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ISO someone with metal planer in PA,OH,NY,WV

Kegs3535

Plastic
Joined
May 16, 2016
Hello all,
I have been searching for a company, or individual in the western PA, eastern OH, northern WV, or southern NY area with a metal planer who would be interested in doing a one-off job. All of my online searches for companies who still have and/or use planers have come up pretty much empty, and trying to find individuals who may have one in their shop is even more difficult. The reason I am looking in this area is to minimize the shipping time and/or costs. I have found a few people with planers halfway across the country, but not having much luck in this general area.
I am in the process of doing a complete rebuild/refurb of a vintage table saw, and need to have the cast iron table planed back flat. This saw lived a very long & difficult life, and the table shows some extreme wear. Since this is in fact a table saw my requirements for flatness are not extreme (ie. not looking for sub-thou flatness when complete), so if you have an old planer that isn't quite as tight as she used to be then don't be afraid of responding.
The table measures 44x60 total.......this is made up of a 44x36 main section with a 44x12 extension on the left & on the right. I would prefer to have it planed in one piece so that there would be no chance of feeling the seams between main table & extensions, but if I cannot find someone with a planer large enough to handle it in one bite then the 3 pieces could be planed separately.
Anyone with a machine large enough to handle this job please feel free to respond. I don't care if you are a large company, or an individual who has an old planer in his "shop out back".
Thx to all.....
 
You are looking to get the traditional finish on the table - is that the jist?

Otherwise a boring mill could easily deck it down with a face mill.


???


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Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 
Yes I am looking for the original look to the table. Those "lines" running front to back--parallel to the blade--not only look cool, but they also serve to help guide the stock through the saw. I had originally considered milling it flat, as I have a mill large enough to handle it if I break the table down into its 3 parts, but I do not want the swirl marks left behind from that process. I also had someone offer to Blanchard grind it for me, but that would also result in the swirl pattern. I want the original planed look/feel to the table.
Thanks for the thought however......
 
Look for a shop that recuts press brake dies, IIRC Pennsylvania tool & gage in Meadville, pa
did doo this.
 
there is someone giving away a free metal planer out in your end of the country right now over in the antique machinery forum. if it was within my reach I'd snatch it up, but nearly 2000 miles away from me, that's about 400 farther than the range I have traveled before. somebody needs to save it from the scrap heap and if you're needing one anyway go for it! much cheaper than hiring one!
 
Press brake tools and a lot of exotic materials and/or big weldment stuff gets done on planers because it can't be done any other way.

I wouldn't recommend buying one. Very little work for planers out there and they absolutely do not justify the real estate they take up. You need about a 30 ton machine that envelopes a couple thousand square feet just to surface your tablesaw.


A bit outside the box, but large VMC's can also work as planers real easily. They have killer coolant built in and can even change tools! You don't usually find them with more than 30" of Y travel, but 80 and 100" X travel is pretty common.
 
Hey dd, thanks for the info. I will give them a call on Mon morning to see if they still have the ability. There are a ton of other die shops in my area because the plastic industry is pretty big around here, and there are still a handful of forging companies in operation as well. So far however my calls to these die shops have turned up empty. No very many planers still in operation.
Thx again though.......I appreciate the lead.
 








 
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