Wood-Planing Machines

The simplest form of planing machine for wood work, is the hand planer or buzz planer, as it is termed, an example of this class of machine being shown in Fig. 3152, which has been designed and constructed by George Richards, for the use of pattern-makers.

It consists of a frame carrying a revolving shaft, which is by some called the cutter head, and by others the cutter bar, and to which the cutters or knives are attached.

The work is rested upon the work table, or else pressed against a guide or fence, and fed by hand over the revolving knives, whose cutting edges protrude above the surface of the table, to the amount of the depth of cut it is intended to take.

In this example, however, the table is made in two sections, the front one of which is below the cutter edges to an amount equal to the depth of the cut, and the back one level with the cutter edge, when the latter is at its highest point in its path of revolution, the construction being shown in Fig. 3153, in which j, j, represents the top part of the main frame of the machine, c the cutter head, b the front or feed table, a the back or delivery table, and w a piece of work being fed in the direction of the arrow.

Upon the upper surface of the frame j, j, and on the feed side of the cutter head is the carriage g, to which are pivoted two links l, l, which support the feed table b. At d is a hand wheel whose screw has journal bearing in a lug from the table, while the screw threads into a nut provided in the carriage. Obviously then by operating the hand wheel d, carriage g is moved along the top of the frame j, and the height of table b is adjusted. Thus if the carriage g is traversed to the left, the link l would fall more nearly to a horizontal position, and table b would lower. Or if g were moved to the right, links l would stand more nearly vertical, and table b would be raised, it being understood that table b is not permitted to move endways. Similarly by means of hand wheel c, carriage h may be moved to adjust the height of table a.

By this construction, the work can bed fairly on the delivery side, as well as on the feeding side of the cutter head, which is not the case when a single table is used.

It is obvious that the work must be fed in opposition to the pressure of the cut, which endeavors to push the work back from the cutter, and this limits the size of work that the machine can operate upon.

The work can be fed easier however, with a cutter skewed or set out of line with the axis of the cutter head. Thus in Fig. 3154, is the common form of cutter head, carrying two knives placed diametrally opposite, so that the weight of one counterbalances that of the other, and the head will therefore run steadily and smoothly. The knives k, k′ are here set parallel with the axis of the cutter head, hence the whole length of the cutting edge meets the work at the same instant, and a certain amount of time must pass after one cutting edge has left the work before the other cutter edge meets it.

This is remedied by the construction of cutter head shown in Fig. 3155, in which three cutters are used, and each cutter is set askew, or out of parallel with the axis of cutter head, so that the knife begins to cut at one end, and the cutting action gradually extends to the other, hence the cutting action is more continuous and uniform, and better work is produced, while less power is required to drive and feed the machine.

Fig. 3156 shows a cutter head with two skew cutters.

The cutter head is provided with a cover or guard, which is arranged as follows: In the table is cut a groove or slideway, in which a slide fits, and to this is attached a thin sheet-iron guard. To the slide is attached a weight, which draws the guard back to the fence after the work has passed over the cutter head. By this means the guard covers all the knife edge that protrudes beyond the work, no matter what the width or thickness of the work may be; the guard can however be fixed in position when a number of pieces of the same size are to be planed.

The fence provides a guide surface for the work, and its face may be set at any required angle to the surface of the work table. Suppose, for example, that the sides or edges of a piece of work require to be at an angle of 100 degrees to the top and bottom surfaces, then the top surface may be planed first, and the fence being set at an angle of too degrees to the table surface, the top of the work may be pressed to the surface of the fence while fed across the cutter, and as a result, the side or edge will be planed at 100 degrees to the top.