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27" Lane planer Montpelier Vermont

K

kqua

Aluminum
Joined
Mar 20, 2013
Location
New Hampshire, USA
I know that I'm posting on antique metalworking equipment and the Lane is a circa 1900 woodworking planer, but I thought someone here might have run one. I'll be running it with a 1949 Farmall cub stationary power unit. The planer appears to be in great shape, though the three knives on the triangular head are at the end of their lives. A shop is sharpening them now, but that's probably for the last time. I'm wondering if anyone knows of some used knives that have some life left in them. Most likely, I won't plane with it very often as I have an 18" Powermatic too. When new, the knives are 27 1/4"x4"x7/16". The ones I have are only 3" wide. Each knife has six 3/4" slots in it. No knife hold down clamp, just square head 5/8" bolts with washers hold it to the cutter head. I'm changing out the washers. It has a traveling bed all run with flat belts. Any input would be appreciated.DSC05363.jpg
 

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I don't think it would take too much to make the knives. They are just flat pieces of steel with an edge and slots right? Then they would need to be heat treated. Anyone with a milling machine could make them, then you would have to find a heat treating shop. They seem too long and critical to try and "self heat treat".
 
wdTom said:
I don't think it would take too much to make the knives. They are just flat pieces of steel with an edge and slots right? Then they would need to be heat treated. Anyone with a milling machine could make them, then you would have to find a heat treating shop. They seem too long and critical to try and "self heat treat".
Click to expand...

I would probably see how I liked a set made out of AR plate - no heat treat
 
I have thought of making them out carbon steel, but have worried about them warping. I've never heard of AR plate. Looks like AR comes in a variety of toughness.
 
While you will have to allow for some variation with your type of knives and older the article in this link I saved for someone else covers a lot of the basics on setting up a planer to do good work.
Getting Peak Planer Performance - VintageMachinery.org Knowledge Base (Wiki)
A lot of the planers with slotted knives used blades that had a strip of High Speed steel welded or silver soldered to a soft backing and used square heads with 2 or 4 knives instead of 3 .
Having new ones made would likely be very expensive.
I don’t see your size listed but this will give you an idea what shorter ones cost.
Lathe & Slotted Knives | Hermance Machine Company
If you could find some large used wood chipper or printer’s shear knives close to the right size that are hardened right through with no slots maybe you could look into the cost having the slots water jet cut and the bevels ground to the proper angle.
If you could give up few inches of with on the planer,I think you might have an easier time finding used 20” or 24” knives that 27”
Regards,
Jim
 
We regularly make blades out of D2 with little effort. Often you can buy stock exactly the size you need, cut it to length and machine whatever cut-outs, holes, or slots it needs, mill a bevel where needed, heat-treat, then have it sharpened the same as your old blades. Save your old blades for patterns.

For the most part, it seems than machinery makers made straight-blade machines simple enough so that the blades wouldn't be hard to reproduce.
 
I should add that I live in Vermont and collect old New England wood working machinery and I don't have a Lane planer yet. If anybody has a lead on one I would like to know.

These were not uncommon machines, Lane (in Montpelier, their shops are remade into apartments) made and sold many.

I do have four antique planers made in New Hampshire, but no Vermont made planer, yet.
 
Thank you. I've just seen this and will call. Can you tell me what the inscription says in the 3rd photograph: I can't read this, and it doesn't appear familiar?

The machine looks like those made be Lane--so far as I know--but I think the inscription says something else. I only know of two planer manufacturers in Vermont and this inscription doesn't seem to match either. Thanks.
 
I think I might be able to read it now. I believe it reads "N.H. Baldwin and Son," and it might be located at "[something]boro VT." This is interesting to me and I have telephoned (and left a message) about it.
 
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