really old machine planer

[Anonymous]

planer (old)


i have just bought a very old surface planer that im planning on restoring. this is one heavy piece of equipment, and was not what i was expecting to find when i viewed it (( but still i bought it )).

a few details about the plane

it must weigh in at about 25/30 stone
comes in 4 main parts
1... cast iron base consisting of 2 sides bolted together
giving a base size of approx 48" x 18"
2... the carrage sits on top of the base,the carrage also
also houses the cylindrical planer blade which comes in at about
4" dia x 12" long this runs on bearings which also
has a 5/6" round dia for attaching the drive belt the blade sits in the middle of the carrage
3... there are 2 tables that get set either side of the
blade, again they are very heavy,each table is assembled as 2 parts and are connected with a screw thread
(( this is for adjusting the depth of cut ))
ie........the blade does not adjust in height, its the table that moves, so if you adjust one side, the other has to be adjusted to keep them both level
4.... there is also a cast iron fence that gets bolted on to a machined cast bracket that allows the fence to swivel to various angles.

the only markings i could see on the casting was the name
glamorgan ( was this made in wales ?? )
heathy ( this was not clear not sure if it actually
said heathy )

the only part that seems to be missing is the guard of some kind as there is a hole near one end of the blade
about 3/4" dia that may have been the location for a guard

what im asking is do you guys have any idea about this large lump of cast iron that i may have wasted my money on

 

[Noel]

Dave, welcome to the site. I've read your post about 5 times and I'm still confused. Ok, this is a thicknesser? Two beds? Used for planing angled items. Or is it a jointer of some kind? A picture would be good. Ok, I don't really know what I'm on about.....More info please.

Noel

 

[Anonymous]

no im sure this is what you guys call a jointer............
although it would be more than capable in taking of a lot of stock in 1 pass

either side of the cylindrical blade, a table 18" x 24" sits giving a total length of 18" x 48"

if adjustments on depth of cut are needed, ie.. remove more stock,this is done by turning the threaded bar on the end of each table,which will rise or drop the table

please note each half of the table has its own adjust ment ,so it would be quite easy to have the 2 halves at diffrent hights which , and if they were diffrent hights,the timber would not pass through

each half of the table comes in 2 parts....... with threaded bar used to adjust table height(( this must slide up and down a wedge shape,taper, that in turn will create the up and down movement))


any info would be a lot of help, also anything on its history

 

[Midnight]

dave.... that sounds like a fine piece of kit... or at least, it will be with a little TLC.. being solid cast iron' it'll last forever provided you look after the cutter head and the bearings.

as for the independant movement of each table.. that's how they're supposed to be.... the in-feed side (right of the cutter-head) has to be slightly lower than the top of a blade when it's at TDC... the outfeed side must be kept absolutely flush with the tip of the blade at TDC... the outfeed is adjustable to allow for material loss as you re-sharpen the blades..

I honestly doubt the machine was built with a blade guard, but you're right; it'll need one... also... some good dust extraction will be a must for this machine; I suspect the latter may prove a little more difficult, but not impossible... The saw-mill I buy from runs a surface planer that's at least 80 years old, only now being connected to a central DC.. and although noisey, it runs almost mess free...

 

[Anonymous]

well thanks midnight, that is very good info to me, as im new to woodwork but looking forward to buying more tools to fit in to my garage /work shop once its built.
im looking out for a wadkin cabinet saw ags 10" i think, they do look rather nice

 

[Midnight]

one note of caution about them auld machines...

they weren't built with part time use in mind.. what I mean is.. they're big an heavy... and need a serious motor to get them working to their potential... more often than not, that means a 3 phase motor..

Note that I'm not tring to put you off them, far from it... just trying to make sure you go into this with your eyes open..

 

[Noel]

Dave, this ia an old American jointer / Surface planer

Let us know how you get on with it and try and get a few pictures.

Noel

 

[CYC]

wadkin cabinet saw : I bet you'll have a long search for one of those, can't be millions out there!
Good luck.

I'd love to see a picture of your planer :wink:

 

[Noel]

Dave, have a look here
www.owwm.com

Noel

 

[Adam]

Have a look at these threads...

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2726

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2737

Adam

 

[Adam]

What you need is ALF with her better-than-encylopedic knowledge of all previous threads to point you in the direction of the really juicy ones - how to setup a planer, how to measure and set the relative hieghts of the infeed and outfeed tables, restoring old machines etc.

I managed a quick search but it's just not of the same standard

Adam

 

[Alf]

No, no, you're doing so well.

Okay, so my encyclopedic knowledge of planers and stuff is non-existant. It's just not sufficiently interesting to remember. Sorry. Noel got there first with the best reference site anyway.

Cheers, Alf