Something I should come clean on and not slick

[Smallpatch]

I bought the Dewalt 733 planer seems like in 2000 and at the time I thought how I should take care of it... And my answer to a post the other day was completely wrong for I have never applied any kind of slickum to the base or table where the wood lays while the rollers are pulling the wood through the blades, never. The reasoning back then and still now.... A person should plane both sides of a board and try to take off the same amount of wood from each side. So the board gets flipped back and forth swapping sides until the ruffness and thickness is achieved.... Each time a person flips the board over to plane the other side if he has applied wax to the table the rollers will be getting some of that wax each time the board is flipped.....and soon , in my thinking the rollers will collect enough wax to make them too slick to pull the wood........ All these years all I do is keep the table clean with soap and water.....and make sure the soap is removed completely for that will help rust form.....The Johnsons Paste Wax I do use on the threaded rods and that is the only place. Good or bad idea thats for you to decide but so far I have never had any trouble with the 733. I am on my sixth set of blades and I do have a machine especially to sharpen the planer blades but I decided long ago a new set of blades are easier for me than to set the machine up each time and hope for the best...

  And for those who are new to using a planer and wonder why a person should take off the same amount of wood from each side you can do an experiment... Take a good flat board , kiln dried, and take off say an 1/8" off of one side only, not all at once but a very small amount  each pass, and lay it back somewhere for a few days and see what happens. Most all the time that board will warp something terrible... And most of the time it is not fixable.

Edited December 6, 2017 by Ron Dudelston
tags added

[lew]

My first lunch box planer had metal rollers on the bed. Never a problem with "sticking".

 

When I purchased my Dewalt, everyone told me to wax the table. I do that and make sure it is buffed out completely. I also use mineral spirits on the rubber rollers to clean off any gunk there.

 

[Gerald]

As long as the wax is applied in moderation and then buffed out I think any transfer would be extremely infinitesimal and only the first roller would ever get any transfer at all. Cannot speak from experience  on lathe as I am a baaaad boy and rarely clean it even. However with metal contact on lathe bed wax does not impede the banjo or tailstock from locking down and holding fast.

[Gene Howe]

Every bed in the shop gets waxed. Planer, jointers, table saws, band saw, router tables, oscillating sander and the sole plate on my circular saws. Never had any roller problems on the deWalt. And never had any finishing issues. I like slick.

[Smallpatch]

Gene I'm not talking about the wax ruining finishing especially Johnsons for that is all I use.

Also of all the things you mentioned that I own also,only the planer has a slick bed and the rubber rollers are what moves the wood. The table on my Dewalt 733 is chrome plated to keep it slick so it stays slick all the time. If I try to take off too much material off in a pass the wood slows down and even sometimes the rubber rollers will sit in one place and burn the wood. So I say the rollers are picking up some of that dried wax and installing it on the rubber rollers.

  There are way too many guys who in the past at Wood and other sites complained their planer has problems pulling the wood and it stops and burn the wood.. And then thickness of cut is usually the problem but why chance wax getting on the rollers.

   

Gerald what kind of planer do you have and are you saying you don't have that problem.

 

No other machine is set up to operate like my planer. All the other conveyor type machines has different things to pull the wood past the knives. My 22-44 drum sander has a 22 inch wide sanding belt,maybe 80 grit or more to pull the wood past the knives and even it will stall and the wood will sit there and burns grooves in the wood because I try to take off too much on each pass.

[lew]

28 minutes ago, Smallpatch said:

thickness of cut is usually the problem

My max cut, for any species, is 1/2 turn of the handle on the Dewalt 735.

[Gene Howe]

1 minute ago, lew said:

My max cut, for any species, is 1/2 turn of the handle on the Dewalt 735.

Same here, Lew. My first cut is rarely deeper than 1/32". Then it's 1/2 turn. Getting less as I sneak up to final thickness. I use open end wrenches to gauge thicknesses.

 

[FireJohn]

I don't use my Dewalt planer all that often, but occasionally I'll spray a little Boeshield T-9 on a paper towel and give the bed a light wipe with it. 

[Gerald]

Jesse I have a Delta and I agree with you that if the wood sits in one place and burns a trough then it is usually because too big of a bite causing the wood to hang up.

[Kevin Beitz]

If your having a hard time setting up your blades look into...

 

Planer Pal... knife-setting system