Planer M5990

[Curly]

Hi all,

First post, I've owned a 510 since the late 80's, love it, it helped me build a house, cabinets, furniture, have done a lot of turning with it too.

I have recently acquired a planer, seems to run fine. Needs cleaning and aligning. One issue though is the depth wheel is cracked and I'd like to get a new one. The manual says it's a 513383 and it comes with a small shaft pressed on I believe. When I search this at the SS site the system redirects me to p/n 518370 "Crank & Indicator Assyembly.

1. Is the 518370 a direct replacement?
2. I can't for the life of me tell how to get the darn crank wheel off of the shaft, I see no set screw, it it pressed on?

I'm calling SS tomorrow, but just this out I'd ask here.

Cheers! Dave

[JPG]

The 'round' indexing knob(with settable scale) has been replaced with said crank lever.

They both just drop down over the table mounting post. It does not have a set screw. The post has a flat but that is all.


It should pull straight up and off.

Is the wheel cracked, or is the plastic scale cracked? There should be a knob that you can loosen/remove to replace the scale with a DIY made one.

I prefer the round over the crank.

[Curly]

Thanks, I prefer the round as well. Its the metal crank that is cracked. I think the problem is that it's rusted on to the shaft. I will soak it with liquid wrench to see if it will loosen it. Thanks.

[Curly]

So I just talked to SS and the 518370 is the newer style crank.

[jsburger]

My question is why do both of you prefer the round wheel over the crank? Is it because of the scale on the wheel? I have the newer Pro Planer with the crank that I bought new from the MS in about 2006. I have not used or even seen the other one with the wheel.

I added a Wixey digital readout in 2007. At that time the Wixey was designed for Lunch Box planers. Now Wixey has the remote planer whatever readout. That probably would have been easier to adapt to the SS.

Anyhow, the Wixey is dead on when the board is measured with a dial caliper. The Wixey reads simultaneously in decimals and fractions.

But the point is that if I plane a piece of stock to an even fraction on the Wixey (or any other dimension) and measure with my calipers they are pretty much dead on. Then if I turn the SS crank to take off a certain amount (1/32",ie.) Wixey, the stock and the dial caliper agree. So when the SS Pro Planer is tuned up the crank rotations on the Pro Planer with the crank not the wheel are dead on. I see no reason to have a gauge on the Wheel/crank.

So the question again is why do you prefer the wheel over the crank?

[Curly]

Mr. jsburger, I like the round crank A. Because of the scale and B. I think it gives me a little more control & feedback when I turn it. C. It looks cool. I understand it's all very subjective I just spent some time this evening checking the operation of my recently aquired planer and it works like a charm, even after I dropped it on the way to my basement in the stairwell (concrete steps, and on my foot) (why I need the crank).

I do have a caliper that I use to check thickness and gauge blocks and the like. You have a very nice setup there with the wixey thingy. My planer does not have the sticker telling me about max. feed rates, that's a nice touch.

Cheers

[jsburger]

Mr. jsburger, I like the round crank A. Because of the scale and B. I think it gives me a little more control & feedback when I turn it. C. It looks cool. I understand it's all very subjective I just spent some time this evening checking the operation of my recently aquired planer and it works like a charm, even after I dropped it on the way to my basement in the stairwell (concrete steps, and on my foot) (why I need the crank).

I do have a caliper that I use to check thickness and gauge blocks and the like. You have a very nice setup there with the wixey thingy. My planer does not have the sticker telling me about max. feed rates, that's a nice touch.

Cheers

OK, that is just fine. Just wondering.

[JPG]

I prefer it since I do not have to place pieces of tape under the crank to indicate fractional revolutions of the crank.

[BuckeyeDennis]

Well shucks, I was perfectly happy with the crank handle on my pro planer. Until now.

But I think I have a solution that would make Red Green proud. I can just stick an old smartphone to the crank handle with double-sided tape, and fire up the compass app!

Screenshot_2016-08-30-23-55-59.png (101.66 KiB) Viewed 5814 times

Or course, Red Green would have used duct tape.

[JPG]

But then one would need a degree to inch calculator.
















BTW who is the traffic signal???