clicker being fully functional. Like all production/pro shapers, I would adjust depth of cut ‘‘on the fly.’’ The clicker was never an impediment. Me, I’d leave it intact. Like so many things in surfing, it’s a subjective choice. Nice find!
Thanks guys! So here’s the update. I dropped the blades off for sharpening at a place where all they do is sharpen tools. Right away the guy looked at me like, “where did you get these blades?”. We had a long conversation about great old tools and the junk they make these days. The depth adjustment rod and clicker were so tight that there is no way I could ever adjust depth on the fly so I popped out the clicker and lightly sanded the shoe tracks with 220, 320, 400, 600 and then polished and buffed. Reassembled and the shoe is still snug, but slides like butter. I cleaned out some caked on old saw dust on the inside the barrel and belt compartments. Finally I lightly sanded the whole bottom with 220, 320, 400, 600, rubbing compound, polished and buffed and it’s smooth as silk. It should just glide across foam now. As soon as I get the blades back it should be ready to go. Although I do still want to replace the cord. It came with a cool little tool for setting the blade depth and another for sharpening the blades. I’ve got a twin keel to shape next week so that will be the test!
The “clicker” is just a thin piece of metal that is against the control arm. Just get a pensil and slide the eraser end into the space just above the foot and press it away from the arm. It bends real easy and this will free up the arm to move nice. Spray WD 40 into the gap to lossen it even more. I liked mine loose enough so the when I picked up the planer it would move back and forth by just moving the planer. REAL loose. That leveling tool for the blade is crap. Never could get it to work. I had better success just eyeing the blades to make sure they were level. I’d just eye them with the planer bottom and then tighten and double check. Tighten the center screw first and then the two outside ones. Definately get extra belts, triggers, brushes. Don’t ever want to be left short on those things. A new cord is a must. They have a little metal do hickey that holds the cord into the handle. I use a lock washer in place of that on the new cord which works great. just set the lock washer where you want it and sqeeze it into place with plyers.
Oh yea … a couple of other easy modifications. I liked to have my blades “dropped” by 1/16th of an inch. Then you take a hack saw blade and gently cut the “smile” in the front wider. About 3/8ths to 1/2 inch on each end of the smile. This will allow you to get back to 0 when you move the adjustment to the left and allow you to get a deeper cut when you slide it all the way to the right. I used to have mine set up to cut 1/4 inch and had on the fly adjustment the whole way. Made the tool efficent as hell.
Thanks Greg. I did try the blade level and it was a little tough to use, but I got it to work ok after playing with it for a while. It probably is easier to eye it. I used some lithium grease on the shoe channels, but maybe I’ll try WD40. As I have it set up now the shoe is still snug and stays in place, but moves very smoothly with the adjuster. To get it as loose as you’re saying I’d have to go back in there and sand away some more of the channel. I can see how that would make sculpting the foam easier though. For now I’ll learn the tool with it snug and if I find myself getting the hang of adjusting on the fly I may set it up as you suggest. Thanks for the suggestions. Wow 1/4"! Now that’s mowing foam! I have a metal file that fits perfectly in the “smile” so I may make the modification as well, but I’ll also wait to learn the tool for that one.
Spotted a local seller on ebay with a Skil 100 that looked like it had been lightly used for some woodworking for a few years and put away. Made him a cash offer and he took. Picked her up last night and she looks sexy and runs great. By the look of her I’m guessing she’s from the 70’s. Maybe she’s as old as me or older. That’s ok, an older woman can teach me a few things. Up until now I’ve been using a Bosch 1594k.
