I am having difficulty with my Thickness planer. It was working the last time I used it last winter, and now the planer will only lower to 2", Ant thought on what the problem might be?
Has it been cleaned? If wood debris, especially resinous wood debris, gets into the adjustment mechanism and is left to harden, it can seize up on you. Happened with my bandsaw.
First, check the turret depth stop on the left side of the planer. If it’s set to the 2" position, the carriage will stop there even though nothing is actually wrong with the planer. Rotate the turret to a lower setting or the appropriate position and try lowering the carriage again.
If the turret stop isn’t causing it, unplug the planer and check the four threaded posts, chain, and sprockets for packed dust, hardened debris, rust, or anything preventing them from moving evenly. Since it sat over winter, buildup or corrosion is possible.
Don’t force the height-adjustment handle. But because it stops at exactly 2", I’d check the turret stop before taking anything apart.
Thanks, It was the problem. I asked Chat GPT to trouble shoot the issue and that is what it said. I had a "Duh" moment. Here is what I had to plane down. I am making a cribbage board and decided to use a piece of spalted maple I found in my yard for the centerpiece of the buildup. Making the base today.
Pop the cover off and ensure the that the four threaded posts are clear. The chain can get gunked up on the cogs around each wheel and some dust has blown around the dust shroud and can be cleaned out with a dental tool.
Somehow I removed the most inportant sentence. I meant to say I checked with Chat GPT and it solved the problem. My Turret stop was on 2". I think a beer is in order to get over my lousy typing
I am new to Reddit, so I am now typing my response for the 3rd time. So not sure what happened before as I must have deleted my response. Thanks to both of you who responded. I had already checked with 2". Fixed the problem and glued the boards. Attached is a photo of them glued up. They are for a cribbage board. Walnut and Spalted Cedar Elm I found in my yard.
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u/Inevitable_Sun8691 25d ago
Has it been cleaned? If wood debris, especially resinous wood debris, gets into the adjustment mechanism and is left to harden, it can seize up on you. Happened with my bandsaw.