New to me Planer

[Mark Grotenhuis]

Hey guys, I am in the process of buying this powermatic planer, I think I'm going to pick it up Thursday. I went and looked at it tonight and found lots of surface rust on it. Nothing major, but disappointing none the less. On the base there is some rust under the paint in spots and the table itself has a thin layer of rust on it as well. Does anyone know what color powermatic yellow is? Also is the surface rust on the table bad news? If I sand the table will it effect the performance?

[Bruce Page]

Mark, grey Scotch Brite, WD-40, and some elbow grease should clean up the table nicely. You can find everything except the elbow grease at your local Borg. I can’t help you with the paint, I own two mustard yellow PM machines and they don’t even match each other.

[Tom Cowie]

hey Mark

Don't worry about how it looks compared to how it preforms. Run a board through it , I'm guessing that you'll like it anyway. Nice score!!!!!!!!

Tom

[Peter Quinn]

Somebody sent me a link once that I DID NOT save which had the paint formulas for older PM machines (green and the old yellow). I think it was YoushiDaviKuniChristo San, but alas he has gone now. THe link was to OWWM.org, those guys seem to know lots of obscure details. So if your machine is older you might find an exact match to the original there?

Can you take a chip or a piece to a paint store with a computer or a good colorist for a match? They guy at my local pro store can usually come darn close by eye, often better than his computer analyzer!

[Mark Grotenhuis]

Well I haven't bought it yet... the lady wants $1350. It's 3 years old and has never been used. I have no idea why you would buy such a nice piece of equipment and never use it... sounded suspicious I know; but I looked it over and I believe her. I keep trying to talk her down to $1200 but she's not having it. I figure it costs $1999 new plus tax and delivery. So $1350 really isn't that bad ... or is it?

[Dave Hale]

I think you lose any warranty buying it second-hand. You need to make real sure it works like you expect. Run some boards through it and see.

[Mike DeHart]

Mark,
I just went through this with a grizzly planer that looks like it had a lot more rust on it than the one you are looking at. The scotch brite pads and wd40 did get the rust off. Took some elbow grease, but the tables look rust free, just not shiney. I'm probably going to go at it again with some 600 grit or finer sandpaper some rainy weekend to see if I can get the shine back. There are some other suggestions here:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=85962

Mike

[Craig D Peltier]

I just recently bought a 20 inch PM planer.It had alot of rust on the cutter head when I opened it up and some on the table. I used wd40 and sscotchbrite pad. Then started running wood through it. It works great. Never seen rust on wood.
He was asking 1200 , I paid 1000. It also wasnt used.PM 208
My leveraging was that when it was new I think it cost around 1500 so even though they go for 2k now that wasnt a 2k one.

[Michael Schumacher]

I keep trying to talk her down to $1200 but she's not having it.

Just take $1200 in cash over with you next time...she just might see that $1200 and think it's time to deal...