To control the toolhead's direction of feed (right or
or housing attached on one side of the bed. The columns
left, up or down), use the lever on the rear of the feed
support and carry the crossrail.
box. To engage or disengage the vertical feed, use the
The crossrail serves as the rigid support for the
upper of the two levers on the front of the feed box. To
toolheads. The vertical and horizontal feed screws on
give a downward feed to the toolhead, shift the rear, or
the crossrail are used to adjust the machine for work of
directional, lever to the down position and engage the
various sizes.
clutch lever by pressing it downward. To give an
The toolhead is similar to that of the shaper in
uoward feed, shift the directional lever to the up
construction and operation.
position.
All sliding surfaces subject to wear are provided
Use the lower clutch lever on the front of the feed
with adjustments. Keep the gibes adjusted to take up
box to engage the horizontal feed of the toolhead. When
any looseness due to wear.
the directional lever on the rear of the box is in the down
position, the head is fed toward the left. When it is in
OPERATING THE PLANER
the up position, the head is fed toward the right.
Use the ball crank on top of the vertical slide
Before you operate a planer, be sure you know
(toolhead feed) to hand feed the toolslide up or down.
where the various controls are and what function each
A graduated dial directly below the crank indicates the
controls. Once you master one model or type of planer,
amount of travel.
you will have little difficulty with others. However,
Use the two square-ended shafts at the end of the
always look in the manufacturer's technical manual for
crossrail to move the toolhead by hand. To use either of
specific operating instructions on the machine you are
the shafts, put a handcrank on the square end, ensure
using. The following sections contain general
that the directional lever on the rear of the feedbox is in
information on planer operation.
the center, or neutral, position, and then turn the shaft.
The upper shaft controls vertical movement. The lower
Table Speeds
shaft controls horizontal movement.
Use lock screws on both the cross-slide saddle and
The table speeds are controlled by the start-stop
the vertical slide to lock these slides in position after
you make the tool setting.
of speeds and a variation of speeds within each range
The planer side head has powered vertical feed and
are available. Use the start-stop lever to select the speed
hand-operated horizontal feed. Use a lever on the rear
range (LOW-MAXIMUM CUT or HIGH-MINIMUM
of the side head feed box to control the vertical feed,
CUT), and use the flow control lever to vary the speeds
both engagement and direction. Control vertical
within each range. As the flow control lever is moved
traverse by turning the square shaft that projects from
toward the right, the table speed will gradually increase
the end of the feed box. Use the bell crank at the end of
until it reaches the highest possible speed.
the toolhead slide to control horizontal movement, both
Use the LOW speed range to shape hard materials
feed and traverse.
that require high cutting force at low speeds. Use the
HIGH range for softer materials that require less
Rail Elevation
cutting force but higher cutting speeds.
The RETURN speed control provides two return
To raise or lower the crossrail, use the handcrank
speed ranges (NORMAL and FAST). In NORMAL,
on the squared shaft projecting from the rear of the rail
the return speed varies in ratio with the cutting speed
brace. To move the rail, first loosen the two clamp nuts
selected. In FAST, the return speed remains constant
at the rear of the column and the two at the front; then
(full speed), independent of the cutting speed setting.
use the handcrank to move the rail to the desired height.
Be sure to tighten the clamp nuts before you do any
Feeds
machining.
On machines that have power rail elevation, a motor
is mounted within the rail brace and connected to the
Adjust the feed by turning the handwheel that
elevating mechanism. Rush buttons control the motor's
controls the amount of toolhead feed. Turn it
counterclockwise to increase the feed. You can read the
forward and reverse operation. The clamp nuts
amount of feed on the graduated dials at the operator's
described in the previous paragraph have the same use
end of the crossrail feed box. Each graduation indicates
on all machines whether they use manual or power
a movement of 0.001 inch.
elevation.
9-13