Use and Care Manual

ST1007/12/14 15" & 20" Planers (Mfd. Since 9/17)
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Planing Tips
• Inspect your lumber for twisting or cupping, and
surface one face on a jointer if necessary before
planing workpiece.
• Scrape off all glue when planing glued-up pan-
els. Dried glue can quickly dull knives/inserts.
• DO NOT plane more than one piece at a time.
• Never remove more than the recommended
amount of material on each pass. Only remove
a small amount of material on each pass when
planing wide or dense stock.
• Support the workpiece on both ends. Get assis-
tance from another person if you are planing
long lumber, or use roller stands to support the
workpiece.
• Measure the workpiece thickness with calipers
to get exact results.
• Carefully inspect all stock to make sure it is free
of large knots or foreign objects that may dam-
age your knives/inserts, cause kickback, or be
ejected from the planer.
• When possible, plane equal amounts on each
side of the board to reduce the chance of twist-
ing or cupping.
• Use the entire width of the planer to wear
knives/inserts evenly. With narrow workpieces,
alternate between far left, far right, and the mid-
dle of the table. Your knives/inserts will remain
sharp much longer.
• To avoid "chip marks," always plane WITH the
grain direction of the wood. Never plain cross-
grain or end-grain.
• Plane ONLY natural wood fiber. Do not plane
wood composites or other materials that could
break up in the planer and cause operator injury
or damage to planer.
• Always true cupped or warped stock on a jointer
before planing.
Below is a list of wood characteristics you may
encounter when planing. The following descriptions
of defects will give you some possible answers to
problems you may encounter while planing different
materials. Possible solutions follow the descriptions.
Chipped Grain
Problem: Usually a result of cutting against the grain,
planing lumber with knots or excessive amount of
cross grain, or using dull knives/inserts.
Note: Some amount of chipping is normal with highly
figured wood.
Solution: Decrease the depth of cut. Reduce the feed
rate. Inspect your lumber and determine if its grain
pattern is causing the problem. If the lumber does
not show substantial crossgrain, inspect your knives/
inserts.
Fuzzy Grain
Problem: Usually caused by surfacing lumber with
too high of a moisture content. Sometimes fuzzy
grain is an unavoidable characteristic of some woods,
such as basswood. Fuzzy grain can also be caused by
dull knives/inserts.
Solution: Check the lumber with a moisture meter. If
moisture is greater than 20%, sticker the lumber and
allow it to dry. Otherwise, inspect the knife/insert
condition.
Snipe
Problem: Occurs when board ends have more mate-
rial removed than the rest of the board. Usually
caused when the workpiece is not properly support-
ed as it goes through the machine. In many cases,
however, a small amount of snipe is inevitable.
Solution: Hold workpiece up slightly as it leaves the
outfeed end of the planer. The best way to deal with
snipe is by planing lumber longer than your intend-
ed work length and then cutting off the excess after
planing is completed.
Cutting Problems