I changed jobs to a new school district and have some equipment issues. I have a 60’s vintage Rockwell 18″ wedge bed style planer. It has some issues that really concern me.
One-its terribly LOUD
Two- Infeed and outfeed rollers are less that working properly
(need springs replaced?)
Three- No anti kickbackfingers on infeed
I’ve used several diffrent planers in my career, including many industrial machines. Should I have the machine refurbished, get a newer head or see if the district will purchase a newer Powermatic 201, or similar machine.
Your thoughts….
Replies
try,
Is it the springs for the rollers or does the pressure bar need to be adjusted? If the pressure bar is out of alignment with the bed then the boards may not feed in straight, or very slowly. Also they may kick back. Although this machine may not have a pressure bar.
Does it have a sectional infeed roller? I think this is a feature that I would not want to go without. I like to be able to feed several boards of differing thickness at one time. Saves alot of time.
I have used an old Oliver that was from the 30's or 40's. Terribly loud. Was a pain to set up and the pressure bar was slightly curved so that wide boards twisted and if you ran narrow boards near the edges of the table they would slip and burn. Not to mention the snipe. I would spend a couple of hours sometimes adjusting the thing just to have it loose it's settings in a couple of days. It really needed to be completley taken apart and put back together but I had not the time or motivation.
If you have someone refurbish the machine you may end up with a good quality tool to service your needs quite adequately. Depends on where you want to spend the money.
Maybe you could sell it to someone who likes old machines and get a new one. I would go for new. But thats me.
J.P.
Try,
I'm a teacher as well now - the main concern for me is the safety concern with the lack of anti-kickback pawls, but, as the unit was installed and built without them, and run for a number of years in the workshop, it's obviously OK to your heirarchy.
Re: Noise: Assuming that you've sharp blades in the unit, is it worth making a call to Powermatic (? was that the mfg?) service department to find out what other causes of excessive noise exist for this unit?
Cheers,
eddie
Reddie, My Delta Rockwell guy hasn't given me a service quote yet but said excessive noise is directly related to bad bearings. So we are most likely looking at alarge service charge w/ several hors/day into the machine.You guys have any suggestions under $5000?
That's a perfectly fine machine. Not noisy if tuned up and blades sharp. I've worked on many of those machines over the years and own the same unit. It was $6,000 when they stopped making it.
Rick,
I love old iron tools and would love to own it for my home shop, but I don't think that the cost of rehabbibg is enougn to warrant the service. Any estimates what a good tune up might run in parts and hours? Most likely needs bearings and springs? Thanks, Ty
Without anyone hearing it, it's difficult to say it's bearings. As far as bearings I would go to a local bearing house and not pay the
Delta bearing prices. I typically buy from http://www.bearingbrokersinc.com and pay a fraction of Delta or the local supply house. If it needs springs then Delta would be one option but it might be just an adjustment. It doesn't have segmented feed rolls si one board at a time must be fed. If you do it yourself the labor is cheap. It's not that bad with a bit if care and effort. The wedgebed with it's variable speed is great on curly woods. It has a nice low end slow speed which really does a nice job. The gear box for the feed can cost a few hundred if the gears are shot and it must be maintained with thick gear oil and watch the seal which is only around $5. There was a belted and a direct drive version. I've only pulled the head off the direct drive model and it's a few hours for that. In the late 80's we were getting $30 and hour for service calls plus driving time to and from and milage. Probably $35 to $50 and hour now. One could spend a good full day going over it from top to bottom and Delta bearings will push the numbers up signifigantly. Doing it yourself would be pretty cheap and I've got a modification to the table adjustment that really makes it a nice simple adjustment.
Rick,
I'd love to tear into the machine myself, but I simply don't have the time. Liability is also a big issue to me. I'm new in the district, and have the ability to give new unbiased opinions and have a voice. We are going to look into service companies this week, and I'll let you know the diagnosis. If I am looking at $1000 - $2000 service and rehab, then I could have a new Powermatic 201 22" Planer delived for $3900. Long term to me would be to buy a new planer and try to sell the wedgebed on ebay and recoup $1000.
Try,
For what it's worth, we had the exact same planer in our high school shop 30-odd years ago and it had the same problems. Loudest machine I can ever remember using. Kind of like standing next to a freight train going full speed. The feeders were always a problem too. Even after we reconditioned it, the problems returned. My advice, dump it.
Then do what you are best at...teach. you would probably do as well to sell it locally or try craigslist or the many forums for selling tools such as here, http://www.woodcentral.com, http://www.sawmillcreek.org etc. In my area we have a few free classieds you can run the ad for free. The local papers get expensive with their classifieds. Tuned up it's really a great and quiet machine.
Wedge Bed Table Adjustment
Rick,
Yesterday I picked up a mint wedge bed from a school board. It was very well maintained in a climate controlled indoor shop.
I tore it down to nuts and bolts to transport and get it into my basement. Needs new bearings all around.
I am intrigued by your modification to the table adjustment. Do you have photos or can you describe it. This is either for table height adjustment or for bed roller height adjustment.
My machine never had the kit provided by Delta for dialing up the bed roller height adjustment. I was planning to fabricate an eccentric cam assembly based on the diagram in the kit documentation.
Perhaps you meant the table height adjustment. Either way, I am interested in what you did.
Anyway, I grew up with machines in my father's family business so this machine has given me hours of enjoyment already.
Regards,
John (from Ottawa, Canada)
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