I recently inherited my father’s Inca 570 Jointer/Planer. It is an incredible machine, the prize of his shop. But when he and my mom had to downsize, all of his most valuable tools came to me. I’m happy about that, but I take maintenance of them very seriously.

I’ve used the Inca 570 several times since inheriting it with no problems. I’ve also performed most of the routine maintenance recommended by both Inca and Garrett Wade.

This weekend a friend came over to get assistance with a project. We did some light jointing of some 3/4″ walnut boards on the Inca. Then we proceeded to do some planing of those same boards. The boards were probably 6″ wide, so not near the Inca’s maximum capacity. They were about 11″ long. I fed the first board through, and the Inca began to cut. But then after taking about two inches of the board, the feeding stopped. The motor was still running, and it sounded like the roller was still turning. But the board was going nowhere.

I shut off the Inca, lowered the planer table and removed the board. It had received some light gouging teeth marks, presumably from the roller. I assumed that I had been trying to take off to much wood at one pass (which, upon further reflection, I really don’t think I was). So I adjust the table to take a finer cut and fed it again. Once again the board stopped. This time I pushed on the board, and it fed through. The Inca made the cut. I adjust the table height ever-so-slightly and then fed the board through a second time. 

This time I could hear what sounded like the motor working extra-hard to feed the board. It wasn’t the sound of the engine slowing down. It was more like an additional noise or louder volume than normal. I’m not really sure how to explain it… Once again, the board got stuck in the planer. I turned it off, lowered the table and pulled the board out. Again, where the Inca had stopped the board had the teeth marks.

So I’m not really sure how to proceed here. My father took very good care of this machine. I have used it several times since receiving it over the past few months, but nothing excessive. I do have some extra parts. (My dad made sure to stock up on parts when the Inca went out of production.) This is clearly an issue related to the roller and feeding. If anyone has any experience dealing with this or suggestions on how to proceed, I welcome them. My next step is to begin taking the machine apart to see if I can find the problem…