Picking up a new planer

[wannabewoodworker]

So I have been longing for a planer for a while but just have not found that sweet deal we all look for. Well the other day the boss asked me if I had a planer and I said heck no but I would love to get one. He tells me he knows a guy who has a Delta DC 380 15" 220V planer that he wants to get rid of. I asked how much and he says he had to check. He tells me a little while later he wants $300 for it. I tell the boss that is a crazy good deal but I am kind of hurting for cash flow. He tells me that he will help me out with the purchase. Says he will pay half. I said I needed to talk to the wife. So after thinking about it I send him an email I talked to the wife and we need tires for my work vehicle which I have to pay for. I only get mileage for all my driving. So I tell the boss in can't really swing the money but that it would be nuts to let this get away. So how about you pay the whole $300 as I have not gotten any bonus in years? He agrees and says he will pickup the cost! Awesome I say thanks. He has ulterior motives I am sure he will want me to do some planing for him but that isn't a big deal.

So I picked it up tomorrow. Anybody have one of these older models? From what I have read it is a good machine and I looked at it in person the other day in storage. It looks pristine. I am really excited and cannot wait to get it now the garage shop.

[pennview]

Delta always makes good stuff and seems like you got an unbeatable deal. One of the best features about these planers is that the bed/table is stationary. The cutter head is what moves up and down so you don't have to constantly change the height of your support stands or rollers, which can be a real time saver.

[fiatben]

I've got a little Delta 12" planer that I picked up last year for $75 at a garage sale (where I was literally 5 minutes late to pick up a really nice 510 with STPs for $400) and I love it, use it all the time. I can't imagine any woodworker not owning a planer and using rough stock opposed to paying for S4S lumber.

[wannabewoodworker]

Well I got the planer today. When I looked at it earlier in the week it was pretty buried in a very small storage unit surrounded by very nice furniture the owner had built. It was also very dark and I could not get a really close inspection of it but it looked alright. Today with all the stuff moved out and the planer moved into the sunshine I found it to be pretty dirty and there was some rust here and there on it. This thing weighs a ton. A lot more than I was banking on. I brought a friend of mine with me who was helpful but was not the beef I really needed. I didn't have any problem handling the weight but he seemed to struggle with it. I took it off the rolling stand and it was level with the back of my pickup tailgate so we only had to lift it a couple of inches and then it was on the tailgate. We got it up there but I did not realize that the sprocket and chain assy. that controls the cutter head height protrudes below the base casting and we could not see it. So when we tried to slide it into the truck it wouldn't move? So I got down on my knees and looked underneath and saw the problem. So we just wrestled it onto one of it's sides and then we were able to slide it the rest of the way.

Unfortunately I guess when we tried to initially slide it in one of the sprockets snapped several teeth which i did not find until I got home and went to unload it. I was not pleased but what can you do the damage was done. Getting it off the truck without any help was also a challenge. I got it close to the end of the tailgate by myself but then needed the wife to come out and slide a board underneath it while i lifted. Once I got it onto the piece of wood i was able to slide it out of the truck and onto my assembly bench I made last year and then rolled it inside the dungeon.

I have it pretty much disassembled the only thing still in it is the cutter head which I didn't want to mess with this evening and opted to wait till tomorrow. I really wanted to remove the four posts that support the cutter head housing but they are integral parts of an acme thread screw that goes the full length of the posts inside and there are female thread mounts that need to be removed. All things i can do but I am concerned if I disassemble it completely I will have issues getting the four posts re-synched with each other and there are no instructions for doing this task in the manual. So i am going to leave the alone and keep it together and just clean and polish around it. Most everything else has been removed and can be thoroughly cleaned and relubed. I don't think the previous owner took very good care of it or ever cleaned it despite him claiming he did.

I ordered the sprocket and the missing dust chute. I forgot to order the knife setting gauge and i also found out that the little piece of duct tape holding a bushing into it's bore was actually there because there was a plastic knob missing so i have to also order that. All in all a really good deal even with the minor mishap and missing parts. Can't wait to crank her up and smooth some wood.