Woodworkers may finds that their planer works exceptional well for a while. However, if the planer encounters a piece of wood that seem to be a perfect board, the planer will stall. Instead of the planer blade gliding through the wood smoothly, the wood will stop, chatter, or even kick backwards towards the woodworker.
This type of situation create frustration for the woodworker. It doesnt matter how sharp the blade are or how good the woodstock is if the planer refuse to pull the wood through the machine. This one problem can ruin more projects than any other problem a woodworker might encounter with there planer.
However, the causes of these problems are usualy identifiable and often fixable once the woodworker understand what those causes are. Running through each of the following cause in order will get the planer to start pulling the woodstock again. The first cause to check is the feed rollers.
Common Reasons Your Planer Is Not Pulling Wood
1. Dirty or Worn Feed Rollers
These rollers is responsible for the majority of the problems that woodworkers encounter with their planers. The rubber or steel roller can glaze over from the wood resin or wear down from the numerous hour of use. In both of these cases, the rollers will not be able to gain enough friction with the wood to move it through the planer.
The motor will bog down or the wood will move in spurt. The solution is to clean the rollers. Some rollers may have glazing that 220-grit sandpaper can fix.
However, if the rollers are deeply grooved or cracked, they will need to be replace. Woodworkers often ignore this problem, focusing on the planers woes instead of replacing a simple moving part. The next problem that can occur is an improper feed rate.
2. Improper Feed Rate
Even experienced woodworkers can fall into this trap. If the feed rate is too slow, the knives will heat up due to the friction between the knife and the wood. If the feed rate is too fast, the cutters will become overloaded with the wood, causing them to create drag on the feed rollers.
The ideal feed rate is in the middle of the suggested rate for the brand of planer. For benchtop planers, the ideal feed rate will be between 20 and 30 feet per minute. If the sound of the planer is even and the motor does not bog down or scream while the wood is moving, the feed rate is correct.
If the board hesitate while being fed at the proper speed, the problem isnt the feed rate. Dull knives will create resistance, which will feel like a feed problem. New blades will effortlessly slice through the wood.
3. Dull Planer Knives
As the blades wear down, the blades will have to tear the wood fibers rather than simply shear them. This additional resistance in the feed system will make it impossible for the feed rollers to move the wood through the planer. Woodworkers often dont change the knives until the wood they plane begins to look fuzzy across the cutting surface.
However, when the woodworker feels the additional pressure required to feed the planer or if the wood begins to exhibit ridges on its cutting surface, it is time to change the knives. After quickly replacing the knives, the wood will almost seem to be suck into the planer. An even worse problem for the planer is wood that has warped or is cupped.
4. Warped or Cupped Wood
If the warped board gets halfway through the planer and rocks on the bed, the planer will lose contact with the feed rollers on the edges of the board. The planer will either stall or chatter on one or both edge of the board. The best way to avoid this problem is to joint one face of the wood flat before beginning to plane the wood.
If the wood must be planed while cupped, the planer must take extreme light passes or alternate which side of the wood it planes. Shims can also be placed under the board to level it on the planers bed. A woodworker fighting against nature will find it nearly impossible to get good results with the planer.
Getting the planer to effectively pull wood through the machine is a matter of removing each obstacle between the feed rollers and the cutting blades. Once the woodworker becomes used to the routine of keeping the rollers clean, knives sharp, feed rates proper, and dust collectors clean, the planer will become more or less automatic. The sound of wood gliding through the planer will be the normal sound made by the tool rather than the exception.
That is the sound a woodworker should of owned a planer to hear over and over again.
