Makita 15" Planer - Help

[Matt Hutchinson]

I am looking at buying a Makita 15" planer. I am told that the infeed roller will need to be replaced, not to mention the only price on a new set of blades that I could find was over $400. Do any of you know if there are suppliers for these? Also, is there a different more commonly available set of planer knives that will fit this machine? Thanks.

http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/tls/708727198.html

Hutch

[Brian Gumpper]

What size are the knives? I may be able to help you out.

[Matt Hutchinson]

I am having trouble finding blade dimensions. I believe they are 15 5/8" with 8 holes. I am not sure of the width. I finally found this page with HSS blades.

http://www.mytoolstore.com/makita/ac03-01.html

Hutch

P.S. I also found an infeed roller, but it's $190! I am hoping you guys might know where to get this cheaper. The part number is 162094-4. Thanks.

[Jeff Clow]

The original rollers have a gummy rubber that doesn't last long before they are unsable. If you buy rollers look for aftermarket ones covered in polyurethane. There are also companies that can recover them.
I have one of these planers that is in need of rollers & a few other things, but I have too many projects in front of it to start on it right now. Awhile back I started looking into rollers and found aftermarket ones for about $200 & found a local company that would recover my cores for $65 each. When I start on it, I plan to get mine recovered.
I have not looked into knives yet, so have no info on them.

[Matt Hutchinson]

Here is what I have found so far. Jeff, this is what you are referring to, correct?

Hutch

[Brian Gumpper]

If they have holes I can't help. I did find out that Freud makes them though and it looks like their C620 is what you need.

http://freudtools.com/p-295-high-spe...er-knives.aspx

Do a google search for "freud C620" and you'll find a bunch of dealers. They are much less expensive than the ones you've found also.

[Matt Hutchinson]

Wow! What a price difference. Thank you Brian!!

Hey Jeff, I would love to know where you got that $65 quote for recovering the roller. I don't even know where to start when it comes to finding a local company that will do that. Thanks

Hutch

[FRITZ STOOP]

I have had a 2040 for more than 20 years and would not part with it under any circumstances. I have run miles of stock through the thing and I just can't kill it. I have put 2-3 sets of expensive rollers on it, but always could justify the expense due to the remarkable performance it has provided.
Two things I would mention:
Replace the 4 eccentric adjustable bearings on the bottom rollers (maybe them too) and the screws that come with. They wore out about the same time the drive rollers did. Take care to adjust them at the exact same height or the feed motion will get snarky.
And get yourself a 6", straight 2x14 floor register adapter from your local sheet metal shop and some HD aluminum tape. With a little fooling around you can fashion an excellent chip catcher for your dust collection system. This little guy will make some chips!
I'll take some pictures of mine tomorrow and post them.

Unless they beat this thing with a sledge hammer, you should get some beautifully flat, even and smooth boards out of it.

I was not aware of a 3-phase model. Oh, well. You may want to swap in an extra horsepower, too.

There's several good parts houses online for them too.

Cheers!

[David Freed]

I bought a 2040 about 19 or 20 years ago. I liked everything about it except for one thing; it was extremely underpowered. The motor was way too small for the size of the planer. I had a 3 hp industrial motor on hand, so I made some modifications to the planer and mounted it on the base. This made it much more user friendly. Three years ago I sold it to a neighbor when I got a larger, more powerful planer. The Makita is still working fine.

[Matt Hutchinson]

Just bought the planer and put it in my garage. I think I am really going to enjoy having it. As far as the motor goes, I was surprised to see how tiny it is. I am going ro purchase a bigger motor for my lathe, and then I will have a single phase 2 HP motor that could be used to upgrade the Makita. Of course, I first have to replace the nasty sticky infeed roller and get new blades. Thanks everyone for the help, and let me know if you have info on rollers.

OH, I have a new question. How are the rollers that are in the table of the planer supposed to be situated? Exactly flush with the table?

Hutch

[Mike Malott]

I bought my Makita 2040 used in 1982 or so and I have run miles of lumber through it!

I replaced both feed rollers in the early '90s (I guess) with a new set from Makita; ~$300 a pair at that time. The "urethane" covering just cracked and sheared off the steel shafts in chunks.

Anyway, Matt your initial post sent me digging through the shop and I found the original steel feed roller shafts! I'm going to to have them recoated with urethane to keep as a back-up set.

I found this vendor on line:
https://www.woodtechtooling.com/Feed...ngrecover.html

Can anyone suggest other sources for feed roller recovering?

Best regards,

Mike Malott

[Matt Hutchinson]

Mike, thanks for posting this link. It sounds like the best option so far. I will have to give them a call and get my "new" machine on the road to recovery.

Hutch

[Mike Malott]

Also found these roller recovering guys in Atlanta: http://www.indrs.com/

Just curious, Matt...why do you need new planer blades? I've had my original set resharpened 10-15 times since 1982. I been using Ballew Saw & Tool for planer & jointer blades, saw blades and router bits for 20 years or more:

www.ballewtools.com

Best regards,

Mike

[Dick Bringhurst]

Mike, I'd look for a place that recovers rollers for printing presses. They do a variety of roller tyes. Dick B.

[Jeff Clow]

The company I found to recover the rollers was the same as referenced by Mike Malott: Industrial Resource Solutions. I have seen others in my travels online, but don't remember who. Since IRS is local, I figured I would use them when the time comes. I talked to them at the IWF show in Atlanta. They do all sorts of industrial rollers and had some impressive pieces in their display.
I have heard this planer described as about the best finish planer out there!