Avoid Damage To Blades - Craftsman 124.33383 Manual Del Usuario

• Quality of thickness planing depends on the opera-
tor's judgement about the depth of cut.
• Depth of cut depends on the width, hardness, damp-
ness, grain direction and grain structure of the wood.
• Maximum thickness of wood which can be removed
" for planing operations on work-
in one pass is 3 /
32
pieces up to 5" wide. Workpiece must be positioned
away from the center tab on the rollercase to cut
• Maximum thickness of wood which can be removed
" for planing operations on work-
in one pass is /
1
32
piece from 5" up to 12
" depth-of-cut on hard, softwood 6-12"
CAUTION: A /
3
32
wide can be made. However, continuous operation at
this set-up can cause premature motor failure.
• For optimum planing performance, the depth of cut
should be less than
• Board should be planed with shallow cuts until the
work has a level side. Once a level surface has been
created, flip the lumber and create parallel sides.
• Plane alternate sides until the desired thickness is
obtained. When half of total depth of cut is taken from
each side, the board will have a uniform moisture con-
tent and additional drying will not cause it to warp.
• Depth of cut should be shallower when work is wider.
• When planing hardwood, take light cuts or plane the
wood in thin widths.
• Make a test cut with a test piece and verify the thick-
ness produced.
• Check accuracy of test cut prior to working on fin-
ished product.

AVOID DAMAGE TO BLADES

• Thickness planer is a precision woodworking
machine and should be used on quality lumber only.
• Do not plane dirty boards; dirt and small stones are
abrasive and will wear out blade.
• Remove nails and staples. Use planer to cut wood only.
• Avoid knots. Heavily cross-grained wood makes
knots hard. Knots can come loose and jam blade.
CAUTION
: Any article that encounters planer blades
may be forcibly ejected from planer creating risk of injury.
PREPARE WORK
• Thickness planer works best when lumber has at
least one flat surface.
• Use surface planer or jointer to create a flat surface.
• Twisted or severely warped boards can jam planer.
Rip lumber in half to reduce magnitude of warp.
• Work should be fed into planer in same direction as
the grain of the wood. Sometimes grain will change
directions in middle of board. In such cases, if possi-
ble, cut board in middle before planing so grain
direction is correct.
CAUTION:
Do not plane board which is less than
" long; force of cut could split board and cause
14 1 /
2
kickback.
" wide.
1 /
2
".
1 /
16
FEEDING WORK
The planer is supplied with planing blades mounted in the
cutterhead and infeed and outfeed rollers adjusted to the
correct height. Planer feed is automatic; it will vary slightly
depending on type of wood.
• Feed rate refers to rate at which lumber travels
through planer.
".
/
3
• Align work perpendicular to rollercase so that work
32
feeds through planer straight.
• Raise/lower rollercase to produce the depth of cut
desired.
• Stand on side to which the handle is attached.
• Boards longer than 24" should have additional sup-
port from free standing material stands.
• Position the workpiece with the face to be planed on
top.
• Turn the planer on.
• Rest board end on table and direct board into planer.
• Gently slide workpiece into the infeed side of the
planer until the infeed roller begins to advance the
workpiece.
• Let go of the workpiece and allow automatic feed to
advance the workpiece.
• Do not push/pull on workpiece. Move to the rear and
receive planed lumber by grasping it in same man-
ner as it was fed.
CAUTION:
not stand directly in line with front or rear of planer.
• Do not grasp any portion of board which has not
gone past out-feed roller.
• Repeat this operation on all boards which need to be
same thickness.
• Planer has return roller on top so assistant can pass
work back to operator.
NOTE: Assistant must follow same precautions as
operator.
• Surface that the planer will produce will be smoother
if shallower depth of cut is used.
Avoiding Snipe
• Snipe refers to a depression at either end of board
caused by an uneven force on cutterhead when work
is entering or leaving planer.
• Snipe will occur when boards are not supported
properly or when only one feed roller is in contact
with work at beginning or end of cut.
• To avoid snipe, gently push the board up while feed-
ing the work until the outfeed roller starts advancing
it.
• Move to the rear and receive planed board by gently
pushing it up when the infeed roller looses contact
with the board.
• When planing more than one board of the same
thickness, butt boards together to avoid snipe.
7
To avoid risk of injury due to kickbacks, do