Grizzly G0550, Delta DC-380 knife height?

Grizzly G0550, Delta DC-380 knife height? · 10-15-2009, 11:16 PM

Anyone know the height the knives are supposed to be above the cutting cylinder for these planers? I have an off brand clone but do not have the setting jig. I built a simple jig to measure the height:

And found that one of the knives was .01 higher than the others!
The low ones were ~.065 and the high one is ~.075.
And yes one of them is dull and the others are still quite sharp

.

I guess I could just set them all back to .065?

Thanks!
Salem

McRabbet · 10-15-2009, 11:29 PM

Salem,

It is key that they are all the same height and parallel to the outfeed table. I would measure across the cutterhead to be sure your height is constant along the axis, too. Is there something constricting the high one from seating further or was it just put in place 0.01" high? Remember that you really need to sharpen them all -- don't run it with the dull blade (which I assume was the high one) in place.

BTW, that's a nice little jig you made!

eyekode · 10-16-2009, 12:04 AM

Thanks for the info Rob. I did check them all the way across and they were set parallel. Just one of them was set particularly poorly

. I didn't immediately see anything holding the one knife higher but I will check.

Thanks for the compliment on the jig. I got lucky and the diameter of my oscillating spindle sander matched the cutter head diameter. It registers nicely.

Salem

eyekode · 10-16-2009, 09:57 AM

I contacted Grizzly and they said .08, so all of mine are too low. They also said the magnetic jig that comes with this planer is available for 8.75$ plus shipping

. I wanted to buy a paddle switch from them anyway so it looks like a no brainer!
Salem

eyekode · 10-18-2009, 11:16 PM

So after ordering the Grizzly jig I got anxious and reset all the knives using the jig I made. I believe I got them all to within .001. I am glad I gave it a shot too because I am not sure a jig that attempts to hold the knives in place can really work. On one of the knives tightening it would move it almost .008! I think that knife had a little bend to it an clamping it down took the bend out.

Oh... and the results? Really impressive! I don't have infeed or outfeed extensions but I use a roller stand adjusted a little higher than the outfeed. No snipe on the front of the board and typically none on the outfeed. And now with at least 2 sharp blades it does an impressive job of immitating a lunchbox finish planer

.

So now I have a 9$ new paper weight in the mail but I am comfortable with adjusting the 15" knives

Er... as long as I have 2 hours to spare! Hopefully I will get faster

.