I am getting rsmall ripples from my ridgid planner? i have never had them before, what’s the deal? they are small enough that i can sand them out…..but who wants to sand? Anyways, anyone’s thoughts would be great. If my jointer is putting out ripples, will my planner match it?
here’s stuff i’ve done:
put my planner on a stand that has wheels?
Changed the blades
Replies
Check the height of the knives. Ripples are typically caused by one of them being a tad higher than the others.
David Ring
http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e
While I also would check knife height, moving the wood a little too quickly across the knives can cause the ripple also. If the knives check out even, try slowing down a tad.
Tom Hintz
Because there is always more to learn!
"If the knives check out even, try slowing down a tad." Tom, you must be thinking "jointer" ?? The planer has a set speed (I know you know this <grin>).forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
forestgirl,
Right you are!
I have got to try sleeping at night, just to see the difference!Tom Hintz
Because there is always more to learn!
Oh, sleep, schlmeep, we knew what you meant! ROFL.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Both the prior responces make good points but let me add this. Planers and jointers cut with a rotary motion. The rotation of the cutter head causes the blade to sort of scoop out the wood. It does not cut in a straight line like a hand plane. The scooping motion will alway leave ripples in the wood. There is no way around that. Moving the wood more slowly will produced ripples that are closer together but will not eliminate them.
Any board run through a planer or jointer needs to be smoothed by either scraping or sanding.
The blades on a Rigid planer aren't aligned by pins, instead there is a small step on either end of the blades that rests on a collar at the outer ends of the cutter head. It is likely that something was hanging up one blade slightly when you installed it and that blade isn't fully seated. Be sure to back off the gib screws enough, and make sure the gib hasn't slipped out of place so that the blades slip into the slots in the head without resistance.
An improperly positioned knife is potentially dangerous, although it is likely that the blade would have caught on the inside of the housing already if it were much too high, but you should check and reseat the blades before you run the machine again.
John White, Shop Manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine
Thanks,
I'll try reseting the knives.
What do you mean here, I am just not getting it for some reason, explain please if you can - "Be sure to back off the gib screws enough, and make sure the gib hasn't slipped out of place so that the blades slip into the slots in the head without resistance. "
The gib is the long steel bar that the six to eight gib screws are threaded into. With the screws loosened and the knife removed you can lift the bar out of the slot.
The loose bar can rotate in the slot or otherwise be a bit off center when you go to slip in the new blades and this might prevent the blades from seating properly at the ends, causing the blade to be out of position when you tighten up the screws. Resin or chips on or under the bar can also cause problems.
If you spend a few minutes with a good light lifting out the blades and slipping them back in a few times it will be easy to see how the blades are supposed to seat.
John W.
50,When you reset the knifes make sure to flip them around (if you haven't done so already), most likely they are a bit dull and you may be taking to much off. That combo will produce bigger then average ripples because the knife kinda crashes into the wood and doesn't shear it.Nice new sharp knifes should take care of the problem.http://joes-stuff1960.blogspot.com/
Edited 6/12/2007 11:30 am ET by Joe
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