I unpacked this new planer and checked all of the settings. Seemed good to go so I ran some Ash through it for some Mission end tables I am building.The stock was 4/4 from the lumber yard. I was taking 1/16 passes and the first few B/F were sweet. After about 15 B/F not so good. I started to get thin lines and the grain was rough. I also had a situation running a 3 inch wide board when the planer stopped feeding the board with about 3 inches left to plane. i cross cut the high section off and ran it again with the same results. At that point I raised the planer to check the blades and the rollers. I started it up and the rollers were turning. I readjusted the depth and ran a diferent board without fault(except for the rough finish) I called Dewalt on that one but they could not help me. I was trying to watch the grain direction. I admit to running some knots through it. The wood seemed clean and free of debris.I trust my supplier. I have never used ash before. I have never planed before. As I said this planer was fresh out of the box. I went on line to see if other people had premature knife wear but found nothing. Even taking cuts at 1/32 semmed to leave a rough finish with these thin lines on the surface. I have not yet changed the blades. Any thoughts?
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Replies
No Knots
A quick way to dull and chip knives is to run knots through the machine, they can be as hard as glass and can sometimes have dust and sand within them.
Also, no matter who your supplier is, the surfaces of the wood, especially rough sawn, should be brushed off with a wire brush and checked for embedded grit and stones. Also cut off the ends of the stock, a 1/2 inch or so, to remove any debris that might have gotten into the end grain if the boards were stood on end (and don't stand them on end again). Finally, don't run wood that has been sanded through the machine, grit from the sandpaper will be left in the wood.
At this point it sounds like you have dull blades. Cleaning and waxing the table always helps but don't get wax on the rollers they need to stay sticky. If there is a lot of debris stuck to the rollers they will need to be cleaned off also.
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