Looking for Planner

HI all,

A student of mine is looking to buy a planner with a 8 to 9 foot table so he can plain lathe beds, mill tables etc. The size of the one Keith Rucker, Lance Bakley or Steve Watkins has. He is looking at an open-side Rockford shaper like the one Cash Masters bought at the Bushe Precision Auction.. If anyone knows or hears about one please PM me and I will tell him.... Joe and Phil...he and I am for sure no rookie and thanks for the advice...but he wants one. He is setting up a rebuilding shop down in Austin Texas and see's the need. Thanks Tyrone...I did a daaa...should have mentioned a size...

You better talk him out of it, The cost of owning a planner is a big deal, first the hauling and the crane to unload, next the set up and wiring 20 to 50 hp 3 phase, and you need a building to put it in, then the buss. lse. and taxes. The only thing cheap is.... buying the machine and tool bits...Phil

Richard King said:

HI all,

A student of mine is looking to buy a planner so he can plain lathe beds, mill tables etc. If anyone knows or hears about one please PM me and I will tell him....Thanks

Click to expand...

What size is he thinking of Rich ? Double column or open side etc.

Regards Tyrone.

Planers get big FAST. Beginning with a 4' platen (maximum length of what you can plane) at about 1800lbs and going up GEOMETRICALLY (i.e. at least to the cube of platen dimension) beyond that.

Also - considerable length is required to have "operating room" enough for a full swing of the platen. Normally 2.5x the planing length although some can squeeze it in tighter.

Smaller planers (i.e. more "domestic sized") I would put at 4' length. But many if not most lathes are longer than that, and that kind captures the thought for actual utility.

Crank planers are basically the machining equivalent of a shaper. But about 2x the weight. Also limited like shapers to about 3' stroke or smaller.

Openside helps considerably with setup, but tends to make reinforcement even more essential and will make your planer even MORE heavy.

Granted Planers were a staple in previous generations of machining. Now not so much. Not to say you won't find it useful if you actually have one, but many get along without.

They do make a handy place to "set things down" in a modern machine shop. At least that is the joke.

And very pleasant to use - think repeatability and control. And waiting for the cross feed to go off the other side.

Joe in NH