Interlock Switch
This machine has an interlocking safety switch located under the hood. The hood must be in the “down” position in order for the planer motor to engage.
If the hood is lifted while the machine is operating, the motor will cut off. The interlock switch must be adjusted so that it will turn off the motor if the hood is raised more than 11/16”.
Do not operate the planer unless the interlock switch is working properly.
Caster Lock
The casters should be locked before operating the
Operation
Kinds of Warp
Warp is a variation from a plane or true surface. Warping of wood is caused by uneven shrinkage during the drying process. Shrinkage is not the same in all directions of the grain and due to the different grain direction in pieces of lumber, different types of warpage can occur.
Cup or warped across width
With a board that is cupped you would first plane the top flat and then turn the board over and plane the bottom flat. See Figure 20. If possible, ripping the board down the middle of the cup would eliminate a large amount of waste in planing to thickness.
Bow or warped lengthwise
The feed rollers on a thickness planer are going to flatten a bowed board down against the planer bed and thickness plane the board as if it had little or no warpage. Then after the board is removed from the planer it will be planed to thickness but still have its original bow. See Figure 21. The only way to remove the bow from a board is to joint the board flat on one side on a jointer. Then the board can be thickness planed.
Twist or twisted lengthwise
Twisted lumber is the most difficult warpage to plane to thickness. In some cases the twisting is so great that planing to thickness is impossible. In this case you might saw the board into smaller pieces and see if planing to thickness can be achieved.
15
Figure 19
Figure 20
Figure 21