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-18- G1021Z 15" Planer
Figure 16. Proper knife setting jig placement.
3. Remove the belt guard. Carefully turn the
cutterhead (using the pulley) until the first
knife is top dead center.
4. Using the knife setting gauge, check the
knife height. The jig should sit solidly with
both feet on the cutterhead. See Figure 16.
If the knife is adjusted properly, the contact
point at the center of each adjuster should
just touch the tip of the knife. If the knife
does not make contact, or if the knife caus-
es the adjuster’s legs to not seat on the cut-
terhead, the knives need to be adjusted. It
may be helpful to mark the side of the knife
with an ink marker to indicate whether it is
high or low.This will make the actual adjust-
ment process easier.
Once you have completed inspection on all three
knives, you will able to determine whether or not
there is a need to adjust the knives in the cutter-
head. Proceed to the appropriate section follow-
ing depending upon whether you are using the
jack screws or the springs.
Knife Sharpening
Knife sharpness is one of the most important fac-
tors in getting good results with the planer. Knives
can be made to last a long time if care is taken in
checking the condition of the wood which is put
into the machine. The biggest problem will come
from wood with nails or other metal embedded.
This will nick or chip the knives and can require a
complete regrinding. Another wear factor is sand,
grit, or other dirt on the surface of the wood which
the knives have to cut through. At the speed the
cutterhead is rotating, these types of surface con-
tamination can have a very abrasive effect.
This planer has knives with a grind angle of 35˚
which is a configuration which should suit most
general planing needs. The optimal grind or bevel
angle is a compromise between effective cutting
(the smaller the angle the better the cutting
action) and edge life where the larger the angle
the more the edge is supported, thus the longer it
will last.
For the best results it is best to have planer knives
sharpened by a professional sharpening service
which has the grinding and measurement equip-
ment to assure that the knife cutting geometry is
maintained at optimum levels. It is a procedure
which requires some care and precision, other-
wise, a set of blades can be easily ruined. Knives
should always be ground as a set so they can be
properly matched. Unequal material removal can
result in an unbalanced cutterhead which can
affect not only planing surface quality but ulti-
mately the life of the cutterhead bearings.
Please refer to Section 6 Adjustments - Knife
Setting for complete detail on the removal and
reinstallation of planer knives.